I have just installed Microsoft Office 2003, and everything works fine except for Outlook. Whenever I start up the program it will load up, but immediatley stop responding, and I have no idea what could be causing it to do this. another problem I've been having, which is similar to this, is that my instant messaging programs (yahoo, AIM, msn) all crash after I have signed in. MSN messenger is slightly different however, in that it will only crash if the messenger window is open. If it is minimized in the system tray when i'm signing in then it won't crash, but if i restore the window then i've got about 10 seconds before msn freezes up. this problem started about just under a week ago. My OS is XP Pro SP2. If anyone has any idea what might be causing this, I would greatly appreciate their help. Thanks,
Mark

The best advice I can offer is to follow the recommendations in this thread:
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread5690.html
Then post a HijackThis log (explained in the thread) in the Security forum to, hopefully, identify the problem.

whoa! im having the exact same problem as you! a question though, does your Interent Explorer crash when you open it too? i had to get Mozilla to find this and any other helpful tips. heres my HJT

Logfile of HijackThis v1.98.2
Scan saved at 9:56:24 PM, on 11/16/2004
Platform: Windows XP (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 (6.00.2600.0000)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\inetdata\winlogon.exe
C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe
C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\ALWILS~1\Avast4\ashDisp.exe
C:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy\TeaTimer.exe
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\aswUpdSv.exe
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashServ.exe
C:\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashMaiSv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\wuauclt.exe
C:\WINDOWS\explorer.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\Happ\Desktop\HijackThis.exe
C:\WINDOWS\notepad.exe

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = C:\WINDOWS\_hp.html
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.searchportal.info/10039/
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,(Default) = C:\WINDOWS\_sp.html
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,(Default) = C:\WINDOWS\_sp.html
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchURL,(Default) = C:\WINDOWS\_hp.html
R3 - Default URLSearchHook is missing
F3 - REG:win.ini: run=C:\WINDOWS\inetdata\winlogon.exe
F2 - REG:system.ini: UserInit=Userinit.exe
O1 - Hosts: 3466709097 com.org
O1 - Hosts: 3466690378 view.atdmt.com
O1 - Hosts: 3466690378 click.atdmt.com
O1 - Hosts: 3466690378 leader.linkexchange.com
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {5321E378-FFAD-4999-8C62-03CA8155F0B3} - (no file)
O2 - BHO: Ipswitch.WsftpBrowserHelper - {601ED020-FB6C-11D3-87D8-0050DA59922B} - C:\Program Files\Ipswitch\WS_FTP Pro\wsbho2k0.dll
O2 - BHO: Google Toolbar Helper - {AA58ED58-01DD-4d91-8333-CF10577473F7} - c:\program files\google\googletoolbar1.dll
O3 - Toolbar: &Google - {2318C2B1-4965-11d4-9B18-009027A5CD4F} - c:\program files\google\googletoolbar1.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NeroCheck] C:\WINDOWS\System32\NeroCheck.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [iTunesHelper] C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe" -atboottime
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [aggwhhks] C:\WINDOWS\System32\atbbrrc.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [avast!] C:\PROGRA~1\ALWILS~1\Avast4\ashDisp.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [xp_system] C:\WINDOWS\inetdata\winlogon.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MsnMsgr] "C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger\MsnMsgr.Exe" /background
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MSMSGS] "C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe" /background
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [SpybotSD TeaTimer] C:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy\TeaTimer.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [xp_system] C:\WINDOWS\inetdata\winlogon.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: &Google Search - res://C:\Program Files\Google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmsearch.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Backward &Links - res://C:\Program Files\Google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmbacklinks.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Backward Links - res://C:\Program Files\Google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmbacklinks.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Cac&hed Snapshot of Page - res://C:\Program Files\Google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmcache.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Cached Snapshot of Page - res://C:\Program Files\Google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmcache.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\Office10\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O8 - Extra context menu item: Si&milar Pages - res://C:\Program Files\Google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmsimilar.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Similar Pages - res://C:\Program Files\Google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmsimilar.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Translate into English - res://C:\Program Files\Google\GoogleToolbar1.dll/cmtrans.html
O16 - DPF: {14B87622-7E19-4EA8-93B3-97215F77A6BC} (MessengerStatsClient Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/binary...t.cab31267.cab
O16 - DPF: {1D0D9077-3798-49BB-9058-393499174D5D} - file://c:\counter.cab
O16 - DPF: {2E28242B-A689-11D4-80F2-0040266CBB8D} (KX-HCM10 Control) - http://207.63.1.146/cgi-bin/kxhcm10.ocx
O16 - DPF: {6414512B-B978-451D-A0D8-FCFDF33E833C} (WUWebControl Class) - http://v5.windowsupdate.microsoft.co...?1096567554139
O16 - DPF: {B38870E4-7ECB-40DA-8C6A-595F0A5519FF} (MsnMessengerSetupDownloadControl Class) - http://messenger.msn.com/download/Ms...Downloader.cab
O16 - DPF: {B8BE5E93-A60C-4D26-A2DC-220313175592} (ZoneIntro Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/binary...o.cab31267.cab
O16 - DPF: {CA034DCC-A580-4333-B52F-15F98C42E04C} (Downloader Class) - http://www.stopzilla.com/_download/A...dwnldr_ext.cab

Hypnotoad, first of all you're not suppose to tag onto someone else's thread, you need to start your own ("Do not piggyback threads by posting your question as a reply to another question." Found in the rules: http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforum..._faq#faq_rules).

Secondly, there is a notice at the top of this forum to post all HJT logs in the Security forum.

HJT also needs to be in it's own folder to safely save backups, like
C:\Documents and Settings\Happ\Desktop\HJT\HijackThis.exe
(instead of C:\Documents and Settings\Happ\Desktop\HijackThis.exe).
And, all browser windows should be closed before scanning with HJT (including Firefox).

After you've put HJT into a safe folder, close all browser windows, scan with HJT, and post a new log in the Security/Bugs forum, along with a description of any problems you are having.

Oops, another name change, the Security forum is now called Viruses, Spyware, and other Nasties, so post your log there.

simple, and easy... under aim preferences and the sign on/off section uncheck the "start aim when windows starts" AND "make aim my default messaging program". problem solved.