Outlook crashes on close, and gives a message that says "Microsoft Outlook has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience. To see what data this error report contains, click here." When Outlook is restarted, it says "Outlook experienced a serious error last time the add-in 'Sperry Software Engine' was loaded. Would you like to disable this add-in?" [Yes/No]
Solution: There are a few things you can try to correct this problem. Follow the instructions for each one at a time and when each step is done, restart Outlook and try to duplicate the problem. The solution varies for each customer depending on service packs and other programs that are installed. Note: You'll need to re-enable the add-in according to the previous article's instructions.
1) If you use Microsoft Word as your email editor, try turning it off (temporarily) to see if that fixes the problem. If it does, please let us know in a reply email and we'll take steps to correct it permanently. To turn it off, go to (in Outlook) Tools...Options...Mail Format. Uncheck any of the boxes that begin with "Use Microsoft Office Word to ..." . Restart Outlook and try to reproduce the problem.
2) If you have Outlook in your startup folder, remove the shortcut from the startup folder. Restart Outlook and try to reproduce the problem.
3) Detect and Repair: In Outlook go to Help�Detect And Repair. Follow the instructions then restart Outlook and try to duplicate the problem.
4) Perform an update: Keep Outlook closed. Open a browser and go to http://office.microsoft.com and look for the "Check For Updates" link (in the upper right). Restart Outlook and try to duplicate the problem.
5) Run the Inbox Repair Tool: The Inbox Repair tool (scanpst.exe) works on both the Microsoft Outlook 97-2002 Personal Folders File (.pst) and the Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) data files. Scanpst.exe is installed when you install Microsoft Outlook and is located at: drive:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\LocaleID folder - where LocaleID is the locale identifier (LCID) for the installation of Microsoft Office. The LCID for English - United States is 1033. Restart Outlook and try to duplicate the problem.
6) Stop performing a Send/Receive when exiting: In Outlook go to Tools�Options�Mail Setup. Click on Send/Receive, and highlight "All Accounts". Uncheck the box that says "Perform an automatic Send/Receive when exiting. Restart Outlook and try to duplicate the problem.
7) Delete Outlook ancillary files: Close Outlook and delete the outcmd.dat and extend.dat files in C:\Documents and Settings\
8) Turn off the helper extension: Open Outlook and go to Tools�Options�Other�Advanced Options�Add-In Manager. Uncheck the box that says "Sperry Software Outlook Helper Extension". Restart Outlook and try to duplicate the problem.
9) Do you have any other add-ins installed that you can (temporarily at least) uninstall? In particular, the You Perform suite from You Software is known to not work with the Sperry Software add-ins. To uninstall, you should be able to go to Control Panel...Add/Remove Programs, and select Remove. Also, if you recently updated or purchased just one add-in you need to update them all. You can get the updates at http://www.SperrySoftware.com/Outlook/Downloads.asp.
There are other add-ins that have been reported to cause this problem. Older versions of iTunes have caused Outlook to crash. In iTunes has fixed this in newer versions, so a solution is to get the latest version of the iTunes toolbar. Another add-in that causes a problem is the LinkedIn toolbar. The reason for this is currently unkown. We recommend that you uninstall the LinkedIn toolbar.
10) Click on (in Outlook) Sperry Software Add-Ins, then Options, then uncheck the box that says "Allow back propagation and shared mailbox processing". Restart Outlook and try to duplicate the problem.
11) If you have an add-in that supports multi-folder selection of the Outlook folders (like Attachment Save, for instance) try re-configuring the add-in by selecting the Choose Folder instead. While this limits your selections, it will enable you to keep running while you email us for a more permanent solution. Be sure to email us to let Tech Support know that it was this solution that helped you.
12) You can you try it on a different machine. Since the license includes two copies anyway, try installing it on another machine to see if it gives you the problem there as well.
Comments:
This is a confirmed problem that Sperry Software is looking into. Note that after you restart Outlook after this message shows up, it may start slowly because it will want to check your PST file integrity. Note: If none of these suggestions work and you want a refund, just let us know and we'll get you a refund ASAP.
Also: If you are given the chance to "Send Error Report" to Microsoft, please do so every time - as it helps us to gather data about what is going wrong. We are currently working closely together with Microsoft on this issue.
