My Outlook program was inadvertently erased. It was installed on my computer originally.
I’m not sure if you are talking about Outlook or Outlook Express though I suspect you mean Outlook Express as that version of Microsoft’s e-mail client came preinstalled with Windows whereas Microsoft Outlook is part of the Microsoft Office suite and is usually installed after the fact. With that in mind, let’s examine how you can start sending and receiving emails once again.
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Outlook Express Program Deleted or Just its Shortcut?
First, let’s make sure that the actual program has been deleted and not its shortcut. For example, if the icon that you normally use to launch Outlook Express is missing, the actual program may still be hanging out on your computer wondering why you haven’t launched it lately.
Go to the Start button and right-click it. Choose Explore. Depending on your operating system, the Outlook Express file may be in one of several locations. Navigate to:
- C:\Windows\Application Data\Outlook Express\{unique long number}
- C:\Documents and Settings\<User>\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{unique long number}\Microsoft\Outlook Express
- C:\Program Files\Outlook Express
You are searching for a file called msimn.exe which is the application file that launches Outlook Express. Alternately, you could click on the hard drive’s root directory (usually C) and then enter msimn.exe into the Search bar.
If you find msimn.exe, right-click it and then choose Create Shortcut. Once the shortcut has been created, drag it to the desktop. Double click the new shortcut, and Outlook Express should launch.
Reinstalling Outlook Express
Microsoft no longer offers Outlook Express downloads as it has since been replaced by Windows Live Mail. In the past, you could simply reinstall Internet Explorer which included Outlook Express, but the newer versions of Internet Explorer no longer come with this mail program. Therefore, you’d need to download an older version of Internet Explorer such as Internet Explorer 6. The preceding link takes you to a download page where you can do this.
Download Windows Live Mail
If you’d rather not download an old browser simply to get Outlook Express back, why not instead make the leap to Outlook Express’s successor, Windows Live Mail? It’s similar to Outlook Express so there’s not a big learning curve. It also has a lot of neat new features including an integrated calendar, support for multiple Web mail accounts, and an RSS feed reader. You can download Windows Live Mail here as long as you have Windows XP Service Pack 2 (32-bit version) or Windows Vista.
Recovering Old Emails
If your old emails are lost too, a product such as ParetoLogic’s Data Recovery Pro can recover deleted Outlook Express 6 messages. It also recovers Microsoft Outlook 2003 and 2007 messages. You would need the Pro version rather than the free scanner or standard version in order to recover deleted messages. Depending on how valuable they are to you, the Pro version may be a real value. Try the free scan first to make sure that the files are indeed recoverable.
Hopefully all you need is a new shortcut and all of these additional steps will be unnecessary.
