I am having problems with Outlook Express 6.0 loading on my XP/SP3 computer; it takes minutes to fully load. Is there a way to uninstall OE 6.0 and then reinstall a clean program?

In your original thread, you wrote: I have disabled Norton Internet Security 2010, run disc defrag, run disc cleanup, deleted all Sent/Deleted messages, compacted the folders, eliminated unnecessary programs running in the background, etc.; none of these steps helped. I have not installed any new programs to cause this problem. I am considering reformatting the hard drive but wonder if there is some way to uninstall Outlook Express 6 and reinstall it since I hate the thought of reloading all the programs/drivers again. It's possible to "remove and reinstall" OE in WinXP but it's a very complicated maneuver and doing so would not resolve your current problem anyway.Is Norton AntiVirus (part of NIS) configured to scan incoming and outgoing mail (I believe Norton still calls this "Email protection") and is OE configured to send & receive messages at startup?And is Norton AntiSpam enabled (turned-on)? Has another Norton application or a McAfee application ever been installed on the computer (e.g., a free-trial version that came preinstalled when you bought it)?~Robear Dyer (PA Bear) ~ MS MVP (IE, Mail, Security, Windows & Update Services) since 2002 ~ Disclaimer: MS MVPs neither represent nor work for Microsoft

As one with a similar/related problem, I found the comment unhelpful except that I can give some details of the stat of my security software (ZoneAlarm Extreme Security V9.3). It is configured to scan incoming and outgoing mail but OE is not confirgured to send and receive messages at start up; it is setup to send and receive manually because the alternative slowed everything down filtering the rubbish which I do manually in Mailwasher anyway. Then it sometimes resulted in sending messages that I didn't want to send until later.I also have the problem that OE6 on loading sends me an error messge that the address book didn't load properly and that I should uninstall and re-install OE. the whole thing appears to be corrupting files (or something!) as I'm not having much success exporting files from OE6 to Windows LiveMail that I understand replaces Outlook Express. That is the subject of a separate thread in the Windows Live forum - currently going nowhere fast.

@Bogong24_7 & anyone else with a similar problem: To avoid confusion, please begin your own, new thread about YOUR specific problem and computer. State your IE version and full Windows version (e.g., WinXP SP3; WinXP 64-bit SP2; Vista SP1; Vista 64-bit SP2; Win7; Win7 64-bit) in your first post. Thank you.===================Why you don't need your anti-virus to scan your email http://thundercloud.net/infoave/tutorials/email-scanning/index.htmThe Address Book failed to load. Outlook Express is incorrectly configured, please re-install.http://support.microsoft.com/kb=239135http://support.microsoft.com/kb=191946 OLEXP: Error Message: Address Book Failed to Load (There was an error opening this message)http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=269777http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310873OLEXP: MSIMN Caused an Invalid Page Fault in Module Wab32.dll http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=247706Err Msg: Unable to Open Address Book, a Component Is Missing http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=192321~Robear Dyer (PA Bear) ~ MS MVP (IE, Mail, Security, Windows & Update Services) since 2002 ~ Disclaimer: MS MVPs neither represent nor work for Microsoft

Thankyou, PA Bear.My operating system is WinXp SP3. While the error message is 'The address book failed to load. OE is incorrectly configured....' I can open the address book, add contacts and those contacts come up in the address when i start drafting new messages. I don't appear to have the problems described in the two articles listed above under this heading where there are difficulties in the registry etc.As you suggest I'll start my own new thread with the details.