Fixing an "Add-In Could Not Be Installed or Loaded" Error

Here's an Outlook add-in problem my brother ran into at work one day. They had changed anti-virus programs and whenever he started Outlook, he got an error message stating that a piece of the old anti-virus program could not be installed or loaded. The message directed him to solve the problem using Outlook's Detect and Repair option, but that didn't work either. Once he clicked OK to close the error message dialog box, everything seemed to work just fine, but it was annoying to have to see the warning every time he started Outlook.

He had to resort to fixing the problem manually. Here's how to do it:

1. Once you are at the Outlook main window, click Tool, then Options to open the Options dialog box.
   
   
2. Click the Other tab to open the Other tabbed page of the dialog box.
   
   
3. Click Advanced Options. At the bottom of the Advanced Options page are several buttons. Look for the Add-In Manager and COM Add-Ins buttons.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Click Add-In Manager. In the Add-In Manager dialog box, look for somethign that doesn't belong. I realize that is kind of vague, but I can't tell you exactly what to look for. The names of the add-ins that you see here will likely not match the name of the problem file that you saw in the error message. The best advice I can give is to be aware of which Outlook-related programs you last added or removed, then look for a name that seems related.

   I can tell you one thing that you may find that will look odd, but usually isn't. You may see something called the Redemption Helper Outlook Extension. This sounds strange, but is actually a commony-used program that helps add-in programs work with Outlook. So don't get nervous if you see it, or automatically assume it is the file causing the problem.
   
   

5. If you found a likely candidate, clear the checkbox to the left of the name, then keep clicking OK until you get back to the main Outlook window.
   
   
6. If you didn't find a likely candidate here, click OK, then click COM Add-Ins to try the same process in the COM Add-Ins dialog box.
   
   
7. Once you have a likely culprit, you can test it. Keep clicking OK until you get back to the main Outlook window.
   
   
8. Close Outlook, then open it again. If the error message doesn't appear, you've found the problem add-in and fixed the problem. If the message does appear, go back to step 1, and repeat this whole process until you do find the culprit. Don't forget to reactivate the add-in that wasn't the problem by setting its checkbox again. Happy hunting!