See
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=Dialog+or+database+engine+failure&hl=en&lr=&gr
oup=Microsoft.public.word.*&selm=eiYuqZfXCHA.2512%40tkmsftngp08&rnum=2

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Hope this helps,
Doug Robbins - Word MVP
> When doing Mailmerge in Word 2003, when I "select from outlook contacts"
> or
> select "type new list" I get error message:dialogue or data base engine
> failures. I have reinstalled Outlook and Word with no effect.