Ohhh...never knew that. I'm getting somewhat disjointed here on where we are. What's my next step (short of returning to the uninstall/install OE project)?

I thought we were still in that project

Originally Posted by billsbest

Okay...here's what's going on...

I am able to re-name "Doc and Settings/Bill Rummel/Application Data/Identities" alright to "old_Identities". That worked. But, what I'm finding is that I have dual paths to the same folders only in different trees. - two others from Doc & Settings to "All Users" and another from "Default User". In attempting to change the "Identities" to "old Identities" in the Bill Rummel path it tells me no-can-do because the file is write protected or in use by another program (OE is closed).

Any ideas? Maybe this is why my OE is fidgety?

Bill

OK. Thanks for the re-positioning. Will return now to Doc & Settings/ Bill Rummel/ ...that's the one I want to stick with, right, and ignore the other paths?

As I read it yes:

c:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\Identities
c:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities
c:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\Address Book
c:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Application Data\Address Book

Not to sidetrack, but does this look like a practical solution:
http://www.informationweek.com/windo...leID=189400897

I only get: The page cannot be displayed

It's quite a long article. Here's the first several paras:

Langa Letter: XP's No-Reformat, Nondestructive Total-Rebuild Option

<B>Fred Langa</B> shows you how to completely rebuild, repair, or refresh an existing XP installation without losing data and without having to reinstall user software, reformat, or otherwise destructively alter the setup.


By Fred Langa, InformationWeek
June 19, 2006
URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story...leID=189400897



It's one of those software design decisions that makes you scratch your head and wonder, "What were they thinking?"

The "it" in this case is XP's most powerful rebuild/repair option, and yet Microsoft chose to hide it behind seeming dead ends, red herrings, and a recycled interface that makes it hard to find and (at first) somewhat confusing to use.

But it's worth exploring because this option lets you completely and nondestructively rebuild, repair, or refresh an existing XP installation while leaving already-installed software alone (no reinstallation needed!). It also leaves user accounts, names, and passwords untouched and takes only a fraction of the time a full, from-scratch reinstall does. And unlike a traditional full reinstall, this option doesn't leave you with two copies of XP on your hard drive. Instead, you end up with just the original installation, but repaired, refreshed, and ready to go.

We've saved this technique for last in our discussion of the various XP repair/rebuild options because the fixes we've previously discussed are like first aid--the things you try first. For instance, see this discussion on removing limitations on XP's Recovery Console, turning it into a more complete repair tool; or this discussion on the Recovery Console's little-known "Rebuild" command that can cure many boot-related problems. (There's also lots more on the Recovery Console here.

But when the Recovery Console techniques don't work, and you're facing the prospects of a total reformat/reinstall, stop! Try the no-reformat reinstall technique we're about to illustrate, and you just may get your XP setup running again in a fraction of the time and with a fraction of the hassle of a grand mal wipe-and-restore.

The First Fork In The Road
The no-reformat reinstall operation starts with a normal boot from an XP setup CD. Ideally, to save time, use a setup CD that's been "slipstreamed" to include the SP1 and SP2 patches and upgrades. (Need info on slipstreaming? See "How To Save An Hour (Or More) On XP Installs" and also this third-party site.

Start your PC with the setup CD in a drive, and hit a key when you see the following screen:

[end snippet]

That looks like a Repair Install.

http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

You are limited by your Dell disks but I did post this earlier:

Originally Posted by jephree

First off I would not do anything until Neal gives you a clear slate. Then if it is only an OE problem:


How do I manually uninstall and reinstall Outlook® Express in the Microsoft® Windows® XP operating system?

http://support.dell.com/support/topi...B04&l=en&s=gen



Or if you need to reinstall XP itself:

http://support.dell.com/support/topi...30030ABD62041A

You should find a Non-Destructive option from Dell as well. But as I say you are limited to Dell options with Dell disks.