Vista & flashing Outlook

[Guest]

Here is the issue - today out of the blue, my computer keeps flashing the
Outlook "bubble" in the taskbar area. I can barely use the computer, because
it just keeps flashing every 3-5 seconds. The kicker? I don't even use
Outlook!!

Any ideas on how to fix this I have tried opening Outlook, restarting the
computer and clicking on the little window when it's highlighted - nothing
works.

Thanks!!

 

[Andrew McLaren]

Here is the issue - today out of the blue, my computer keeps flashing the
Outlook "bubble" in the taskbar area. I can barely use the computer,
because
it just keeps flashing every 3-5 seconds. The kicker? I don't even use
Outlook!!

It sounds like the system is automatically launching Outlook every time you
log in.

The most obvious reason this would happen is if there's an Outlook Icon in
your Start Up folder.

Go to Start menu, All Programs, Start Up. Do you see an Outlook icon in
there?

If yes, delete it.

If Outlook is running every time you log in, but it is not being launched
from the Startup group, it may have been added to the Registry.

This Microsoft KnowledgeBase article describes the Registry locations used
to run programs automatically:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314866

Take a look at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

and

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

... on your machine, to see if Outlook is in the list of programs to be
automatically started. If it is, delete the Outlook entry.

Please let us know if this solves the problem (or if you have any questions
about the procedure, of course).

 

[Guest]

Thank you for the quick response. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Outlook
isn't in the start menu. I haven't had the issue again until yesterday. Any
other thoughts?

 

[Michael Solomon]

Thank you for the quick response. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Outlook
isn't in the start menu. I haven't had the issue again until yesterday.
Any
other thoughts?

In your original post, you said you don't even use Outlook. If that's the
case, why not uninstall it? It's a component of Office, if you run the
uninstall routine from Programs and Features in Control Panel, once
launched, you will be presented with an options screen wherein you can
remove all of office, just specific components or repair Office.

 

[Guest]

Thank you for the response. Unfortunately this didn't work either. Any other
suggestions?

 

[Andrew McLaren]

Thank you for the response. Unfortunately this didn't work either. Any
other
suggestions?

Hi,

What do you mean "this didn't work either"? Do you mean that you tried to
uninstall Outlook? Was the uninstallation unsuccessful? In what way?

We will need more information, in order to help you.

Thanks,

 

[Guest]

I uninstalled it and it is still flashing. I assume that this means Outlook
wasn't deleted all the way, but I am not sure why that is. I used the
Microsoft uninstall. I am not that computer illiterate, but this is driving
me crazy.

 

[Andrew McLaren]

I uninstalled it and it is still flashing. I assume that this means Outlook
wasn't deleted all the way, but I am not sure why that is. I used the
Microsoft uninstall. I am not that computer illiterate, but this is
driving
me crazy.

How did you uninstall? Describe the steps you followed. Did you see any
error messages?

However, I suspect we are reaching the end of what can be feasibly achieved
via newsgroups. If you are still having problems, your best bet may be to
find a local, computer-savvy friend or colleague to come and inspect the
machine first-hand. The problem you are seeing is very uncommon, and is
probably caused by some fairly unique misconfiguration.