Outlook 2003 hangs

[Roger]

Outlook 2003 hangs on start up. The program loads and then freezes. I have
run detect and repair many times and it fixes the problem for a short time
and then it happens again. Any help would be much appreciated.

Liz

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

Close Outlook. Find and rename outcmd.dat to .old. (If using Windows 2000
or XP, you will need to enable searching hidden and system folders.)

Once you have done so, reopen Outlook and it should open fine. You will
need to rebuild any custom toolbars or customizations as the file outcmd.dat
controls how the toolbars display. When it becomes corrupted, it will cause
Outlook to hang because it cannot create the toolbars that you expect.


--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. Due to
the (insert latest virus name here) virus, all mail sent to my personal
account will be deleted without reading.

After searching google.groups.com and finding no answer, Roger asked:

| Outlook 2003 hangs on start up. The program loads and then freezes. I
| have run detect and repair many times and it fixes the problem for a
| short time and then it happens again. Any help would be much
| appreciated.
|
| Liz

 

[Roger]

I tried renaming the outcmd.dat but it did not fix the problem. Outlook
still freezes. Can you think of anything else I should do. I have not yet
uninstalled and reinstalled as I am reluctant to lose my configuration.
Also, is it possible to uninstall just the Outlook portion of Office 2003?

Thanks for your help

Roger

 

[Brian Tillman]

I tried renaming the outcmd.dat but it did not fix the problem.
Outlook still freezes.

What happens if you start Outlook in safe mode? That is, start Outlook from
the Start>Run dialogue, specifying

outlook.exe /safe

or

"\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OfficeXX\Outlook.exe: /safe

where "xx" reflects the version of Outlook installed.

 

[Brian Tillman]

"\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OfficeXX\Outlook.exe: /safe

I left out the drive letter and mistyped a quote as a colon:

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OfficeXX\Outlook.exe" /safe

 

[Roger]

I tried renaming outcmd.dat but it didn't fix the problem. Outlook still
hangs. Can you think of anything else I can do.
Liz

 

[Roger]

I couldn't run Outlook in safe mode as you described. However, I was able to
run it without the /safe switch and it allowed me to open 3 emails and then
hung again.

Many thanks

 

[Brian Tillman]

I couldn't run Outlook in safe mode as you described.

What happened when you tried?

 

[Roger]

I got an error message using the address you suggested.
I was able to run it without the /safe switch and it allowed me to open 3
emails and then
hung again.

 

[Brian Tillman]

I got an error message using the address you suggested.

What was the exact text of the error? I didn't suggest an address. What
exactly did you enter? If you did not replace the "XX" with your
appropriate version of Outlook (should be "11" for Outlook 2003), then
that's your problem.