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Thursday 21 December 2017

HOW TO FIX: 'Outlook requires Microsoft Outlook Express 4.01' error after upgrading to Windows 10 1709

HOW TO FIX: 'Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Outlook requires Microsoft Outlook Express 4.01 or greater...' error when trying to start Outlook XP (2002) after installing the Windows 10 Creators Fall update (version 1709) or April update (1803)


This error occurs because of two missing registry keys:
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{7790769C-0471-11d2-AF11-00C04FA35D02}
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{44BBA840-CC51-11CF-AAFA-00AA00B6015C}
The error can be fixed by exporting and importing the missing keys from a working system or downloading replacements from the following links:
Once downloaded, double click the .reg file and proceed past the warnings by clicking 'Yes', 'Yes' and 'OK'.