Outlook slow to load and respond to commands

[bryan]

I need some help fast!

Two days ago my Outlook 2002 started loading slow. It's been fine up
until then. I have a IBM ThinkPad laptop running -

XP SP1
256 MB RAM
11.2 GB hardrive

I have read through many of the posts and followed the instructions
given for many who had a similar problem.

I have checked my Windows Messenger. It's been disabled for months.
I found the outcmd.dat file and changed it to .old, restarted Outlook
but still no change.
My outlook.pst file is only 75 MB.

I have defragged my hard drive but still no change

Whenever I click on a command for Outlook it gives four quick sounds
in row like its accessing my hard drive for something. It continues to
do this until the command is complete (5-10 mins later)

No other applications or programs are affected. Everything runs
smoothly except Outlook.

Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[bryan]

I need to revise my stats of the laptop -

XP Pro 2002 SP1
Intel Pentium III
697 MHz
384 MB Ram

 

[Gordon]

XP Pro 2002 SP1
Intel Pentium III
697 MHz
384 MB Ram

384 MB RAM is ONLY just enough to run XP reasonably well - you need to
upgrade to 512 MB at least if you can....

 

[bryan]

384 MB RAM is ONLY just enough to run XP reasonably well - you need to
upgrade to 512 MB at least if you can....

Ok, thanks. But what about my Outlook problem? Any ideas about that?

 

[Gordon]

Ok, thanks. But what about my Outlook problem? Any ideas about that?

See if this helps:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933493

 

[bryan]

See if this helps:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933493- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks, Gordon, however that applies to Outlook 2007 and I have
Outlook 2002

 

[Gordon]

Thanks, Gordon, however that applies to Outlook 2007 and I have
Outlook 2002

Try creating a new Outlook Profile and see if the same thing happens...

 

[bryan]

Try creating a new Outlook Profile and see if the same thing happens...

Thanks, Gordon. That worked. I created a new profile named "test" and
everything loaded OK. Very quick as at the beginning. So what in my
old profile is causing the slow load? My old profile name is "Outlook."

 

[Gordon]

Thanks, Gordon. That worked. I created a new profile named "test" and
everything loaded OK. Very quick as at the beginning. So what in my
old profile is causing the slow load? My old profile name is "Outlook."

Sounds like a corrupted profile - does happen, though I'm not sure what
causes it.....create a proper new profile and point it at the old pst file
and see if that's OK. if it is, then use that and delete the old profile.

HTH

 

[bryan]

Sounds like a corrupted profile - does happen, though I'm not sure what
causes it.....create a proper new profile and point it at the old pst file
and see if that's OK. if it is, then use that and delete the old profile.

HTH- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

How do you do that? My old data file/profile is 74 MB. Am I talking
about the correct files?

 

[Gordon]

How do you do that? My old data file/profile is 74 MB. Am I talking
about the correct files?

That's right - the profile information is different to the data. In Control
Panel-Mail, create the new profile, then add the old pst file under Data
Files. Set that as the default, then remove the file that would have been
created when the profile was created.

HTH

 

[bryan]

That's right - the profile information is different to the data. In Control
Panel-Mail, create the new profile, then add the old pst file under Data
Files. Set that as the default, then remove the file that would have been
created when the profile was created.

HTH- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

It appears the data file itself (Outlook.pst) is corrupt. Every time I
choose it to look at it or make changes it takes about 5-10 sec to
respond. I'll keep working with to see what I can do. So I don't know
if the profile is corrupt or the pst. If the pst is corrupt how do I
fix it? That's all my email and everything, right?

 

[bryan]

It appears the data file itself (Outlook.pst) is corrupt. Every time I
choose it to look at it or make changes it takes about 5-10 sec to
respond. I'll keep working with to see what I can do. So I don't know
if the profile is corrupt or the pst. If the pst is corrupt how do I
fix it? That's all my email and everything, right?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Gordon,

I want to thank you for all your help this morning. It lead to my
actual root problem and I will share the solution here just in case
someone else has the same problem.

Basically after making a new profile and trying to point it to my
former pst file, I still had the same problem of slow response and
nothing would save. After working with Gordon above and eliminating
the other possibilites, everything seemed to point to a corrupted pst
file rather than my profile.

I was right!

I saw some earlier posts that mentioned the scanpst.exe tool on XP. I
found the tool on my laptop and scanned my pst file. The tool said it
could not access the file and suggested I run a scandisk (or chkdsk)
to see if there were any problems with my hard drive and then come
back and run scanpst.exe again. I scanned my drive and "lo and behold"
---- (drumroll, please)

--- it said there were some bad clusters where my pst file was
located!!!!

Chkdsk repaired the clusters and now I can access Outlook fine!

Needless to say I was very happy.

To summarize:

Symptom: Outlook loads slow and responds slow to commands

Recommended checks:

1. Check to see if the Windows Messenger is enabled. If so, disable
it. Reopen Outlook and see if that fixed it.
2. Look for your outcmd.dat file and change the extension to .old.
Reopen Outlook and see if that fixed it.
3. Scan your pst file(s) with scanpst.exe (located on your computer)
to see if the pst file is corrupt. This tool will also repair it if it
finds a problem. Reopen Outlook and see if that fixed it.

One of the steps above should fix your problem most of the time.

Again, thanks Gordon for all of your help!

 

[Gordon]

Gordon,

I want to thank you for all your help this morning. It lead to my
actual root problem and I will share the solution here just in case
someone else has the same problem.

Basically after making a new profile and trying to point it to my
former pst file, I still had the same problem of slow response and
nothing would save. After working with Gordon above and eliminating
the other possibilites, everything seemed to point to a corrupted pst
file rather than my profile.

I was right!

I saw some earlier posts that mentioned the scanpst.exe tool on XP. I
found the tool on my laptop and scanned my pst file. The tool said it
could not access the file and suggested I run a scandisk (or chkdsk)
to see if there were any problems with my hard drive and then come
back and run scanpst.exe again. I scanned my drive and "lo and behold"
---- (drumroll, please)

--- it said there were some bad clusters where my pst file was
located!!!!

Chkdsk repaired the clusters and now I can access Outlook fine!

Needless to say I was very happy.

To summarize:

Symptom: Outlook loads slow and responds slow to commands

Recommended checks:

1. Check to see if the Windows Messenger is enabled. If so, disable
it. Reopen Outlook and see if that fixed it.
2. Look for your outcmd.dat file and change the extension to .old.
Reopen Outlook and see if that fixed it.
3. Scan your pst file(s) with scanpst.exe (located on your computer)
to see if the pst file is corrupt. This tool will also repair it if it
finds a problem. Reopen Outlook and see if that fixed it.

One of the steps above should fix your problem most of the time.

Again, thanks Gordon for all of your help!

You're welcome. Glad it's sorted....