G
Guest
Hi, I'm running WinXP and Office 2003 which I've updated with everything
possible from microsoft.com. I was forever having trouble with bodacious
loading times with Outlook 2003, it would also freeze up and I would close it
with Task Manager. It was freezing at various times and while I was doing
various tasks within Outlook, if it loaded at all. Well, first I discovered
that McAfee Spamkiller was doing its thing every doggone time I started
Outlook, and it was re-scanning everything including my archives. Outlook
took over and disabled a part of McAfee and all was better so far as speed...
except as I boot up, I get a splash window from McAfee that Outlook has done
its deed and I should reenable it... which I simply click to ignore. Well,
the problem with freezing was still there, and after scores of times using
Task Manager to kill it, starting in SAFE Mode in which all was fine except
some features were gone, and running Det & Repair so many times I can't
count, I finally came to this forum. I couldn't display the thread again
that helped me solve the problem, so I'm posting here:
I've taken some license with quoted excerpts from Jocelyn Fiorello [MVP -
Outlook] post reply dated 2/8/2006... You may have a corrupted outcmd.dat
file... Outlook can't complete building toolbars which hangs it up... try
renaming the file or deleting it while Outlook is closed. Renaming is
best... so you can restore it if this doesn't fix your problem... you will
need to search in hidden and system folders to find the outcmd.dat file.
Now, I was so frustrated with the problems I was having and I tried almost
everything everybody was suggesting and ultimately what has solved my problem
was the outcmd.dat file. I simply closed Outlook, located and renamed
outcmd.dat to outcmd.old and when I opened Outlook back up, it regenerated
its outcmd.dat file and IT WORKS fine! Thank you Joyce!
Some other suggestions were that if the outcmd.dat file was large (it should
only be like 2-3kb file) it should be deleted so Outlook would build a new
one. Well, mine was only 2Kb, and I almost didn't rename it because it
wasn't "large"... but I did what Joyce suggested anyway and I'm now happy.
I see a tremendous number of posts about problems with Outlook but few from
posters who reply whether or not suggestions solved their problem. Joyce,
and others, are in here trying to help with suggestions galore. But people,
when you post here PLEASE give this Forum more credit and respect. STAY WITH
YOUR THREAD until your problem is solved AND when solved, or not, after
trying what is suggested, come back to the thread and report your results. I
must have read a hundred posts all with the same problem and not one of you
original posters have come back and reported the outcome. FURTHERMORE,
please ADD your post to the same thread as the first user who reported
his/her problem if your problem is the same... better yet, if your problem
has already been reported, monitor the thread and follow-thru instead of
making yet another thread for everybody to try to work and keep up with.
Again, half of you have been told that renaming the outcmd.dat file is a
good idea, but you're overlooking it and still wanting a miracle fix. Brian
and Jocelyn have suggested it numerous times but you all treat your problem
as if it is the only one out there instead of reading all of the posts and
trying their remedies.
Sorry for the soapbox, but I think with a little effort on our part to read
the existing posts and stay subordinate to the ones that are already like my
own problems, our MVP's would be able to help us all a lot easier.
I just started searching the forum yesterday and found Joyce's post from
February so her suggestion didn't just happen. I guess the forum's age
removed the thread or I lost my way back to it; otherwise I would have added
this to that thread and revived it. We all can do better at using what's
here, can't we?
possible from microsoft.com. I was forever having trouble with bodacious
loading times with Outlook 2003, it would also freeze up and I would close it
with Task Manager. It was freezing at various times and while I was doing
various tasks within Outlook, if it loaded at all. Well, first I discovered
that McAfee Spamkiller was doing its thing every doggone time I started
Outlook, and it was re-scanning everything including my archives. Outlook
took over and disabled a part of McAfee and all was better so far as speed...
except as I boot up, I get a splash window from McAfee that Outlook has done
its deed and I should reenable it... which I simply click to ignore. Well,
the problem with freezing was still there, and after scores of times using
Task Manager to kill it, starting in SAFE Mode in which all was fine except
some features were gone, and running Det & Repair so many times I can't
count, I finally came to this forum. I couldn't display the thread again
that helped me solve the problem, so I'm posting here:
I've taken some license with quoted excerpts from Jocelyn Fiorello [MVP -
Outlook] post reply dated 2/8/2006... You may have a corrupted outcmd.dat
file... Outlook can't complete building toolbars which hangs it up... try
renaming the file or deleting it while Outlook is closed. Renaming is
best... so you can restore it if this doesn't fix your problem... you will
need to search in hidden and system folders to find the outcmd.dat file.
Now, I was so frustrated with the problems I was having and I tried almost
everything everybody was suggesting and ultimately what has solved my problem
was the outcmd.dat file. I simply closed Outlook, located and renamed
outcmd.dat to outcmd.old and when I opened Outlook back up, it regenerated
its outcmd.dat file and IT WORKS fine! Thank you Joyce!
Some other suggestions were that if the outcmd.dat file was large (it should
only be like 2-3kb file) it should be deleted so Outlook would build a new
one. Well, mine was only 2Kb, and I almost didn't rename it because it
wasn't "large"... but I did what Joyce suggested anyway and I'm now happy.
I see a tremendous number of posts about problems with Outlook but few from
posters who reply whether or not suggestions solved their problem. Joyce,
and others, are in here trying to help with suggestions galore. But people,
when you post here PLEASE give this Forum more credit and respect. STAY WITH
YOUR THREAD until your problem is solved AND when solved, or not, after
trying what is suggested, come back to the thread and report your results. I
must have read a hundred posts all with the same problem and not one of you
original posters have come back and reported the outcome. FURTHERMORE,
please ADD your post to the same thread as the first user who reported
his/her problem if your problem is the same... better yet, if your problem
has already been reported, monitor the thread and follow-thru instead of
making yet another thread for everybody to try to work and keep up with.
Again, half of you have been told that renaming the outcmd.dat file is a
good idea, but you're overlooking it and still wanting a miracle fix. Brian
and Jocelyn have suggested it numerous times but you all treat your problem
as if it is the only one out there instead of reading all of the posts and
trying their remedies.
Sorry for the soapbox, but I think with a little effort on our part to read
the existing posts and stay subordinate to the ones that are already like my
own problems, our MVP's would be able to help us all a lot easier.
I just started searching the forum yesterday and found Joyce's post from
February so her suggestion didn't just happen. I guess the forum's age
removed the thread or I lost my way back to it; otherwise I would have added
this to that thread and revived it. We all can do better at using what's
here, can't we?