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Outlook 2003 hogging CPU

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by anthonymurawski

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I'm running Outlook 2003 with a pop account, XP SP3, and MS Internet Explorer 7. Whenever I respond to a message that was sent in HTML format, Outlook 2003 hogs at least 50% of my CPU. None of the solutions I've seen posted online have worked for me. Incidentally, I'm not running Spybot, which has also run into this problem. I've tried the following:

(1) Changed the security setting in Outlook from Restricted to Internet. I know this is isn't recommended; I just wanted to see whether it helped.

(2) In Outlook, clicked Tools, Options, Mail Format, and chose plain text for outgoing messages. For some reason, the "Use MS Word 2003 to edit email messages" option is greyed out.

(3) Deleted the Outcmd.dat file while Outlook was closed, so that it would be rebuilt in case it was corrupted.

(4) Congigured Outlook to start with Outlook Today instead of with the Inbox.

The only thing that prevents this problem is if I change the format of my reply message to plain text. Oddly enough, I can then change the format of my reply back to HTML, and the problem does not reappear (until I reply to another message that was sent in HTML format).

Any ideas?

Many thanks,
Anthony

14 replies

by Former member

Have you applied the Outlook performance fix made available a few months ago through Office Update and Microsoft Update?

Please post back if you have any more problems or questions.
If this information is useful, please mark as helpful. Thanks.

by anthonymurawski

Hi Peconet,

Thank you for replying. All of my updates for Outlook 2003 are current.

I forgot to mention the following in my original message:

(1) I've tried Detect and Repair from within Outlook 2003.

(2) I've noticed that MS07-027: Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (#931768), released in mid-May 2007, was causing this problem for some people. This one is not listed in my EI7 updates in Add/Remove programs.

(3) I uninstalled the most recent cumulative security update for IE7 (KB931768). This didn't make a difference. Subsequently, automatic update installed two cumulative security updates for IE7 (KB953838 & KB953839), but this hasn't made a difference.

(4) I ran into a similar problem about a year ago (slow typing in HTML in Outlook 2003), and resolved it by adding adding a new DWORD value called "outlook.exe" and seting it to 1 in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_MIME_SNIFFING. I tried removing this entry and adding it again.

by anthonymurawski

I just tried resetting all of my IE7 settings in Tools -> Internet Options -> Advanced, but this hasn't solved the problem either. --Anthony

by rob miners

.

Click on Start, Run and type in regedt32.exe and press Enter.

Navigate to this path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Security. It contains a key called OutlookSecureTempFolder

Delete the key!

Open Outlook

On the File Menu select Tools, Options, Security and select Change Automatic Download Settings then uncheck Don't download pictures or other content automatically in HTML e-mail

Keep us informed as to your progress if you require further assistance.

If you think that any of the posts that have been made by all TR Members, have solved or contributed to solving the problem, please Mark them as Helpful so that others may benefit from the outcome. ;) :D

by anthonymurawski

Hi Jacky,
Thank for taking the time to reply. I tried
your suggestion, but unfortunately, the temp
folder didn't turn out to be the problem.
Anthony

by rob miners

If MS Word is greyed out it may have been corrupted.

Do a manual search for and rename the normal.dot file. Restart Word and a new normal.dot file will be created.

Normal.dot is located in C:\Documents and Settings\"Username"\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates folder. It is a hidden file, so you will have to unhide hidden files. In Explorer go to the Menu and select Tools, Folders Options, View. Check "Show hidden files and folders". Click OK.

Repair MS Word. With Word open, go to Help, Detect and Repair.

If that dosn't work, go to Add and Remove Programs and highlight Microsoft Office. Click on Remove. A menu will pop up allowing you to choose repair or reinstall. Try a Repair.

Keep us informed as to your progress if you require further assistance.

If you think that any of the posts that have been made by all TR Members, have solved or contributed to solving the problem, please Mark them as Helpful so that others may benefit from the outcome. ;) :D

by anthonymurawski

Thanks again, Jacky. I did as you suggested,
and was able to run the repair - but Word is
still greyed out as an editor option in
Outlook.

I also just ran the Inbox Repair tool
(scanpst.exe). It found and corrected errors
in the .pst file, but this didn't solve my
problem. Outlook 2003 is still hogging CPU
when I reply to an HTML message.

I'm now downloading the beta version of IE8.
If this is being caused by a conflict between
Outlook 2003 and IE7, maybe using IE8 will
solve the problem? I'll report back soon...

Anthony

by rob miners

The first step in troubleshooting this issue is to run Internet Explorer in "No Add-ons" mode. Here's how to do it.

Go to Start, All Programs and System Tools

Click Internet Explorer (No Add-ons)

Restart Internet Explorer. If it runs smoothly, then it can be determined that one of the add-ons was causing the problem. You will need to continue troubleshooting this issue until you find out which add on was causing the problem.

Start Internet Explorer 7
Go to Tools, Programs, Manage Add-ons button

Under the option "Add-ons that have been used by Internet Explorer", you will see a list of all of the add-ons installed on your system.
Click the name of an enabled add-on and then click Disable under the Settings option.
Note: You may want to speed this process by disabling 3 or more add-ons at a time.

1. Start Internet Explorer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.

3. On the Advanced tab, click to select the Disable Script Debugging check box in the Browsing section.

4. Click OK, and then restart Windows.

How to reinstall or repair Internet Explorer in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318378

1. Click Start, Run type CMD and press Enter.

2. Type the following command and press Enter:

"%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" /rereg

Keep us informed as to your progress if you require further assistance.

If you think that any of the posts that have been made by all TR Members, have solved or contributed to solving the problem, please Mark them as Helpful so that others may benefit from the outcome. ;) :D

by anthonymurawski

Thanks again, Jacky.

Installed IE8 before seeing your message. Tried all of your suggestions in IE8, but no luck. Uninstalled IE8 and tried your suggestions in IE7, but still no luck.

--Anthony

by anthonymurawski

The latest:

I created a new pst file and imported my directories and email messages into it from the old pst file - but this didn't solve my problem.

I removed SpywareBlaster, SurfOffline Pro, WinHTTrack website copier, MS Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable, Yahoo Autosync, Iolo System Mechanic 8, and temporarily disabled Kaspersky and X1 Desktop Search (a fantastic program that lets you do sophisticated Boolean and text proximity searches on your hard drive).

No luck so far...

--Anthony

by rob miners

If you are using MS Word 2002 and Outlook 2003, you cannot use MS Word as the editor as they are incompatible. You need to either upgrade MS Word to 2003 or downgrade Outlook to 2002. That is probably why it is greyed out.

Keep us informed as to your progress if you require further assistance.

If you think that any of the posts that have been made by all TR Members, have solved or contributed to solving the problem, please Mark them as Helpful so that others may benefit from the outcome. ;) :D

by anthonymurawski

Thanks again, Jacky.

Yes, I am using Office XP (including Word 2002), and Outlook 2003.

I'll upgrade to Word 2003. Hopefully, this will solve the problem.

Will report back...

--Anthony

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