XCLN: Outlook Auto Upgrade Fails to Start

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WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it.

The README.WRI: Microsoft Exchange 5.0 Client Release Notes state that it is possible to implement automatic upgrade functionality for Outlook clients by modifying the Outlook.srg file in the Outlook administrative installation point.

Clients installed from an Outlook administrative installation point with this modified Outlook.srg file will have an added registry entry that causes the client to check for updated versions of the Outlook client every time the Outlook client is started. The text from README.WRI: Microsoft Exchange 5.0 Client Release Notes that describes this functionality is as follows:

1.1.14 Enabling Microsoft Outlook 97 Version 8.01 Automatic Upgrade
If you use a shared installation point for Microsoft Outlook 97 version
8.01 clients, you can enable the automatic upgrade feature by adding
the following line to the end of the Outlook.srg file in the
 \Program files\Microsoft Office\Office directory:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\office\8.0\outlook\upgradepath]
"serverpath" = "<\\\\server\\share\\subdir>"

Note: Do not add a trailing backslash. All backslashes must be doubled.

An Outlook 8.01 administrative installation point can be updated as follows
(from ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/exchange/exchange-
public/fixes/Eng/Exchg5.0/Sp1/README.txt):

2.3.1 Administrator Installation Instructions for Outlook Client
Installation Point
To install Service Pack 1 on an existing Outlook Administrator installation
point from a compressed file:
1. Create an Outlook directory.
2. Change to the Outlook directory and create an Admin directory.
3. Download the compressed Outlook Admin file appropriate for your hardware
platform into the Admin directory.
Select the appropriate file as indicated in the following list:

   Windows 95 Outlook Administrator SP1_50A9.EXE
   Windows NT 3.51 Outlook Administrator SP1_50A3.EXE
   Windows NT 4.0 Outlook Administrator SP1_50A4.EXE

4. At the Windows NT command prompt, switch to the Admin directory and type
the file name. (Example: SP1_50A4)
5. Double-click AdminUpd.exe, and then follow the instructions displayed on
the screen.
Note: This Service Pack will not update an Outlook version 8.0
installation.