Outlook 2003 locks up PC intermittently

[Allan Cook]

Outlook 2003 was working ok up until about 2 months ago when it started
to freeze at the time it was loaded. Not only does it freeze but the
whole PC locks-up as well (mouse, keyboard and the power switch are all
unresponsive) To recover from that state I have to pull the power plug
from the PC. The problem is intermittent and Outlook runs fine the
rest of the time. When the failure occurs, the initial symptom is that
when Outlook loads it does not get mail but instead freezes as the top
window (the mouse pointer still moves but cannot move over the top of
Outlook - it looks like it moves under it) Attempting to use task
manager only results in that freezing as well and very soon everything
is frozen. Anyone else seen this problem?

 

[Mick]

Can i ask how your emails are being collected, i.e. via mail exchange
or POP3 etc... Also what computer and OS are you running?.

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

Close Outlook. Find and rename outcmd.dat to .old. (If using Windows 2000
or XP, you will need to enable searching hidden and system folders.)

Once you have done so, reopen Outlook and it should open fine. You will
need to rebuild any custom toolbars or customizations as the file outcmd.dat
controls how the toolbars display. When it becomes corrupted, it will cause
Outlook to hang because it cannot create the toolbars that you expect.


--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, Allan Cook asked:

| Outlook 2003 was working ok up until about 2 months ago when it
| started to freeze at the time it was loaded. Not only does it freeze
| but the whole PC locks-up as well (mouse, keyboard and the power
| switch are all unresponsive) To recover from that state I have to
| pull the power plug from the PC. The problem is intermittent and
| Outlook runs fine the rest of the time. When the failure occurs, the
| initial symptom is that when Outlook loads it does not get mail but
| instead freezes as the top window (the mouse pointer still moves but
| cannot move over the top of Outlook - it looks like it moves under
| it) Attempting to use task manager only results in that freezing as
| well and very soon everything is frozen. Anyone else seen this
| problem?