Outllok 2003, lost the ability to run macros

I was having problems to where Outlook 2003 would lock up when I first launched it. Eventually, it threw up an error that the Visual Basic scripting add in was causing problems and would I like to disable it. I had no choice but to answer yes. That got me in to Outlook and I can check my email, etc.

However, now none of my macros will run, I cannot access the Macro -> Security setting, I cannot launch the VBA editor, and cannot change macro security. When I choose any of these menu options absolutely nothing happens. I tried going to Tools -> Options -> Other -> Advanced Options -> Add-in Manager and COM Add ins but all of them are enabled. I CAN launch the VB Editor and change macro security settings in Excel, so I think this is just an Outlook problem.

Anyone have any idea what I can do to fix this? If I can't figure it out, I'll probably imaging my hard drive and try reinstalling Outlook.

 

Okay I fixed it, kind of. Thanks to those who may have pondered the problem.

I uninstalled and reinstalled the entire Office 2003 Suite to no avail. I logged in under a new user account and found that the problem was related to my user profile on the computer. I should have done that first but didn't think of it.

So, I restored my NTUser.dat file (my current user registry)
The Outlook folders and their contents in C:\Documents and Settings\myprofile\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook and C:\Documents and Settings\myprofile\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook from a system image I have that is over a month old (oops). Luckily I haven't customized any programs lately that would store my settings in the registry... other than MS Visual Studio .NET 2005 which just ran through its new user setup.

That restored my ability to execute Macros and change the security level. However, I was unable to check my exchange email over my VPN connection. I got on the company network this morning and I was able to check email over the Intranet. I just fired up Outlook on my VPN connection and it is now able to check my emails again. I suspect this problem was more of a corruption in my NTUser.DAT file as I was unable to ping Intranet sites while on my VPN connection.

So... this adventure is over and luckily it ended well. In the rare case this happens to someone else, hopefully, this will help them correct it.
About time to create a new system image.