MS Outlook 2002 can not find default e-mail folder

I have an licensed version of MS Office XP Professional 2002 which I
purchased a couple of years ago. I have been using it on an old PC since that
time. I have now purchased a new PC and am having a few problems which I am
sure one of you can help me with. My specific problem concerns Outlook, but I
installed everything except for Access.

My first try at installation seemed to go fine. (Only problem was with
online activation. I had to activate by phone.) Installed, imported my e-mail
and addresses. However, when I tried to compose a new message, I would get an
error stating that MS Word was not installed or had a problem. I could open
Word without incident.

In the midst of this, I began having errors relating to Norton Internet
Security which I had activated (but not purchased the license). I decided to
start again from scratch so I performed a System Recovery. (Not System
Restore, I went all the way back to the beginning and resetup everything.)

All programs I installed up to this are working without incident so I
decided to install Office. I received no errors of any kind upon installation
and online activation completed; however, when I tried to open Outlook, I
received an error stating that my default e-mail folders could not be found.
I am now at the point where I have again uninstalled Office and restored the
PC back to the point prior to installing it.

One other thing I did which may or may not have caused my demise: I
activated the trial version of MS Outlook 2003 which came preloaded and it
worked fine. However, after installing MS Office XP and getting the "unable
to locate default e-mail folders" error, MS Outlook 2003 did not function
properly either. When I performed the System Restore, it once again worked as
it should.

I then uninstalled MS Outlook 2003 tutorial and programs. Restarted PC and
deactivated antivirus. Reinstalled MS Outlook 2002. I received the same error
as befo

"Unable to open your default e-mail folders. Could not open the item. Try
again."

When I click OK, I get:

"Would you like to open your default File system folder instead?"

If I click No, the program closes. If I click Yes, I am viewing the contents
of My Computer.

All other installed MS Office programs are working fine.

Is the folder it is referring to "outlook.pst'? I find it in C:\Documents
and Settings\HP_Administrator\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook along with "outlook1.pst".

I am at a loss. Thanks for your assistance.

After posting this, I believe I have corrected the problem. It seems I had a
corrupt profile. I went to Control panel, Mail, created a new profile and set
it for default. Outlook opened perfectly. I then went back and deleted the
profile that seemed to be causing the problem.