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Outlook 2003 causing CPU usage surges

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I have a problem with Outlook using my processor in big surges. I have a new Dell Inspiron 9400 with XP Pro. I have a firewall, Spyware Doctor, Registry mechanic, McAfee and have run them all to check for viruses and spyware. I also downloaded AdwareAlert. Technical support from Dell said it must be a virus. I can’t get an answer from Microsoft unless I pay them. They say it is Dell’s responsibility. I am stumped. I only have the problem when Outlook is running. Anyone else had this problem?

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Clarifications

In reply to Outlook 2003 causing CPU usage surges

Clarifications

Remove this and it will be fine

In reply to Outlook 2003 causing CPU usage surges

The is a program that Dell installs that causes this problem. Go to Add\remove programs and remove the “OutlookAddinSetup” and I bet that your laptop stabilizes. I had the same issue with a few of those laptops at work.

Not going to help

In reply to Remove this and it will be fine

I don’t think that’s the only cuase of the problem becuase we are having the same issue on the network that I am administrating and we have completely re-imaged the machine and didn’t keep any of the dell software that came with it other than the drivers.
The only solution I have been able to come up with is to open the task manager and end the outlook program. This does not get rid of the problem. It just lets the users work on other things until they have the guts to open up there email again. I also noticed that this only happens certain times of the day for different users. All the users are on the same VLAN but are spread out between different exchange servers. I’m not sure if this is a client issue or a server issue. When one of our servers crashed users on a different exchange server began locking up at a different time than usual. If there are any server farm guru’s that maintain an AD network with 2003 exchange servers that already know about the problem please post your findings.

You have the right answer!

In reply to Remove this and it will be fine

I would hug your neck if I could…I removed the program and it stopped the surges, plus solved another problem I did not know was related (my calendar appointments were coming up re-occuring without me setting them as such).

I have spent countless hours on this problem and could not get help from either Dell or Microsoft with out payin big bucks.

There are several forums out there where folks complain about the support they are getting on new products from these companies. I am disgusted with Dell even though I do like their systems. I am a consultant now but I was IT manager for a large company for many years and started buying Dells when they were a little company called PC Limited. I intend to make my complaints known.

Thank you, Thank you….and I appreciate all the other folks who responded. It takes a village!

Disable OutlookAddInSetup in Trust Center

In reply to Remove this and it will be fine

OutlookAddInSetup did not show up for me in Add/Remove Programs.

I was able to disable the “OutlookAddIn” Add In from the Trust Center in Outlook 2007. Tools->Trust Center ….; Add-Ins; Manage: (at bottom of screen)

My symptoms were:
In Outlook 2003 all appointments became recurring and I got lots of extra outlook folders.
In Outlook 2007 I got the 5 second CPU surge and my active window refreshed.

Same problem here

In reply to Outlook 2003 causing CPU usage surges

I have an IBM ThinkCentre with a HyperThreaded Pentium 4 processor. The usual: WinXP, Office 2003 and IE7. Sometimes one of the virtual processors is stuck in the 100% utilization mark and I have no option but to turn the computer off. No word from Microsoft.

Outlook is really slow

In reply to Same problem here

Thank you patrick2005 that did it. I didn’t see your original post so I had done some looking into the traffic that was going on and I think I see what was going on I am just know sure why. Before uninstalling the outlook addin there was a lot of MSRPC unknown packets sent locally and recieved from our echange server. I had begun to setup RPC on the exchange server but never finished. After I uninstalled the app that traffic stopped. I am guessing that this addon is designed to work with the problems around RPC email. Anyways just wanted to send what I found maybe it will help others.

CPU suck

In reply to Outlook 2003 causing CPU usage surges

I’ve found any type of indexing, Google desktop or XP’s file indexer, will wear out the CPU as it tries to sift and sort all the emails.

Things to Look At

In reply to Outlook 2003 causing CPU usage surges

You do not mention which version of outlook you are using, but, sticking out my neck, but not very far, I’ll say 2003, as this is the only version I’ve seen this problem consistently.

Add-ins can be a problem. Have a look at those who are having the problem to see if they are running any add-ins. If there is a common one, remove that and see if the problem has been resolved. If not, it can be a guessing game. Remove all add-ins, and then see if the problem still exists. If not, put the add-ins back, one at a time, until the problem recurs.

If add-ins are not a problem, the next thing to look at is Outlook itself. In a reply, you mention you are a network admin, and this problem is on your network. In this case, you are probably running Exchange and have Outlook running in cached mode (the default). Turn off cached mode to see if the problem resolves itself. If so, the OST file has some corruption in it. Remove the OST file and then turn cached mode back on and let Outlook rebuild the OST file. On the other machines, you might try running SCANOST to fix the file, though turning off cached mode and then removing the OST file and turning on cached mode may be a quicker solution.

If the problem still exists while cached mode it turned off, run a repair on Outlook itself. This will then probably resolve your problem. I still had one machine that did not respond to any of these solutions. That machine was given a bare metal reinstall and then the problem went away.

Add ins probs

In reply to Things to Look At

I too experienced this issue with outlook locking up or using up the CPU – it turned out to be Add ins – specifically AV/Spam – disabled add in and it worked just fine.

I am having the same problem and strangly enough we have the same laptop

In reply to Outlook 2003 causing CPU usage surges

I also have a Dell Inspiron which is brand new just out of the box. As soon as I got it I replaced the XP home edition that was on there with XP pro. All the drivers where on the CD and even went online and matched to make sure I have the latest drivers. But before I did this I noticed that Internet Explorer seem to be having a problem with loading web pages. Even after I rebuilt it Internet Explorer still has the same problem, however it is not as bad as before. My am leaning toward either the NIC driver being the problem. I have taken steps that helped it. I have disabled Word as my default editor, I have disabled all of the add-ins, and still it persists on randomly taking about 33 to 40 percent of my CPU cycles. It maybe a default tcp\ip setting which is applied by the driver when it is installed. I am going to try to make adjustments and see if it helps because I really think that the error occurs when outlook is request information from the Exchange server. I am will return it if I can not repair it.

It’s microsoft again!

In reply to Outlook 2003 causing CPU usage surges

If you are running ie7, windows xp, and Office 2003 and you updated with 931768 or 933566, you are in the microsoft blender of incompatibility. You need to either uninstall ie7 or set office 2003 to open at “Office Today” then go to inbox and you’ll be fine.
Microsoft, I hope you are listening because this is your problem and at the cost of your software you should have fixed this already.

You are right!

In reply to It’s microsoft again!

I installed IE7 a few days ago, and installed both 931768 and 933566 updates today. Outlook has been very slow since. I tried uninstalling the updates (I was getting attached to the new look IE)and that has done the trick. Thanks for that.

give the thumb! give the thumb!

In reply to It’s microsoft again!

hey ireland, don’t neglect to give the thumb to that person who answered you.

Outlook 2003 causes CPU usage surge

In reply to It’s microsoft again!

dalenugen,
Thank you. Changing Outlook 2003 to open on my “Outlook Today” folder cleared things up (for now).

Previously I had unchecked the Symnatec Av & Exchange Extensions property pages, but that fix lasted onyl a short while. Creating a new profile only worked for 3 days.

Good to see another “old timer” is actively involved.

Many thanks…

In reply to It’s microsoft again!

I’ve hunted high & low for a solution to this Outlook 2003 CPU hogging issue and only came across your’s today – much obliged. Microsoft at the very least owe you a public acknowledgement…D

You’re great

In reply to It’s microsoft again!

Have been puzzeling with this for weeks. Outlook was unusable, it took 30 seconds between typing a sentence and seeing it on my screen. Problems solved by starting with outlook today instead of inbox. Can’t wait until MS falls over for good!

[Author]

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