Resolved Outlook exits / crashes constantly

Probably coincidence, but after installing MS updates about a week ago Outlook (2003, Small Business Edition) has taken to exiting constantly. It doesn't really 'crash' so much as it just exits. I can start it right back up no problem, but it may only stay open for 3 or 30 seconds, sometimes 30 minutes. I thought it may have been an oversize/virus-laiden/worm-infested e-mail that it was trying to download, but even with send/receive turned off it does the same thing. My system is reported clean by Norton and AdAware and I have no other difficultied with any program the system is perfectly stable. Totally updated, patched, protected, etc.

I tried uninstalling MS Outlook, then registry cleaner/compacter, defrag, reboot, re-install - same thing immediately. BUT, it obviously wasn't a clean uninstall because all of my rules, contacts, calendar etc. were in place after the new install. Can't find anything on MS Knowledge Base that seems to match my issue or even with a Google search.

E-mail is a crucial part of my business! Any ideas?

 

BTW, I have cleaned and compacted by .pst file - it is currently 128MB in size. I do this on a fairly regular basis anyway so it only to about 1/4 second to compact and no change to my issue.

 

Strange - worked fine for a few days and just now it closed in the middle of a send/receive again. Don't know which direction to go from here...

 

Thanks Steve! I had completely forgotten about that utility. I just ran it and I'll let you know what happens.

 

Unfortunately that did not fix the issue. I don't know what else to do except maybe upgrade to Office 07 and see if that fixes it. Still open to suggestions.

 

After reading up on the MS policy for support calls it says it does not cover 'advanced' issues for the $39? I have thought alot about this and figure I have been needing Access anyway and my wife is eligble for the educator discounted version. Plus, if I DO have trouble again with the new version (seems unlikely to me) at least I should be able to get free support through MS for it.

I'll let you know how it works out...

 

I just can't get this resolved. Tried a new profile as Arie suggested, tried eliminating all my rules, tried disabling scheduled send/receive, tried eliminating all but one account, disabled all reminders in my Schedule, re-installed and re-imported the pst file, tried new profile with new pst file, tried to "repair" the install from the install disk. Still get the same behavior. It might work fine for a day, then all the sudden I can't keep it open for more than a minute.

One thing that troubles me though is that I can't get a clean un-install. Even if I take all the files out of the Outlook folder (outlook.pst, exted.dat, archive.pst, outlook.log), un-install Outlook, do a registry clean and reboot, the new install still has my custom settings and toolbars. Obvously it is retaining some configuration settings from somewhere else. Anybody know how to get a clean un-install of Outlook? Maybe it's just me but I don't seem to have much luck searching the MS knowledge base these days.

 

Wait a minute, hold the phone! I did find a KBase article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/870553
that talks about a COM add-in that can cause Outlook to quit unexpectedly. Although I did not have the particular add-in described in the article, I did have 2 installed - an iTunes add-in (why would Apple iTunes need to do anything with my e-mail client?) and an AdAware e-mail scanner add-in. The iTunes add-in has probably been there a long time, so I don't suspect that. AdAware was installed though about a week before I started having this issue.

I have removed the AdAware COM add-in and I can already tell that things seem more stable. I have been aggressively cleaning up the mess left from all the prior premature exits, have all my rules functioning and send/receive set to auto, etc. So far, so good. I'll need to go a few days before I can say all is well and close the thread, but in the meantime, all fingers and toes crossed...

 

OK, time to call this one. No problems since I removed the 2 COM add-ins. Almost certainly the more recently installed AdAware was causing the issue, but I don't have the time or patience to do any more trouble-shooting. Everything works, I am leaving it alone!