...requires Word as email editor but Word is busy or cannot be fou

M

Mikeinpcb

Unless Word is already running when I try to compose a new Outlook e-mail
message, the following "error" pops up: "This form requires Word as your
e-mail editor, but Word is either busy or cannot be found."

I have searched everywhere on the Web for a solution to this. Others have
brought the issue to light on numerous support sites that I found doing web
searches, but as far as I can tell no one has ever resolved this. None of
the solutions offered on this site or in the Knowledge Base have worked for
me either.

I am running XP Pro with Office XP and Outlook 2002. As long as Word is
open, I can use Word as my Outlook email editor with no problem. If Word is
not already open when I open up Outlook, Outlook cannot find Word, even when
the "Use MS Word to edit email messages" block is checked under: Tools,
Options, Mail Format, Message Format.

I've used my Office XP disk to try to repair both Word and Outlook to no
avail. It seems to me there is a missing path or a connection problem
between the two programs, because Outlook goes straight to the Word editor as
long as Word was already open when Outlook was opened. Even if I open Word
AFTER Outlook is already open and then check the box "Use Word to edit e-mail
messages" it can find Word right away. In fact, you can even close Word at
that point and Outlook will still be able to find Word until Outlook is once
again closed. This is why I think there is some sort of path/link/connection
problem.

I've gone to the MS Office site and as far as I can tell, all of my Office
components have the latest updates and service packs installed.

There seems to be some sort of disconnect between Word and Outlook on my
machine (unless Word is already running when Outlook is opened) and I don't
know where else to turn. Please help!
 
M

Mikeinpcb

Still hoping for an answer to this...since I originally posted this I tried
Knowledge Base # 319796 (again) but still didn't fix it. As long as Word is
opened during the Outlook session, Word can be used as editor, even if Word
is later closed. Once Outlook is closed it cannot find Word again until Word
is restarted.
 
R

Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]

The possibilities are endless. The ones we know of are here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q284900
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q319796
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q196871
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q223934

In the most refractory of cases, you can try this at your own risk:
Get the Windows Installer Cleanup utility from Microsoft.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;290301

Then uninstall Word and run the installer cleanup utility to remove anything
that has Word in it and\or remove information from any previous version of
Microsoft Office. Reboot. Then re-install Word. Reboot. Then run Office
Detect and Repair. Reboot.
 
M

Mikeinpcb

Thanks for the suggestions, Russ, but none of them worked. I finally fixed
it, but it was quite by accident. Here's what I did:

First I opened Outlook then went to Tools > Options > Mail Format >
Signatures and created a new signature. I then opened Word to a blank
document. I went back to the Mail Format tab in Outlook and selected that
signature under the "Signatures for replies and forwards" menu.

I then went back to my Outlook Inbox, selected a message, and then selected
Reply. I immediately got an error message about Word (I don't remember
exactly what it said but it had a red icon at the top). I closed the error
message, then closed Word, then changed the signature selection back to
<None> and then closed Outlook. I restarted my computer and now Outlook is
able to find Word again as the e-mail editor. Crazy!

NOTE: I tried this with a signature selected for "Signature for new
replies" and it did not correct the problem. It was only when I selected a
signature under "Signature for replies and forwards" did it fix the
problem...but I have no idea why.



=========================================
Russ Valentine said:
The possibilities are endless. The ones we know of are here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q284900
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q319796
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q196871
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q223934

In the most refractory of cases, you can try this at your own risk:
Get the Windows Installer Cleanup utility from Microsoft.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;290301

Then uninstall Word and run the installer cleanup utility to remove anything
that has Word in it and\or remove information from any previous version of
Microsoft Office. Reboot. Then re-install Word. Reboot. Then run Office
Detect and Repair. Reboot.

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Mikeinpcb said:
Still hoping for an answer to this...since I originally posted this I
tried
Knowledge Base # 319796 (again) but still didn't fix it. As long as Word
is
opened during the Outlook session, Word can be used as editor, even if
Word
is later closed. Once Outlook is closed it cannot find Word again until
Word
is restarted.
 
R

Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]

Another one to add to the seemingly endless list of causes for this error.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Mikeinpcb said:
Thanks for the suggestions, Russ, but none of them worked. I finally
fixed
it, but it was quite by accident. Here's what I did:

First I opened Outlook then went to Tools > Options > Mail Format >
Signatures and created a new signature. I then opened Word to a blank
document. I went back to the Mail Format tab in Outlook and selected that
signature under the "Signatures for replies and forwards" menu.

I then went back to my Outlook Inbox, selected a message, and then
selected
Reply. I immediately got an error message about Word (I don't remember
exactly what it said but it had a red icon at the top). I closed the
error
message, then closed Word, then changed the signature selection back to
<None> and then closed Outlook. I restarted my computer and now Outlook
is
able to find Word again as the e-mail editor. Crazy!

NOTE: I tried this with a signature selected for "Signature for new
replies" and it did not correct the problem. It was only when I selected
a
signature under "Signature for replies and forwards" did it fix the
problem...but I have no idea why.



=========================================
Russ Valentine said:
The possibilities are endless. The ones we know of are here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q284900
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q319796
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q196871
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q223934

In the most refractory of cases, you can try this at your own risk:
Get the Windows Installer Cleanup utility from Microsoft.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;290301

Then uninstall Word and run the installer cleanup utility to remove
anything
that has Word in it and\or remove information from any previous version
of
Microsoft Office. Reboot. Then re-install Word. Reboot. Then run
Office
Detect and Repair. Reboot.

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Mikeinpcb said:
Still hoping for an answer to this...since I originally posted this I
tried
Knowledge Base # 319796 (again) but still didn't fix it. As long as
Word
is
opened during the Outlook session, Word can be used as editor, even if
Word
is later closed. Once Outlook is closed it cannot find Word again
until
Word
is restarted.

:

Unless Word is already running when I try to compose a new Outlook
e-mail
message, the following "error" pops up: "This form requires Word as
your
e-mail editor, but Word is either busy or cannot be found."

I have searched everywhere on the Web for a solution to this. Others
have
brought the issue to light on numerous support sites that I found
doing
web
searches, but as far as I can tell no one has ever resolved this.
None
of
the solutions offered on this site or in the Knowledge Base have
worked
for
me either.

I am running XP Pro with Office XP and Outlook 2002. As long as Word
is
open, I can use Word as my Outlook email editor with no problem. If
Word
is
not already open when I open up Outlook, Outlook cannot find Word,
even
when
the "Use MS Word to edit email messages" block is checked under:
Tools,
Options, Mail Format, Message Format.

I've used my Office XP disk to try to repair both Word and Outlook to
no
avail. It seems to me there is a missing path or a connection problem
between the two programs, because Outlook goes straight to the Word
editor as
long as Word was already open when Outlook was opened. Even if I open
Word
AFTER Outlook is already open and then check the box "Use Word to edit
e-mail
messages" it can find Word right away. In fact, you can even close
Word
at
that point and Outlook will still be able to find Word until Outlook
is
once
again closed. This is why I think there is some sort of
path/link/connection
problem.

I've gone to the MS Office site and as far as I can tell, all of my
Office
components have the latest updates and service packs installed.

There seems to be some sort of disconnect between Word and Outlook on
my
machine (unless Word is already running when Outlook is opened) and I
don't
know where else to turn. Please help!
 

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