I am operating Vista on Dell Studio XPS with Office 2007 Small Business. Not even 1 1/2 years old - I use Contact Manager for our small business and launched Marketing Campaigns successfully 1-2 times a month during this time. Several days ago it decided it no longer wanted to LAUNCH. I am at my wits end (as many of you are) for several reasons: most of the links pertaining to the software are no longer valid at Microsoft ; I found only 1 post at Microsoft pertaining to this issue posted about 3 weeks ago and no valid responses to it. The typical re-install which I tried and there was also an error in the re-install (pre-installed by Dell ) - location not found!! I have SP2 and am concerned about a full re-install as Microsoft no longer supports this if SP2 is not installed. I even used my product key at MS to locate the info and it tells me my input of the key was an invalid format and try again - how stupid can I be on inputting #'s in the format that is listed!!

There are three users in total (including the administrator) on this computer and the error is only on one user (of course, the one used for our business). The error occurs when trying to Launch a Marketing Campaign (all other functions seem to be fine). It will not work in any form, that is, withing Outlook or launching from Publisher. Now when I pull up a previous publisher mailing and try to launch it uses the original data (the number of contacts from way back when) and will not allow be to change it. I also tried creating a New Publisher without any data and it does the same.

I've spent three days searching (in circles) - like trying to conduct business these days isn't hard enough! Help, Help & Help!

Lorien -

Thank you so much for your input and assistance. The error reads as follows "BCM for outlook could not complete your last action or actions." This occurs when trying to launch a campaign. I select my group from the reports. I have also tried to approach from Publisher - choosing a previously made file and launch campaign. In this circumstance, it brings up the Campaign form but will not allow me to change the recipients (it has locked in on an early list - probably 8 months to 1 year ago). I also tried creating a new document (choosing not to include data - so I could select a new group) and the error is then "cannot open this form because an error occurred".

I've thought about a restore - my last successful launch was early August and truthfully concerned about loosing business data that could be hard to replicate (I do backup weekly). I have been searching and did find some info about the event viewer and looked at that last night, but quite frankly did not know what I was really looking at. I will put your input into action this evening and get back to you.

Thank you again,
Sally

Sally, System Restore does not affect data - so your business data is perfectly safe. If you still feel uncomfortable, then do a backup first and then I suggest you try it (even if it means re-installing a lot of updates and any software you installed since that date). But the decision is yours. We can try to find another way to a solution, but it will be much harder, much more involved, probably take quite a bit longer, and I'm frankly not familiar enough with the product (I've never used it) to be of as much help there as I'd like to be (I have Office 2007 Enterprise which did not come with that option included).

Please keep me informed of your progress and anything new you learn and whether or not System Restore works if you decide to give it a try.

Good luck!

Thank you for that input. I was just reading the link to Event Viewer as you shared and was going to send that over - as mentioned I looked last evening but truth is I don't really know what I am looking for or at. There was a recent Windows update - cannot quite remember how long ago (our business travel season has begun and the days are blending together).

The last successfull launch was August 21st. I looked at the Windows Update log and there were quite a few updates - all showed 'Successful' - successful for who??

At this point I think I will try the restore tonight particularly if I can restore data (I'm not real sure how to do that either). Although the backup occurred yesterday, I will do another this evening. I guess the other thing I need to address is turning off the updates - I never know what updates are important - like when I had to choose on my old laptop - so, of course, it seemed a wonderful thing to have them done automatically.

Sally

System restore does not affect data - it will not delete data added or modified since the restore point and it will not restore data deleted since the restore point. It has no effect on data at all. Of course, there are always exceptions so doing the backup puts you on the safe side and you can restore from that if the unexpected happens (but that's so rare it's hardly worth mentioning - but it can happen so that's why I suggested the backup to be on the safe side).

As far as updates go, I'd be primarily concerned with those involving Office - while there may be a lot of updates since late August, I doubt that too many have been for Office. Of course, the problem could have been caused by a Vista update as well - so doing only the Office ones may be more of a first step. But the System Restore will remove them all up to the restore point. Yes, re-installing them one at a time to find the one that caused the problem (if that's even the case - they may not be involved at all) is time-consuming but if System Restore does fix the problem (there's no guarantee - it's good and often works but not always and I'm just hoping it works here) you don't want it returning again. You could re-install all the updates and see if the launch still works - if so, you're done. If not, do another System Restore (create a restore point just before the re-installation) to undo the re-installed updates and then you'll be pretty sure one of them is the cause and the hard way is the only way to find out which one it is.

If you need help with making the updates manual or restoring the data (God forbid), just post and I'll be happy to assist you.

I hope this helps and I sincerely hope System Restore works for you.

Good luck!

You are correct on the updates - most were Defender, some Vista, some Outlook 2007. One surprised me - it was a Security Update for MS Outlook 2003? Does that surprise you? This was a brand new computer loaded from Dell with 2007.

I will review the link on System Restore (we only did it once on another new computer right out of the box - Dell did the restore, but there was still a problem and sent the computer back) - Stuff happens, but I think that was a sign on that one.

Thank you again, (although the 'God forbid' part didn't give me a cozy feeling) - I will keep you posted on the progress and reach out if needed.

Sally

Sure their anxious to help if you're buying!! I hope I get some help in moving the data and other outlook info - I hope soon. Big travel season in two weeks - not much time to dedicate (of, course it couldn't wait till say 6 months from now). I will attempt to call regarding the upgrade - I did see some info, but I got the impression if you already had BCM you could upgrade - not so cheap for an upgrade - but at least at that point they really have to answer how the info will import and if I should be concerned - I really must be tired - they are going to say 'everything will be fine' - we know how that can go.

Thanks again for so much assistance and brainstorming. I'll keep everyone informed, if I ever find out what is going on with this.

BTW - Weather OK by you? From NJ and know how these storms can dump the rain - hope all is well.