Outlook 2003 very slow, then not responding

[Dave@envigour_systems]

Hi everyone,

Hope someone can help. Overnight, my Outlook 2003 has become *very* slow to
open and when it does, the mails*trickle* through, usually ending in OL
freezing totally.

Hopefully this is enough info:

multiple mailboxes, totalling 1.1gb
512k connection, and all web sites etc work fine, just mail
OL 2003/XPSP2 with all updates etc
NAV 2004 and Microsoft anti-spyware all updated and run with no trace of
anything

I tried starting both Windows and OL in safe mode but this makes no
difference, it just takes forveer to start and when it does, freezes or very
slowly lets some mails through, THEN freezes.

When this happens, Windows Task manager shows OL using 81,567 in memory -
out of 512mb available. This is far and away the biggest chunk of resources
being used.

I regaularly use MS's great backup tool for OL, and so I have full backups
of the files if this is any help. Has anyone any idea what might be causing
this, and more importantly what I might try to resurrect the performance I
enjoyed!

Many thanks in advance!

Best regards ( and have a great weekend ! )

Dave.

 

[Brian Tillman]

Hope someone can help. Overnight, my Outlook 2003 has become *very*
slow to open and when it does, the mails*trickle* through, usually
ending in OL freezing totally.

Hopefully this is enough info:

multiple mailboxes, totalling 1.1gb
512k connection, and all web sites etc work fine, just mail
OL 2003/XPSP2 with all updates etc
NAV 2004 and Microsoft anti-spyware all updated and run with no trace
of anything

Several things to try. First, uninstall NAV and reinstall without the mail
scanning option. Then, delete the file
%AppData%\Microsoft\Outloko\outcmd.dat. Then in Outlook, click
Tools>Options>Other and disable Smart Tags at the bottom. Finally, try a
new mail profile in Control Panel>Mail>Show Profiles>Add and point it at
your existing PST.

 

[Dave@envigour_systems]

Hi Brian,

Many thanks for that, I appreciate it. I'll give this a go right now. Before
I do, and at the risk of sounding a total thickie, when you say New Profile -
this is new terminology for me!

Is this an idiot-proof wizard type thing, or is there more to it than that?
Am I right in thinking that I only have one profile, and this relates to the
multiple mailboxes I use?

Sorry if I appear dense. I mean, I am, I just don't like to appear it!

Many thanks,

Regards,

Dave. ( And sorry if top-posting is a no-no! )

 

[Brian Tillman]

Many thanks for that, I appreciate it. I'll give this a go right now.
Before I do, and at the risk of sounding a total thickie, when you
say New Profile - this is new terminology for me!

A mail profile is created using the Mail applet in the Control Panel. It's
actually an area in the Registery that contains the information on what
accounts you have created and what services are available in Outlook, like
the Outlook Address Book service, the Personal Folders service, and so in.
Sometimes the information in this profile or the files that are connected to
this profile that determine your send/receive settings and so on can become
corrupted and require recreating. Sometimes simply deleting those files
(like the outcmd.dat file) and allowing Outlook to recreate them is enough.
Sometimes it's not and an entire new profile must be created.

Is this an idiot-proof wizard type thing, or is there more to it than
that? Am I right in thinking that I only have one profile, and this
relates to the multiple mailboxes I use?

Not idiot-proof but reasonably (at least to me) straight-forward. If you
understand the relationships of the profile to the files Outlook uses,
things get more clear. There are many web sites that can provide an
education, especially ones like http://www.slipstick.com/ and
http://www.howto-outlook.com/.

Sorry if I appear dense. I mean, I am, I just don't like to appear it!

Everyone's a beginner at some point.