This one came as a surprise since there aren’t many updates being released for Windows XP or Office 2010. On PCs running Windows XP 32bit SP3 and Office 2010, a recent update has caused an error when opening Outlook. The error message includes the message below and gives no option to continue to open the program.
The procedure entry point CompareStringOrdinal could not be located in the dynamic link library KERNEL32.dll
All the machines I’ve looked at so far with the error all worked fine after removing update KB4011273. Follow the steps below to remove the update and stop it from installing again.
- Go to Control Panel > Add or remove programs.
- Check the Show Updates box at the top right.
- Find the section with Office updates and uninstall KB4011273.
- Once it has finished uninstalling open Internet Explorer and go to http://www.update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx
- Select Custom.
- When available updates are shown uncheck the update and check the Don’t show this update again box.
Don’t show update Windows XP
The update should not be installed automatically and Outlook will now open. It will buy you enough time to get whatever data you need before buying something more recent.
Thank you very much for posting this!!!! You are a life saver. I thought I had lost my files and the program was done.
I deleted KB4011273 and it worked for one day and now I can’t open Outlook again. Suggestions?
Did you hide the update after deleting it? If not it will install again within a few days.
Hi – thanks very much for posting this fix. However, I’m not seeing KB4011273 in my updates – any ideas?
It could also be KB4011711 that is causing the issue. I haven’t had the problem with that update but I have seen reports of others removing it to fix Outlook.