Outlook 2007 Keeps Shutting Down

I did a clean install of Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium about four months ago and have been frustrated by Office 2007 apps closing down for no reason and my having to restart them. This is especially frustrating when I'm in the middle of composing an email in Outlook 2007 -- the dialog that it needs to close and then restart happens at least once a day. Here is the detail I receive:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: OUTLOOK.EXE
Application Version: 12.0.6514.5000
Application Timestamp: 4a89dc70
Fault Module Name: olmapi32.dll
Fault Module Version: 12.0.6514.5000
Fault Module Timestamp: 4a89d653
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 00003226
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional information about the problem:
LCID: 1033
Brand: Office12Crash
skulcid: 1033

I'd appreciate any suggestions on what may be causing this and any solutions. Thanks.
Gerry

This is a memory access violation [the C0000005] due to olmapi32.dll which causes Outlook to crash.  That file is responsible for the Messaging Application Program Interface (MAPI) which is an extensive set of functions that developers can use to create mail-enabled applications.
 
The causes can be widely ranging from bad memory to a corrupt dll file.  So lets try the easy one first.

Close Outlook and find olmapi32.dll and rename it to olmapi32.OLD.  Open Outlook and allow it to rebuild the file.  Try it for a while and see how it does.
 
But since you say this happens in other Office apps then we may have to do an Office repair from Control Panel Programs.  Try the easy one first.

Best Regards,
Manny Carvalho
MS-MVP Windows 

Your donation to this site is greatly appreciate

I've renamed the .dll file and reopened Outlook, Manny.  I'll report back after I see how it does.  On second thought, I'm not so sure the other Office aps are wanting to restart; what I sometimes experience is about a five-second delay before an action occurs, e.g., when I copy a value from an Excel cell and paste it into another cell, it sometimes takes five seconds or so before anything happens.  When I paste a file (.jpg for instance) into a Word document, it may take (not always) a few seconds for it to appear.  This only happens in Windows 7, not when I'm working in Vista on the same computer.
Gerry

Here's an update --
Since writing the last I've had only one occasion where Outlook closed and then reopened without any warning -- but it was when I was in Vista, not Windows 7.  Go figure!
 
My new problem is that I got a dialog stating the .pst file is full.  So now, I'm trying to change my Outlook.pst file (which is showing as a Personal Folders File (97-2002) to the later version of it which allows for greater capacity by following the instructions in the Help files.  Trying to import that file into the newly-created .PST file, when I get to the part where it asks for the name of the file to import, I get a dialog that states: "The Personal Folders file (.pst) is already in use in the current profile" and it won't let me go any farther.  When I right click on my current folder, the close option is grayed out so I can't close it so I can perform this process.  How do I get around this?  It's a Catch 22!
Gerry

Create a new .pst file, make sure it is of the new type.  I'd call it something different, like Unicode.pst, something that differentiates it from your existing Outlook.pst file.  I would move it into a sub folder of My Documents, while you are at it.

Now open Outlook (unplug your internet so it isn't downloading anything new), dump anything you can like old deleted items, junk mail, old sent items, drafts, etc.).  Make sure you dump deleted items again at the end of deleting stuff, we're trying to shrink your current .pst file so it won't give you trouble.

Now go to File/Open/Outlook data file.  Point it to the new .pst file.  Now you will have two sets of personal folders open.  Go to the Folders view so that you can see all folders.  Go to Mail in your current .pst file, select all mail items in the inbox and drag them and drop them on the new inbox.  If you have subfolders of the inbox, drag and drop those onto the new inbox as well.

Now do the same for Calendar, Contacts, Notes, anything else you use.

Now go to Tools/Accounts.  Go to the Data File tab.  Select the new .pst file in the list, and set it as the default mail location.  I think it will make you close and reopen Outlook to make that change.

Once you have done that, you can go to the list of folders, right-click the old, now empty .pst file, and click on Close.

Patty MacDuffie
Computer Haven Admin 

Live Long and Prosper
Mr. Spock

Thanks for the very detailed and complete instructions, Patty.  Everything worked and I'm now using the new, expanded .pst file in Outlook.  I know the old format stopped working at around 2GB, but I haven't been able to find how big the new format will allow before hiccuping. 
 
I had to do a double-take on the "new you" picture here.  You look great!
Gerry

It's set at 20GB. : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/830336

Best Regards,
Manny Carvalho
MS-MVP Windows 

Your donation to this site is greatly appreciate

Thanks, Gerry.  I took that the other day during a video call with my daughter.  You know when you smile for pictures it just isn't the same, isn't as animated, as when you aren't posing.  So I was having a good time chatting with Briar and thought I'd just take a screen capture and see if I could use it as an avatar.  Worked pretty well!

Patty MacDuffie
Computer Haven Admin 

Live Long and Prosper
Mr. Spock

Very well indeed!  And great quality for a screen capture as well.
 
Thanks for the link, Manny.
 
Gerry

Yes it is, that's OneNote doing the capture.  The web cam is built into my HP monitor.

Patty MacDuffie
Computer Haven Admin 

Live Long and Prosper
Mr. Spock