Outlook 2003 Suddenly Looks like it's running in 16 color VGA mode

Question

The app has suddenly changed to a flat, 1995'ish VGA 16 color look yesterday.

It looked like this style until yesterday afternoon;

Word 2003 example here. Notice how the colors are smooth and there is almost a 3D look.

Outlook was like this until a few hours ago. It hadn't been closed or the machine rebooted either. Just changed appearance while running! Instead of solid colors, the folders have a checkerboard pattern on them now. How do I get the original interface back?

Answer 1

Hi @Mark Weiss ,

Welcome to our forum!

Glad to hear this issue has been resolved!

Thanks for the sharing.

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However, due to a recent update in forum policy, the question author now is not able to accept their own answers.

So I have written a brief summary of the solution this issue. Please feel free to accept it as the answer, which would benefit others who also has similar issues in forum.

Issue:

Outlook 2003 Suddenly Looks like it's running in 16 color VGA mode

Solution:

Rebooting Windows (after only 2 days!) was the fix.

By the way, Support for Office 2003 has ended.    All of your Office 2003 apps will continue to function. However, you could expose yourself to serious and potentially harmful security risks. Upgrade to a newer version of Office so you can stay up to date with all the latest features, patches, and security updates. More information: Support has ended for Office 2003.

Answer 2

I'd ever never seen this problem before, but rebooting Windows (after only 2 days!) was the fix. Normally I reboot every 2-3 months before things get funky.