Member Avatar for Kobina Ansah

I have no idea what I did, but the word processing tools in my outlook express have grayed out and become inaccessible. and when i go online, i cannot type into the search, username or password windows. any ideas, someone?

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This looks like a system-wide input/focus problem rather than a simple toolbar setting. reports the caret won’t appear in OE compose windows and web form fields; rightly flagged malware as one possibility. Other common causes are a hidden modal dialog stealing focus, a third‑party program hooking the keyboard, a bad keyboard driver/hardware, or a corrupt user profile or system file. Quick, targeted checks will narrow it down before reinstalling anything.

Try these checks in order:

  • Verify hardware and OS input: open Notepad (or a plain text editor) and type. If that works, the keyboard is OK; if not, try the on‑screen keyboard (osk.exe) or a second keyboard.
  • Look for hidden dialogs stealing focus: press Alt+Tab and check Task Manager for installers or alert windows.
  • Test in Safe Mode (with networking). If typing works there, it’s almost certainly a startup/service or shell extension—use a clean boot (msconfig) to disable non‑Microsoft items and re-enable them one group at a time.
  • Create a fresh user account and log in to see if the problem follows the profile.
  • Repair system files if nothing else helps: run sfc /scannow from an elevated prompt (you may need your Windows media).

If malware is suspected (as suggested), run up‑to‑date anti‑malware and offline rescue scans and report results in the Security section rather than here. When requesting further help, include Windows and IE/OE versions, whether Notepad and Safe Mode accept typing, and what you see in Task Manager. These details will let helpers avoid repeating steps already tried.

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Member Avatar for caperjack

Ivw read this a few time and still can't figure out what you mean .first you say writing tools grayed out in ie5 ,then you say word processing tools in Outlook express ,.
I have never heard anyone refer to them as word processors before !???
What word processing tool /

Member Avatar for Kobina Ansah

Ivw read this a few time and still can't figure out what you mean .first you say writing tools grayed out in ie5 ,then you say word processing tools in Outlook express ,.
I have never heard anyone refer to them as word processors before !???
What word processing tool /

Well, maybe that is not the TECHNICAL expression, but I cannot do anything that relates to typing. Like placing the cursor in the message window and typing an email (like I am doing right now). Also online, the username password or search windows will not accept the cursor so I can type the required information. I hope it is clearer now.

Member Avatar for caperjack

Well, maybe that is not the TECHNICAL expression, but I cannot do anything that relates to typing. Like placing the cursor in the message window and typing an email (like I am doing right now). Also online, the username password or search windows will not accept the cursor so I can type the required information. I hope it is clearer now.

Sorry about that ,reading to early in the morning ,I thought that was what you ment! just makinf sure .
Not sure why that is happening could be spyware /trojan problem ,have you use any of the free spyware removal tools we use to detect and remove problems .if not lets try a few .
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This problem could occur because of Spyware , go on over to the Security section of this fourm and post you problem along with a hijackthis log .
Spyware & Trojans and Other Nasties
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Please Don't post the hijackthis log in this section Thanks .
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Please do this.
Download 'Hijack This!'. HijackThis
Save it in a convenient permanent folder such as C:\HJT\, double click HijackThis.exe, and hit "Scan".

Your copy of HijackThis needs to be in a folder of it's own. When HJT fixes anything, it makes backups of the original files in the folder it is in. Since Temporary folders are emptied now and then (the files are DELETED), it would not be a good idea to have your backups there. Those backups would be VITAL to restoring your system if something went wrong in the FIX process!


1. Please go to you're 'My Documents' folder, right-click and select 'New > Folder' then name the folder 'HJT'.

2. Copy and paste HijackThis.exe to the new folder.

3. Close ALL windows except HJT

4. SCAN with HJT

5. POST the new log in this thread using 'Add Reply'

DO NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES OR CLICK "FIX CHECKED" UNTIL WE CHECK THE LOG, AS SOME OF THE FILES ARE LEGIT AND VITAL TO YOUR COMPUTER'S HEALTH

Member Avatar for caperjack

or you might want to try this first to fix Outlook
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It may not be necessary to re-install OE. Many times, the following information is a solid fix for many problems.

Try using Internet Explorer's repair option:

Go to:
Start>> Settings>> Control Panel. Double click on Add/Remove programs.
Scroll down until you find Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Highlight it and click the Add/Remove button.
Note: This will not attempt to remove Internet Explorer.

From the resulting menu; select "Repair Internet Explorer".
If the above repair does not work:

Use the Find option on your Start menu to find the file "msimn.exe" and make a note of the full pathname. You'll probably find that it's something like "C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\msimn.exe". If it isn't there, make a note of where it actually is, and alter it in the details I've given you below.
Next, make sure OE isn't running, click Start>> Run>> and then enter the following:

"C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\msimn.exe" /reg
Note: You need to make sure you put the quotes round the first part, and make sure there's a space before the /reg.

This tells Outlook Express to reset its registry entries, which should allow you to set OE as your default mail client in IE's Program options.

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