Outlook stops responding, Task Manager\Processes shows an outlook process using 100% of the CPU time

[Mathew Laughlin]

I'm stumped by this one. Outlook 2002 started behaving this way when I got
my new laptop with a built in WiFi card.
So far I can't see any connections to this particular hardware or nic card,
however.

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION
- Outlook will stop responding at least several times per day.
- All other applications may also slow down or stop responding...whether or
not Outlook is open at the time.
- Also, occassionally Outlook will fail to load, fail to send and receive
email, or fail to find Contact Records within a reasonable period of time.
The work arounds described below temporarily resolve that problem as well.

WORK AROUNDS \ ADDITIONAL SYMPTOMS
1) If I go into Task Manager\Processes, I will find that an Outlook process
(if not multiple Outlook processes) is\are using 100% of the CPU
time...whether or not the Outlook application is open at the time. Ending
the process causes my other applications to respond normally once again
and\or allow Outlook to load succcessfully on the next attempt.

2) Curiously, if Outlook is open, but has locked up...connecting or
reconnecting to any Wireless Access Point will give me access to Outlook
once again. (I haven't yet had a chance to close Outlook at that point, then
check to see if an Outlook process is still running...and how much CPU time
the process is taking up.) Simply connecting to the Access Point gives me
access to Outlook once again, I don't need to hit "Send\Recieve". The
problem continues to occur and this 2nd work around continues to be
effective whether I am connected to the internet through my wireless NIC, or
my ethernet NIC. (I've even turned the wireless card completely off and used
the ethernet nic by itself. If so, turning the wireless card on again and
connecting to any access point will give me access to Outlook once again).

ENVIRONMENT
Office XP SP-2 and Windows XP SP-1 running on an IBM X31 laptop with an
Intel Ethernet card onboard and an IBM Mini PCI Wifi card installed.
I use Outlook in offline mode, with the online and offline send\recieve
options set to "every 20 minutes". I have just set those options to "never",
but have not yet tested it. I send and receive my email through a standard
ISP, not through a work oriented email server.

Mathew Laughlin

 

[Dan Neuwirth]

I have seen this behavior on NUMEROUS (at least 7-8)
systems over the past 6 months. It always appears the
same, I have one or more "busy" Outlook processes running,
even after exiting Outlook. At times, this can actually
cause a lack of Internet connectivity on the
workstations. Killing all OUTLOOK.EXE processes seems to
totally resolve all issues, and web browsing and Outlook
again work properly (until the next accumulation of hung
processes). This is something I have to do 1-2 times per
day. I have seen it at numerous sites (different
companies), though from memory it appears to happen mostly
with Outlook 2002.

I have no idea why this happens, but I'm posting to
say "you're not alone". I've seen this a lot and I
haven't been able to find any Q or acknowledgement of this
issue. Howefully someone will respond with a solution or
cause.

To add information to the thread, on the most prominent
offending machine I have Windows XP Pro (all service packs
and critical updates rolled in), Outlook XP SP2 (all
available Office updates rolled in), nVidia on-board
10/100 Ethernet (Asus A7N8X-Dlx MoBo) [also happened with
a 3Com card], Single XP2600+ CPU, Windows Messenger not
running at any time (disabled startup, not allowed to run
in background), 1Gb RAM.

-Dan Neuwirth

 

[Mathew Laughlin]

Well, glad to hear that I'm not alone (I guess).
I'm really curious to know why connecting or reconnecting to a WiFi Access
Point suddenly makes Outlook start responding again when the application is
locked up.
I'm also curious to know why I've never experienced the problem before.
In moving from "normal performance" to suddenly having this problem, I HAVE
made the following changes -
- Switched from a Dell Inspiron laptop to an IBM X31 with an Intel Pro\1000
ethernet and IBM High Rate Wifi card.
- Moved from Windows 2000 on the Dell to Windows XP Pro on the IBM
- Switched DSL ISP's from Earthlink to Verizon (Verizon is my local carrier,
so Earthlink was actually using their equipment when I was with them).

I assume that the "new problem" is based in at least one of those changes.
I spoke with an MS Support Rep. I don't have a complete understanding or
solution yet, but I think we're a bit further along.

1) You may want to check out article #320843 in the MS KB regarding TCP\IP
connectivity issues...if you haven't already.

2) Possible culprit #1 - an MTU setting
- The support rep noticed that when I send email using my SprintPCS account,
the "Send" process occurs immediately. However, when I send email from my
Verizon email account, the "Send" process often\usually takes a very long
time and\or errors out. (I had previously noticed that I often need to
restart Outlook in order to send email successfully. I've now cleared the
check in the "Don't show this dialog box during send\receive" on the Outlook
Send\Receive progress window, so that I can keep a closer eye on this.)
His conclusion was that the Verizon SMTP server is\was having difficulty
authenticating my account...
- His suspicion regarding the Outlook application - The application may
continue attempting to complete the "Send" process even after I've exited
the program.
- His suspicion regarding the Verizon smtp server - Verizon may have
implemented a maximum MTU limit of 1492. The Windows default is 1500. (I
have to apoligize, I can't remember what test we ran which led to a
conclusion of "MTU problem". However, he mentioned that Verizon is not the
only DSL ISP to implement an MTU limit which is less than the Windows
default setting.
- We then used a utility called DRTCP to modiy the MTU setting in the
registry. After the fact, I realized that the "Speedbit" utility I already
had installed can also be used to modify the same setting.
- Changing the MTU setting DID improve the "Send" process involving my
Verizon email account.
- BUT...I DID continue to get the "slow performance\Outlook process using
100% of the CPU time" problem a few times after that...I don't THINK they
are occuring quite as often, however. The problem would occur when I was
working on other things, NOT necessarily when sending or receiving email.
( had turned off the "Check for mail every 20 minutes" option on both email
accounts, so if an email connectivity problem is still involved, I would
think that it would occur only when I launched that process manually).

3) Possible culprit #2 - ActiveSync?
- I THINK the problem in its current form may start when my Pocket PC syncs.
I was using ActiveSync 3.6, but upgraded to 3.7 several days ago. I haven't
noticed the problem getting better or worse as a result of that software
change.

4) Possible culprit #3 - NIC drivers.
- I don't really think that's it. However, I did see that newer drivers for
both the IBM WiFi and the Intel card ethernet card have been posted on the
IBM web site. I've installed the new drivers and haven't noticed any change
in the frequency or severity of the problem.

ISP SERVERS INVOLVED
I connect to the Internet via DSL and access the Verizon and Sprint PCS
email servers only...no corporate servers and no VPNs are involved. The
servers involved ARE -
POP3 - incoming.verizon.net
SMTP - outgoing.verizon.net
POP3 - pop.sprintpcs.com
SMTP - smtp.sprintpcs.com

I have seen this behavior on NUMEROUS (at least 7-8)
systems over the past 6 months. It always appears the
same, I have one or more "busy" Outlook processes running,
even after exiting Outlook. At times, this can actually
cause a lack of Internet connectivity on the
workstations. Killing all OUTLOOK.EXE processes seems to
totally resolve all issues, and web browsing and Outlook
again work properly (until the next accumulation of hung
processes). This is something I have to do 1-2 times per
day. I have seen it at numerous sites (different
companies), though from memory it appears to happen mostly
with Outlook 2002.

I have no idea why this happens, but I'm posting to
say "you're not alone". I've seen this a lot and I
haven't been able to find any Q or acknowledgement of this
issue. Howefully someone will respond with a solution or
cause.

To add information to the thread, on the most prominent
offending machine I have Windows XP Pro (all service packs
and critical updates rolled in), Outlook XP SP2 (all
available Office updates rolled in), nVidia on-board
10/100 Ethernet (Asus A7N8X-Dlx MoBo) [also happened with
a 3Com card], Single XP2600+ CPU, Windows Messenger not
running at any time (disabled startup, not allowed to run
in background), 1Gb RAM.

-Dan Neuwirth

-----Original Message-----
I'm stumped by this one. Outlook 2002 started behaving this way when I got
my new laptop with a built in WiFi card.
So far I can't see any connections to this particular hardware or nic card,
however.

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION
- Outlook will stop responding at least several times per day.
- All other applications may also slow down or stop responding...whether or
not Outlook is open at the time.
- Also, occassionally Outlook will fail to load, fail to send and receive
email, or fail to find Contact Records within a reasonable period of time.
The work arounds described below temporarily resolve that problem as well.

WORK AROUNDS \ ADDITIONAL SYMPTOMS
1) If I go into Task Manager\Processes, I will find that an Outlook process
(if not multiple Outlook processes) is\are using 100% of the CPU
time...whether or not the Outlook application is open at the time. Ending
the process causes my other applications to respond normally once again
and\or allow Outlook to load succcessfully on the next attempt.

2) Curiously, if Outlook is open, but has locked up...connecting or
reconnecting to any Wireless Access Point will give me access to Outlook
once again. (I haven't yet had a chance to close Outlook at that point, then
check to see if an Outlook process is still running...and how much CPU time
the process is taking up.) Simply connecting to the Access Point gives me
access to Outlook once again, I don't need to hit "Send\Recieve". The
problem continues to occur and this 2nd work around continues to be
effective whether I am connected to the internet through my wireless NIC, or
my ethernet NIC. (I've even turned the wireless card completely off and used
the ethernet nic by itself. If so, turning the wireless card on again and
connecting to any access point will give me access to Outlook once again).

ENVIRONMENT
Office XP SP-2 and Windows XP SP-1 running on an IBM X31 laptop with an
Intel Ethernet card onboard and an IBM Mini PCI Wifi card installed.
I use Outlook in offline mode, with the online and offline send\recieve
options set to "every 20 minutes". I have just set those options to "never",
but have not yet tested it. I send and receive my email through a standard
ISP, not through a work oriented email server.

Mathew Laughlin


.