Windows Forum

Ask something
Discussion Locked

SLOW response in Outlook Express

0 helpful
13 replies

by cemetery mike

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.

Upon rebooting, and subsequent first attempt at either opening an existing message or perhaps wishing to write a new one, the response time is abysmally slow, like, at least a few minutes in length before the applicable window will open. After the first attempt, it gets markedly better, but the first one of the day takes forever.

Is there something I can do to remedy this? This started happening about a year ago. Before that, it was fine.

I am running on XP with Norton Anti-Virus, and regularly check for Spyware with Ad-Aware (free version).

Thank-you for your help in this regard.

13 replies

by hyoi

How long after your reboot do you try to open OE? If it is right after reboot, Norton is often loading all of its many processes.

Also, which version of Norton are you running? Some of the cheaper versions seem to have issues with their email integration.

by lmayeda

You may want to check on the sizes of your mailboxes (Documents and Settings\User id\Local Settings\Application data\Identities\Microsoft\Outlook express). If the mailboxes never cleaned out (ie, huge) it would logically take longer to load. You should also check the hard drive for fragmentation. If mailboxes are large and disk is heavily fragmented, it will take that much longer to load initially. Hope this helps somewhat.

by page.mark

I had this problem a while ago and no one ever was able to give me the answer. It continued until I upgraded the version of IE.

If you have the latest version, I would certainly endorse doing every step that will make your folders smaller.. delete old mail (don't forget the SENT folder), and compact the folders. You might also want to make sure Norton is not scanning your mail folders when you open Outlook.

by cemetery mike

Do you mean upgrade the version of OE? Or are you really referring to IE?

Is there any way I can back up old mail to a different form?

by hyoi

I think lmayda might be on the right track there, or at least have found a possibility. The path that is being referred to is:
C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\(really long string of letters and number)\Microsoft\Outlook Express
You might not be able to see this if you don't have the right settings in your folder view. To set this, open Explorer (Windows, not IE), then click Tools, Folder Options. Next click the "View" tab. In the Advanced Settings window, you want to select the radio button under "Hidden files and folders" that says "Show hidden files and folders.

Another way to find the OE files (after you've made sure that you can see hidden files and folders), is to search for *.dbx.

HTH

by cemetery mike

I found the folder - it is 1.79GB. Is this the problem? Again - is there a way to keep my messages in a different format?

by hyoi

"I found the folder - it is 1.79GB. Is this the problem? Again - is there a way to keep my messages in a different format?"

That would be your problem. I can't find the reference now, but one of the theoretical limits of OE at one time was 1 GB, and would break after that point, i.e. it would begin to behave oddly or slowly.

In this instance, you have two choices.
1. Delete some emails. In case you're not aware of it, OE does not delete emails permanently when you click or hit delete. It moves them into the deleted items folder. They are not permanently gone until they are deleted out of there. That may be one area you can get some of your space back. Another potential is your sent items folder. OE, by default, automatically saves a copy of everything that you send in that folder. From a CYA perspective it might be good to keep some, but probably not all. Finally, it might just help to delete (permanently from OE) old email. To do this you can either delete it from your folders, and then out of the deleted items folder, or hold shift when you hit delete.
2. You can change client. Outlook can handle much larger file sizes than OE. Thunderbird is another viable alternative.

by cemetery mike

Thanks - I've made the switch to Outlook, and after a few hiccups, everything seems to be working better (with a few bugs still to work out here and there, specifically, when composing new messages, I wish to have the ability to paste in a pic, as I did in Express. As it stands now, it is only providing a link. Any help on how to get rid of this security function? I can't seem to get things the way I used to have them in Express in this regard.

by hyoi

Sorry that I haven't responded in awhile. If you're trying to get an image into the email so that it can be seen when you open the email without having to open the attachment, that is something that I don't think can be done at all in Outlook. It is because of virus vulnerabilities. Sorry I don't really have a solution.

This discussion is closed to new replies.