0x800C012E, 5 – Outlook Express Could Not Be Started

Failed Google Searches

• the application was unable to open the outlook express mailbox store
• 0x800C012E, 5 “outlook express could not be started”
• Outlook express could not be started login / startup

I spent way too much time trying to find the answer for this little problem. Basically, if a user connects to a machine connected to a Windows domain but is not an administrator of that machine, you get this error message. It doesn’t really hurt anything, but just a PitA.

Howto Fix Outlook Express Error: 0x800C012E, 5

After finding out that the problem is related to Windows Search, I decided to just uninstall it. Game over. I can tell you that I tried a bunch of configurations to try and keep Windows Search while removing the error, but it’s just not worth it. You really shouldn’t waste your time trying to get it to work, I even deselected all folders for indexing and the error was still there.

Solution: Uninstall Windows Search

I have said F@#k Internet Explorer and now I am saying F@#k Windows SearchMy assumption is that Outlook Express was installed on the system (as is comes this way normally) and then Windows Search was installed before uninstalling OE. I have plenty of XP systems working with Windows Search installed and Outlook Express not installed. Although, I always remove all the programs I don’t want first, before getting updates.

Hope this helps :~D