Outlook Opens Very Slow (20+ minutes)

[candlepins]

XP SP3, 1G ram, Dell Inspiron E1505. Outlook 2003 opens extremely slow and as
it opens available RAM drops to 10M. After opening, available RAM slowly
climbs back up to 780M. I've done all MS updates, in-depth virus scans, run
spyware, did a Outlook 2003 repair, Outlook 2003 reinstall, and
uninstall-reinstall. I even installed Office XP Outlook 2002 and that also
opens extremely slow. All other Office apps (word, excel, access, powerpoint)
open and run fine. I have to open outlook in safe mode by doing start, run,
and typing in outlook.exe /safe. Any help/suggestions to fix this problem
would be appreciated.

 

[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.
ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, candlepins asked:

| XP SP3, 1G ram, Dell Inspiron E1505. Outlook 2003 opens extremely
| slow and as it opens available RAM drops to 10M. After opening,
| available RAM slowly climbs back up to 780M. I've done all MS
| updates, in-depth virus scans, run spyware, did a Outlook 2003
| repair, Outlook 2003 reinstall, and uninstall-reinstall. I even
| installed Office XP Outlook 2002 and that also opens extremely slow.
| All other Office apps (word, excel, access, powerpoint) open and run
| fine. I have to open outlook in safe mode by doing start, run, and
| typing in outlook.exe /safe. Any help/suggestions to fix this problem
| would be appreciated.

 

[Abhishek]

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.
ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, candlepins asked:

| XP SP3, 1G ram, Dell Inspiron E1505. Outlook 2003 opens extremely
| slow and as it opens available RAM drops to 10M. After opening,
| available RAM slowly climbs back up to 780M. I've done all MS
| updates, in-depth virus scans, run spyware, did a Outlook 2003
| repair, Outlook 2003 reinstall, and uninstall-reinstall. I even
| installed Office XP Outlook 2002 and that also opens extremely slow.
| All other Office apps (word, excel, access, powerpoint) open and run
| fine. I have to open outlook in safe mode by doing start, run, and
| typing in outlook.exe /safe. Any help/suggestions to fix this problem
| would be appreciated.

The outcmd.dat file in the application data\microsoft\outlook folder might
be corrupt.
1. Rename or delete this file while Outlook is closed.
2. When you restart Outlook, the folder will be recreated.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

The outcmd.dat file in the application data\microsoft\outlook folder might
be corrupt.
1. Rename or delete this file while Outlook is closed.
2. When you restart Outlook, the folder will be recreated.

That's exactly what Milly said. Is there some additional point you wished
to make?