Script Error 54 in Outlook Express, Services.msc

A client recently had a very strange error that occurred when she opened Outlook Express. When OE opened, it begin by generating an Internet Explorer Script Error with code 54, and the welcome screen would not load (only the folder list on the left):

I was able to bypass the error message by clicking “yes” in the prompt, and everything seemed fine. However, I was unable to see the home screen, and when I tried to compose a message, I could not enter any text in the message window.

Similarly, when I tried to load services.msc to check which services were running, the same Script Error 54 came up when I clicked on each service. I began to realize that the error was related to generating dynamic content in Windows, because the description of each service would not display.

By chance, I tracked the problem down to the jscript.dll file in C:\Windows\System32. If I unregistered this dll (open cmd prompt, type Regsvr32 /u jscript.dll), and opened Outlook Express, I did not receive the error (but the same problems still arose).

I checked the version of jscript.dll, and it was 5.7. I was able to update Internet Explorer on that computer to version 8, and this subsequently updated the jscript system on that computer to version 5.8. I suppose this reset and settings that had become corrupt, and everything worked fine after this update.

If this helps you out, please leave a comment!