Yes, problem fixed. Zoey, you're the man with the solution.
But it's not necessary to delete the folders after the un-install. In fact, if you have other MS Office apps installed like Visio or FrontPage, definitely don't delete the Office folders.
In my case, after re-installing, re-booting, and then logging-in as a user, not only was the problem fixed, but my user Outlook profile was found unchanged.
Thanks for your help.