OL 2002 start hangs

[clive]

My OL 2002 wont start on WIN XP system. App is consumming 98% of CPU in task
manager but never opens. It appears to be thrashing with disk reads. It will
start and run just fine in OL safe mode. How can I check or change operation
mode (ie internet only mode)? as I think this may be an issue. Are there
other hints as too what I can try?

thanks,
Pete

 

[neo [mvp outlook]]

Try renaming outcmd.dat to outcmd.bak while Outlook is closed. (This file
is in a hidden/system directory, so if you use Explorer to search for it,
make sure you configure Explorer to show all hidden/system files as well as
configure the search to look for hidden/system files.)

 

[clive]

Hot Dawg, that did it! This removed file was modified on the same day he
started having problems with OL. Before the system got to me his kid,
another kids boyfriend, and finally his fumbled fingered self had hacked
away at this system. It had over 200 spybot hits, and is still running
Webrebate (2 copies). BTW can you send me somewhere about removing
WebRebate?

Thank you so much for your help, I was ready to restage the whole system.

Hope I can return the favor someday.

Pete

 

[neo [mvp outlook]]

I believe SpyBot or Adaware (with the latest updates) should be able to
excise this foul creature from your machine. (If things get difficult, try
booting the machine in safe mode. (press f8 during post) and see if you can
run spybot)

 

[clive]

Spybot missed it but Adaware did clean it up with a run after reboot. I also
noticed that I need to run both spybot and adaware to clean more of those
nasty little puppies out of my systems.

Thanks again for your help
Pete