Whenever I attempt to send email through Outlook 2002 I get a popup from Word and the email is not sent. Is there a way to correct this and still use Word as my email editor? Or, is there a way to change my email editor from Word to something else?

Select the menu "Tools | Options", then go the the tab "Mail format" and uncheck "Use Microsoft Office Word to edit e-mail messages".

Kevin, I tried what you suggested and now I get the following error message from Microsoft Outlook - "The messaging interface has returned an unknown error. If the problem persists, restart Outlook."

I then restarted Outlook and my computer but whenever I try to send an email I get the same error message again.

Any ideas?

Maybe something is wrong with your pst file, or Outlook needs updating.

Try "Help | Detect and repair".

and "Help | Check Updates".

If none of the above works, use SCANPST.ext (Search C: if you can't find it under C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\1033) to check your pst file.

I get the error "Messaging interface has returned unknown error" in Outlook 2003.
I have tried the solutions in this thread including running scanpst.exe but to no avail.
I've also removed all non-MS addins.
Are there any other suggestions short of uninstall/reinstall Office 2003 Pro?
Thanks in advance.

I thought I should post this following on from my previous post.
I tried uninstall/reinstall without success, so I thought I'd try something more drastic.
I backed up the existing PST file, then went into the registry:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles
and deleted the Profile key and all the sub-keys.
I could then create a new profile in Outlook 2003 and re-imported the PST file.

Problem solved!

prospero: thanks for posting your solution. It will be helpful to others.