You may receive a "Cannot start Microsoft Outlook" error message when you start Outlook 2003

When you start Outlook 2003, you may receive the following error message:

This issue may occur if you deploy Outlook 2003 with the Microsoft Office 2003 Custom Installation Wizard and specify a personal folder (.pst) file in the Windows Installer transform (MST file) by using the Default location for PST files path option. The problem occurs because you specify a file name instead of a folder path.

To resolve this issue for future installations of Office, use the Custom Installation Wizard to edit the MST file. To do this, follow these steps:

1. On the Change Office User Settings page (page 10 of 24), expand Microsoft Outlook 2003, expand Miscellaneous, and then click PST Settings.
2. In the right pane, double-click Default location for PST files, and then type the path that you want in the Default location for PST files box. For example, type %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\.
3. Click OK, and then follow the steps to complete the wizard. When you have corrected the MST file, deploy Office by using the correct MST file.

To resolve this issue for an existing installation of Outlook that is experiencing this problem, specify the .pst file by using the Mail icon in Control Panel.

When you run the Custom Installation Wizard, on the Change Office User Settings page (page 10 of 24), you can make changes to any Office user setting on the computer where this MST is deployed. When you click Miscellaneous PST Settings, you can specify a default location for .pst files. In the Default location for PST files box, you can use environment variables such as %USERPROFILE%. For example, you can give the location %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\.

However, you cannot specify a file name instead. For example, you cannot specify %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\%USERNAME%.PST. If you do this, an error occurs when you try to start Outlook.