Missing "out" object peculiar problem

Hello,

I have just noticed that I cannot create any new "out" objects -- the
MAX window says "error: out: No such object."
The "out" object appears in the "New Object" list that pops up when
creating a new object, and I can right-click/help the "out" and the help
file is displayed explaining how to use the thing. "in" works fine as
well as "in~" and "out~" -- and I have just recently discovered that
"*Out" does work, but only when capitalized*. I do not know whether
this makes the error more or less strange, but at least I have a
work-around.

I am running MaxMSP 4.5.6 on WinXP SP2. I have installed the fiddle~,
bonk~, ejies, tl.objects, MaxToolbox, and FFTease externals.

This is not a dire situation since I do have the "Out" work-around, but
if anyone has any ideas about why this error is occurring I would love
some feedback.

Thanks,

Michael B.