# Outlook 2007 taking up 1.5 gig of Memory! [moved from MS Office Support]



## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

Yep, that's not a typo. 1,578,458k!

Morning all. Ok I've got a problem of the worst kind its on the wife's laptop. 

A few months back she complained it was running slow so I put in more ram and she was happy. Anyway ffwd to a few weeks back and she was complaining it was running slow again, I just ignored the pleas to be honest as she can be fussy 

Yesterday she told me she couldn't open up emails in Outook 2007 anymore, it started up (took an age) but when you tried to open an email you could see the subject title but then just a black screen, something wasn't right.

Anyway I checked the Task Manager and saw that it was consuming vast amounts of memory 1.5Gb now a quick Google will tell me that it can be a bit greedy but not THAT greedy.

Comparing it to my own my Outlook 2007 runs at about 13Mb.

She doesn't have lots of emails and I'm convinced its not a folder issue, here's what I've tried:-



Compacting the pst
Scanpst on the pst (found a few errors and sorted them)
Office Diagnostics, a few issues and resolved them
Created a new profile with a new blank pst (same issue so its not related to the pst itself)
Un-installed 2007 and re-installed (as you know it doesn't get rid of the files tho)
Repaired 2007
 Installed Office SP1
 Installed Office SP2

Now... here's the interesting bit.

If I start Outlook in Safe mode it works fine, it starts up very fast and runs at 15-18Mb which is fine, apart from a nag about RSS when you first start it, it looks and works fine.

So... whatever Safe Mode turns off must be the cause of the issue, as soon as you start Outlook it just runs off with the memory and doesn't stop until it gets up to 1.5, you can't do anything with it when it starts, you can't open emails or create a new folder as it states its out of memory (surprise surprise)

As for add-in's the only ones running are Outlook Mobile Server and Windows Search Email Indexer.

The laptop runs ESET Smart Security which also has links into Outlook.

Any ideas where to start looking?

TIA

Gary


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## clyde123 (Apr 10, 2008)

*Re: Outlook 2007 taking up 1.5 gig of Memory!*

My first start would be to uninstall the Eset, then reinstall with the latest version, and see what happens.
Not that I'm saying anything against Eset, I do rate them very highly, but sometimes if it goes wrong you're just as well re-installing.
Otherwise I would try running Malwarebytes and maybe Spybot to check if there's any nasties.
Hope that helps.


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

*Re: Outlook 2007 taking up 1.5 gig of Memory!*

Sorry should have also said it runs PC Tools Spyware doctor

EDIT: Thanks, I will kick off an in-depth scan on Spyware Doctor and ESET and then remove ESET this evening and see if that stops the issue


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## tallin (Apr 26, 2008)

*Re: Outlook 2007 taking up 1.5 gig of Memory!*

I would suggest you disable all add ons (MS ones first) - then add one by one to find the culprit. Please start in Normal Mode: 
Open Outlook 2007
Click tools > Trust Centre
Click Add-ons
At the bottom of the window pull the drop-down box that says 'COM add-ins'
Select 'Exchange Client Extensions'
Click the 'Go...'button
Uncheck 'Google Desktop Search Outlook Add-in'
Click OK
Restart Outlook
You may find the culprit is - Google Desktop Search Add-in.

*TIP:* Try disabling just the* Google Desktop Search Add-in *first to see if it rectifies your problem.

Does the above improve memory use for you in Task Manager?

There are a few cleaning tools in my signature you may like to browse to make sure your system is free of any nasties.

kind regards,


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

*Re: Outlook 2007 taking up 1.5 gig of Memory!*

Thanks

The only add-in's that are enabled are:-

Microsoft Outlook Mobile Service
Windows Search Email Indexer

If I look under 'Exchange Client Extensions' all I have is:-

ESET Outlook Plugin
Exchange Extensions property pages

Thanks for all suggestions so far


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## tallin (Apr 26, 2008)

*Re: Outlook 2007 taking up 1.5 gig of Memory!*

Did you disable the addins you do have one by one and monitor memory in Task Manager as you went.

Make sure you are in normal mode when you do the above...thanks.

Restart Outlook once you have done the above.

kind regards,


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

*Re: Outlook 2007 taking up 1.5 gig of Memory!*

Ok so I disabled:-


ESET Outlook Plugin
Exchange Extensions property pages

No change to the memory usage in Task Man, restarted Outlook at it takes up about 600-700Mb now instead when its sat dormant but when you open up an email it goes up to 1.5 again

I've now disabled all plug-in's there are none active at all, but still the same issue "600-700Mb when its sat dormant but when you open up an email it goes up to 1.5 again"


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## tallin (Apr 26, 2008)

*Re: Outlook 2007 taking up 1.5 gig of Memory!*

With your Windows XP have you got SP/2 OR SP/3?

Are you Windows Updates current....

Have you got BCM (Business Contact Manager) installed? If you have my research is telling me it could be your problem.

Link

It is late here, I am off now, but if the above is of no assistance, perhaps someone else will come by to help you..........

kind regards,


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

*Re: Outlook 2007 taking up 1.5 gig of Memory!*

Sorry I should have added that as well its Vista all up to date. I will check for BCM now, thanks for your help have a good night


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

*Re: Outlook 2007 taking up 1.5 gig of Memory!*

Well I've un-installed ESET, restarted and tried again, same issue


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## tallin (Apr 26, 2008)

*Re: Outlook 2007 taking up 1.5 gig of Memory!*



ShadowmanUK said:


> Sorry I should have added that as well its Vista all up to date. I will check for BCM now, thanks for your help have a good night


Please change your system specifications in your profile as you are still showing Windows XP....

Did you check if BCM is installed and carry through with the outcome of my research in my last post.

kind regards,


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

*Re: Outlook 2007 taking up 1.5 gig of Memory!*

Hi,

Changed to Vista. BCM was not installed no. I'm not sure what to check next to be honest.


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## tallin (Apr 26, 2008)

*Re: Outlook 2007 taking up 1.5 gig of Memory!*

....worries me it does.


> *ShadowmanUK wrote:* If I start Outlook in Safe mode it works fine, it starts up very fast and runs at 15-18Mb which is fine, apart from a nag about RSS when you first start it, it looks and works fine.


Check your Device Manager to see if there are any yellow or red warnings there. This could be a driver problem. 

Please let me know.

Is it possible to uninstall Outlook and reinstall making sure you save your data first.

Running out of ideas for you I must admit.

kind regards,


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

*Re: Outlook 2007 taking up 1.5 gig of Memory!*

I will check drivers and yes that was going be my next choice to forcefully uninstall Outlook as I think whatever is wrong with it isn't being removed by the normal uninstall

I'll let you know, thanks again


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

*Re: Outlook 2007 taking up 1.5 gig of Memory!*

Well its beyond belief this one.

Checked the drivers, all good. Updated to the latest video driver just in case. Full scan with ESET and Full scan with PC Tools Spyware Doctor (all clean)

Spent a good hour removing Office via the Add/Remove and then manually removing all of the files and registry entries of which there are plenty.

Reboot and installed to a different destination E: instead of C:

Starts up Outlook, same again. Unbelievable, I was expecting that to have sorted it but no.

Currently running a scan with Malwarebytes


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

*Re: Outlook 2007 taking up 1.5 gig of Memory!*

Malwarebytes found nothing. I'm at a complete loss now, I could understand if something nasty had (despite having anti malware/av installed) got its hooks into the outlook program itself but I got rid of it all and installed a fresh. :4-dontkno


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

*Re: Outlook 2007 taking up 1.5 gig of Memory!*

Hi - 

I will take a look at system information to see if any clues. . .

Please follow these instructions --> BSOD Posting Instructions

I am moving this thread to Windows 7/ Vista Support as it now appears that Outlook may not be the issue.

Regards. . .

jcgriff2

.


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

Hi Jc,

Thank you for this.

· OS - *Vista*
· x86 *(32-bit)*
· What was original installed OS on system? *Yes*
· Is the OS an OEM version (came pre-installed on system) or full retail version (YOU purchased it from retailer)? *OEM*
· Age of system (hardware) *3yrs*
· Age of OS installation - have you re-installed the OS? *As out of the box, not re-installed*
· CPU *Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T5200 @ 1.60Ghz *
· Video Card *Mobile Intel(R) 945 Express Chipset Family*
· MotherBoard *Equium A100 - 338 *?
· Power Supply - brand & wattage *Toshiba Input 100-240v 50-60Hz 1.5a | Output 15v 5a*

Had to split the files into two zip's hope that's ok. I will upload the perfmon next


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

Follow up post with Perfmon

I'm not sure why Perfmon nag's about no active AV/Malware as when I open up security centre its all green and it knows I'm running ESET Security Centre and PC Tools Spyware Doctor.

Anyway, over to you. Thank you very much in advance for even taking a look at this, its a puzzling one :smile:


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

Hi - 

First, a few device driver updates are needed.

Your system = Toshiba EQUIUM A100. Look on the bottom of laptop for label with full product number (A100-xxxx) or allow Toshiba Support site to scan system - "AUTO DETECT" - 

http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/generic/SUPPORT_PORTAL/

- Chipset/ integrated video - Mobile Intel(R) 945 Express Chipset Family - your drivers timestamp = 11 Feb 2008

- Audio - Realtek High Definition Audio (With SRS) - 17 Nov 2006 

- wifi - Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection - 17 Nov 2008

Please see screenshot. You have ESS, PC Tools Spyware Doctor, Windows Defender all firing up at logon. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware is not seen here, but it too is starting.



The screenshot is from your SysInternals AutoRuns ARN file. The green lines are A/V, A/Malware, ESS start-up items. There are 2 items with red arrows - *desktop.iniold* and *drivemap.bat*. I can guess what the .bat file does, but not the 'iniold' file. Unless you know what it is - uncheck the box. The 2 in blue are Toshiba related - online product information and Vista registration and are unnessary. Un-check those boxes.

To run AutoRuns - RIGHT-click on the autoruns.exe file that you downloaded for the EXE file-gathering app to run, select "Run as Administrator". Allow it to scan the Registry (status info - lower-left of AutoRuns screen). When it is complete, un-check the aforementioned boxes. Un-checking a box disables the item from start-up and you can always re-check the box if you wish. Also, any item that you un-check is still available to you in Windows, but will not start until called upon by you. For example, I do not allow Live Messenger to start-up as I need system resources to run BSOD memory dumps, but when I want to use Live Messenger, I click on Taskbar icon and it starts up at that time.

I would remove ESS, PC Tools Spyware Doctor, Malwarebytes, et al. Back in early 2008, I had horrific problems with Office 2007. All Office issues were solved by my removal of Norton Internet Security. I surmise that OutLook emails are being scanned by all I mentioned, causing the slowness and most likely the memory issues as well. You said yourself - OutLook runs fine in SAFEMODE, where none of the security-related apps run. Virtually none of the start-up items in the screenshot run in SAFEMODE. I would also un-check the box for NOKIA, unless it is something you use by the minute.

Remove each; re-boot after each removal to allow boot and kernel mode drivers to uninstall. Try the new Microsoft Security Essentials for a while. You can always supplement it with on-line scanners. 

MSE --> http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

I also see drivers for a NetGear WN511B wifi USB device, yet I do not see it listed as an active networking device. If you have a program installed for NetGear, un-install it.

A good app to obtain detailed system information, including installed programs is Belarc Advisor. I would suggest that you run it and review program installations. Your system's initial system boot date = 6 March 2007, so you have probably accumulated quite a few apps over the last 3 years.

Belarc Advisor --> http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

For program un-installs, use Revo or the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility -

Revo --> http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html

WICU --> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301

BlueTooth is another waste of system resources -- if you are not using it, of course. If so, go into System Services and disable all BlueTooth services - 
START | type *services.msc*

The last item for now - run the System File Checker/ repair utility. Don't be too concerned if it says at the end that files could not be fixed... just re-boot.
START | type *cmd.exe* into the start search box | right-click on cmd.exe | select run as Administrator | type/ paste the following:

```
[font=lucida console]sfc /scannow[/font]
```
Upon completion re-boot to allow files in use to be repaired.

SFC general info - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936212

SFC & the CBS log - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928228

As far as your question/ concern on PERFMON not showing anti-virus as active - I see it in most reports, including mine. I have never taken the time to look into it as I know I have a/v installed, just as you know the same to be true.

While at Toshiba Support, update all device drivers that are available. 

Follow the above steps and see if OutLook's extreme memory usage calms down. Please let me know of the outcome.

Regards. . .

jcgriff2

.


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

Wow, thanks there's a lot to be looking at there I'll have a good read through this and work through the recommendations.

To answer your question about the startup files, yes the drivemap.bat is mine to map to a NAS box, the desktop.ini is not I've no idea where that came from so I renamed it but didn't realise it was still trying to be started. I will post the contents of the file when I have a look at the laptop.

Nokia is a recent addition also I will ensure that isn't started up automatically as well.

Thank you very much for the detailed report, I will let you know how it goes


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## jenae (Jun 17, 2008)

Hi, please follow JC's advice however you have some likely conflicts with your security programs windows defender will not play nicely with PC doc's and ESET gets involved and ... well you get a dogs breakfast. Repair of Outlook will not fix the DLL object link problems that might arise, I have written a simply .bat file for you to run. Copy and paste all below into notepad and save as OLE.Bat save to desktop right click and select "run as administrator"... now some will not register(they are self registering) just press OK until the script is finished. Reboot to take effect Let us know how you get on. 


```
regsvr32 ole32.dll
regsvr32 asycfilt.dll
regsvr32 msdart32.dll
regsvr32 msdtcprx.dll
regsvr32 oc25.dll
regsvr32 ole2.dll
regsvr32 ole2nls.dll
regsvr32 oleacc.dll
regsvr32 oleaut32.dll
regsvr32 oledlg.dll
regsvr32 olepro32.dll
regsvr32 urlmon.dll
```


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

Thanks jenae, as this looks like a quick hit I will try this first 

Cheers


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

No look I'm afraid jenae although some of the errors it threw up when I ran it may help? (see attached .doc)

jcgriff2 - I will start working through your stuff. For reference here is what was in the desktop.ini file:-



> [.ShellClassInfo]
> [email protected]%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21787


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

desktop.ini =--> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/330132

jenae said that some would throw errors. Did you run batch file as Admin - RIGHT-click, "Run as Administrator"?


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

Correct as admin, just tried it again to make sure. Thanks for that link I will look at that as well although it doesn't look suspect thankfully :smile:


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

If a notepad is not opening when you reach Desktop showing the contents of the INI file, it is fine.

additional info on desktop.ini --> http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc144102(VS.85).aspx


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

> - Chipset/ integrated video - Mobile Intel(R) 945 Express Chipset Family - your drivers timestamp = 11 Feb 2008
> 
> - Audio - Realtek High Definition Audio (With SRS) - 17 Nov 2006
> 
> - wifi - Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection - 17 Nov 2008


Updated wifi and Audo, no later updates for Video.

Re: Autoruns I've turned off Nokia and that desktop.ini

Are you saying I should un-install my current AV/Spyware or just untick them in autorun for now? I think your saying un-install totally but just wanted to check



> BlueTooth is another waste of system resources -- if you are not using it, of course. If so, go into System Services and disable all BlueTooth services -
> START | type services.msc
> 
> The last item for now - run the System File Checker/ repair utility. Don't be too concerned if it says at the end that files could not be fixed... just re-boot.
> START | type cmd.exe into the start search box | right-click on cmd.exe | select run as Administrator | type/ paste the following:


No bluetooth that I could see, file checker reports no problems.

Thanks


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

Hi - 

Go directly to Intel for 965 chipset --> http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Sea...ct=Mobile+Intel®+945GM+Express+Chipset+Family

Bluetooth - "TOSHIBA Bluetooth Service" in *services.msc*. Your call whether to leave it or not. At the time of reports, it was running.

I would uninstall all of the a/v, spware, ESS. There is little doubt in my mind that the conflicting security apps are conflicting with each other and involved in the Outlook problem to a great extent. Only their removal will tell for sure.

Regards. . .

jcgriff2

.


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

Thanks yeah I missed the Bluetooth, apologies. Video driver now updated to the latest, had a good clean out of old programs (those programs are very good btw thanks) still an issue so I guess next steps are to ditch the AV etc


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

I'll have to triple check I've done all your recommendation but thought I'd post the results as of now.

Uninstalled ESET - Reboot
Uninstalled Spyware Doctor - Reboot

Run Outlook and its taking up 707,620K which is what I was seeing when I disabled the ESET plug-in for Outlook.

So whilst its an improvement the root cause seems to be still here and it seems that ESET doubles the trouble.

I'll check your rec's again to make sure I've not missed anything

Thanks


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

I've checked again and I've carried out all of the steps so I'm back to be baffled. Once again thanks for all the help to date (to all contributors)


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

How many emails do you have in Outlook? Feeds..? 

> 700 MB is still a substantial amount of RAM. I ask about Oulook contents as I use Live Mail and recall in 2009 when I noticed it was using > 500 MB RAM. Turned out that I had > 30,000 emails in the various email accounts (Inbox, Sent, etc...) that are all pulled into Live Mail.

Use Treesize to check the size of your user profile folders files where Outlook info is stored.

TreeSize --> http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/index.shtml

After installation, RIGHT-click on TS icon, slect "Run as Administrator". Check c:\users\<username>\AppData\Local in particular.

My Live Mail folder is just under 2 GB in size and Live Mail itself is using ~ 150 MB RAM right now.

Regards. . .

jcgriff2

.


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

Thanks,

I will check and post back tomorrow as the wife is using it, but I know its barely anything in terms of emails. The size of my own outlook folder (different laptop) is 177540KB according to Outlook and according to task man its using 20,768k and I know I have many many more emails than her's.

I think her pst is about 200Mb or so. Although during earlier tests before the thread was move I created a brand new profile in outlook with a blank .pst and it still had the problem, so no emails at all but massive amounts of memory used.


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## jenae (Jun 17, 2008)

Hi, disable outlook Addins, especially "google desktop search outlook Addin" if there.

Open Outlook 2007 
.. Click Tools --> Trust Center 
.. Click Add-ins 
.. At the bottom of the window pull down the drop-down box that says 
'COM Add-ins' and select 'Exchange Client Extensions' 
.. Click the 'Go...' button 
.. Uncheck 'Google Desktop Search Outlook Addin' 
.. Click OK 
.. Restart Outlook 2007


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

Hi jenae, yep did all that previously and ran with no add-in's at all and still got the issue, the Google one was never present

EDIT: Ok, some progress, I was thinking about this in bed last night (yes I know) and have just tried it. I've created a new user in Vista, logged off and logged on to the new user, run Outlook created a dummy email account with details that can't actually connect to anything I just wanted to see Outlook running.

Anyway I've done that and Outlook is sat there running at 11,092k :smile:

So a fresh setup of Outlook in another account works fine the problem must be tied with the primary user the admin account, something in there is causing this.

Does that help?


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

You can use MSCONFIG or AutoRuns to un-check start-up items 1-by-1 and see which is the culprit, assuming it is in fact a start-up item -

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950093

It may also be related to an installed program that only runs for the old, single user account.

I know that you have been through a lot, but you may go through much more and never solve this puzzle - or expend much more additional time in doing so.

Given the March 2007 Vista initial boot-up date, if this were my system, I would re-install Vista and get a fresh start.

The re-install using the hard drive recovery partition or recovery Vista DVDs will take 1-2 hours of system time. Upon reaching Desktop, allow all Windows Updates and system manufacturer driver updates in. Then install Office and other apps.

Windows Updates - www.update.microsoft.com

Regards. . .

jcgriff2

.


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

Thanks, that is certainly something I will have to consider. Although the easiest option I guess is to leave it in safemode as it doesn't seem to prevent her doing anything as she only needs it for basic email. Or start using a second account and move everything over to that, at least then it will retain all of the installed programs.

I don't like it though I don't like leaving a mess or putting in a bodge, but doing a re-install will take a while. Its not so much getting it back to a vanilla system its backing up all of the files, re-installing various programs etc.

But yes its something I might just have to do, just for reference I think we can rule out the pst , I copied it over to the second account and it came up fine and I could access the emails with no issues or memory problems.


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

The 2nd account is certainly a good idea.

I do understand about re-installs... but that time will come soon enough. I would suggest that you back up the files in the user profile folders - Music, Docs, Pics, etc... just in case. External USB drives are rather inexpensive these days and the transfer of files does not take long --- do so in SAFEMODE - it is faster.

Regards. . .

jcgriff2

.


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## GMAN990 (Oct 7, 2007)

Thanks I will have a good think about the next step now. I will certainly get everything backed up to the NAS as well as although she doesn't bother backing anything up she'd be mad if she lost it.

Thank you all very much for all your efforts, I will still keep trying various things and if I do find the cause I will report back what it was, but I'm pretty much exhausting programs that could be causing this it may even be down to something in registry which I'll just never find.

FWIW I've put ESET and Spyware Doctor back on and they work fine with the second user when Outlook is started.

Its certainly a weird one as the memory spikes after a few seconds of starting Outlook, you click on the icon and within seconds even just before the splash screen the memory rockets up.


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

If you have any other questions in the interim, feel free to post back. I do think you would be very pleased with the fresh OS install, though. It is like a brand new system again. I reinstall frequently, primarily because of testing. My mom's laptop, circa Christmas 2007, will be in my hands tomorrow for a fresh install of Windows 7. She has had Vista since 12/07 and the system is simply slow due to accumulation of apps, older device drivers and only 1 GB RAM. Windows 7 x86 runs leaner than Vista and she does not want to upgrade RAM at this time.


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