You receive the error message "Word is unavailable, not installed, or is not the same version as Outlook" when you try to create, to edit, or to reply to an e-mail message in Outlook 2003

When you try to create, to edit, or to reply to an e-mail message in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003, you receive the following error message:

This issue may occur when two or more of the following conditions are true:

• You have the Use Microsoft Office Word 2003 to edit e-mail messages option selected in Outlook 2003.
• You no longer have Microsoft Office Word 2003 installed on the computer.
• You have an earlier version of Microsoft Word installed on the computer.
• You are running Outlook 2003 in Safe Mode.
• You are running a damaged installation of Word 2003.

To resolve this issue, use one of the following methods depending on your situation.

Method 1: Restart Outlook 2003

To resolve this issue if you are running Outlook 2003 in Safe Mode, restart Outlook 2003 so that it is not running in Safe Mode.

For more information about why Outlook 2003 is started in Safe Mode, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about how to start Safe Mode in Outlook 2003, click Microsoft Office Outlook Help on the Help menu, type safe mode in the Search for box in the Assistance pane, and then click Start searching to view the topic.

Method 2: Configure Outlook 2003 to use the Outlook editor as the e-mail editor

To resolve this issue if you do not have Word 2003 installed on the computer, follow these steps in Outlook 2003:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click the Mail Format tab.
3. Click to clear the Use Microsoft Office Word to edit e-mail messages check box.
4. Click OK to close the Options dialog box.

Method 3: Start Word 2003

To resolve this issue if you have multiple versions of Microsoft Word installed on the computer, quit all versions of Word that you have running. Then, you can start Word 2003 on the computer.

Method 4: Repair Word 2003

To resolve this issue if Word 2003 is damaged, repair Word 2003. To repair Word 2003, follow these steps:

1. Start Word 2003.
2. On the Help menu, click Detect and Repair.
3. In the Detect and Repair dialog box, click to select the Restore my shortcuts while repairing check box.
4. Click Start to start the Word 2003 repair process.

Method 5: Reinstall Word 2003

To resolve this issue, you may have to reinstall Word 2003. To reinstall Word 2003, follow these steps:

1. Quit all Office 2003 programs that may be running.
2. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Add or Remove Programs.
3. In the Currently installed programs list, click the version of Word 2003 or the version of Microsoft Office 2003 that you have installed.
4. Click Change.
5. Click Reinstall or Repair, and then click Next.
6. Click either Reinstall Word or Reinstall Office.
7. Click Install.

Method 6: Upgrade to Word 2003

To resolve this issue if you are using an earlier version of Word, upgrade to Word 2003. For more information about Word 2003, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

For more assistance with Outlook 2003 and Word 2003, visit the following Microsoft Web site: