Microsoft KB Archive/190296

= OLEXP: Unable to use Personal Certificates in Outlook Express =

Article ID: 190296

Article Last Modified on 1/23/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 4.01 Service Pack 1
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 4.0
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 4.01 Service Pack 1
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 4.0
 * Microsoft Windows 98 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q190296





SYMPTOMS
When sending digitally-signed mail in Microsoft Outlook Express you may receive the following message:

  The message could not be sent. An error has occurred.

When you receive encrypted mail in Outlook Express, the message may be incorrectly decrypted.



CAUSE
This behavior can occur if you click Cancel at the Windows Log On. Outlook Express is unable to locate your personal certificate information and will therefore be unable to send digitally-signed messages or decrypt messages received.

This behavior can also occur if the .pwl file is corrupt, missing, or renamed.



RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, when you are prompted for user name and password, enter the correct information and press OK.

You should export the Personal Certificate before renaming or deleting the .pwl file, and then import the certificate after creating a new .pwl file. If you are unable to export the certificate, you need to obtain another personal certificate.



MORE INFORMATION
The Personal Certificate information used to digitally sign and decrypt secure messages in Outlook Express is stored in an area of the registry based on the user who is logged in to Windows. If the user clicks Cancel at the Windows log in screen, the user is not logged in to Windows and the system may not be able to determine which Personal Certificate to use for secure communications. In addition, the user may experience the same behavior if they had clicked Cancel at the log in screen during the session when they acquired their Personal Certificate.

Additional query words: sp1

Keywords: kbprb KB190296

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