Outlook 2003 not responding, appears to open 2 instances

[Paul67]

When 1 user (out of 4 partioned users) on this pc attempts to open MS Outlook
2003, the software hangs after opening initial Outlook INBOX window, with egg
timer on.
No mail is received or sent and it is impossible to open any mail items (new
or opened)
Investigation via Windows Task Manager displays 2 instances of Outlook both
of which have a status of "Not responding" and the CPU is at 100%

Nothing else is running on PC at that time.
The other 3 users have no problem with Outlook

This users .pst file is relatively small

Has anyone experienced a similar scenario?

 

[Roady [MVP]]

When you logon to the PC is the outlook.exe process already running before
clicking on the Outlook shortcut?

 

[Paul67]

Hi,
I am not sure, but wouldn't that affect the other users in any case? I am
the main user and would normally logon on to the PC initially and don't have
the same problem with Outlook.

How would I check if outlook.exe is running before clicking on shortcut?
Thanks

 

[Roady [MVP]]

The same way as you determined that it was running twice; Task Manager. The
Processes tab is the best tab for this.

 

[Paul67]

Outlook.exe is not running at logon.

FYI, I kept task manager open when I clicked on Outlook shortcut and saw the
following:-

A single instance of Outlook starts "Running" but soon reaches 100% CPU and
changes to "Not responding"

The second line (instance?") of Outlook only shows up after this point as
alos "Not Responding", so maybe my initial statement of opening twice is
misleading.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Alright, in that case see
http://www.howto-outlook.com/faq/outlookdoesntstart.htm

 

[Paul67]

Hi,
1) I tried running scanpst.exe and found some errors which were corrected
but didn't solve the overall problem.
2) I renamed outcmd.dat but it didn't appear to help.
3) When running in safe mode, I decided to delete the SKYPE toolbar for
Outlook, based on the instruction about "add-ons".

Everything seems to be working as normal now.

Many thanks

 

[Roady [MVP]]

You're welcome!



-----

Hi,
1) I tried running scanpst.exe and found some errors which were corrected
but didn't solve the overall problem.
2) I renamed outcmd.dat but it didn't appear to help.
3) When running in safe mode, I decided to delete the SKYPE toolbar for
Outlook, based on the instruction about "add-ons".

Everything seems to be working as normal now.

Many thanks