Outlook Keeps Dropping Off

[DViper]

Hey All,

I have a user that complains about Outlook dropping off his screen. He'll be working and the program just closes, but the process is still running. The only way to get it back is to stop the process and open it up again. I have upgraded to the latest service packs for the OS (Win2K) and Office XP. I have also reformatted the machine and ran diagnostics on all the components. Nothing seems to work. Any ideas?

 

[kippy13]

U formatted his whole machien?

"Sometimes I do not know but I try hard"- R.F. Haughty 1923

 

[mscallisto]

I agree with kippy, re-formating so early in the game is usually not done.

A usual course of action may incluse:

ask what was being done when outlook stops
and look for a possible cause e.g. is the user dealing with a particular piece of mail that is problematic?

test for virus'

operating system upgrades

software re-installs

etc

when all else fails reformat and start over.

 

[kippy13]

If the problem is still reoccuring when after the format and reinstall of everything I would guess that its something that the user is doing or inadvertantly pressing....
Is this machine a laptop by any chance?

"Sometimes I do not know but I try hard"- R.F. Haughty 1923

 

[DViper]

Sorry, I guess I should have been more detailed in my steps. His machine is a laptop and the problem has been going on for about six months now. It was only about 2 months ago that I reformatted the machine. Before that I did everything that mscallisto mentioned and more. I scanned for viruses, upgraded it as far as it could go, ran diags on everything, reinstalled all the programs, ran Office Repair, etc. The problem is entirely sporadic. I can have it just sitting there and it will close. Other times is is while he is working, but never the same thing twice. I guess another thing I could try is to bring up his mailbox on another machine and see if the problem replicates itself. Maybe you are right that it is an email or something that cause the program to crash when it is accessed. I will try this and see what happens. Any other ideas?

 

[kippy13]

The reason I asked whether it was a laptop was because I have seen a similiar issue before on them.
Does the laptop have a touchpad?
If so its possible hes accidently touching it while typing or something and this is causing the intermittant issue of it closing. I could be away off here, but does it sound plausable?

"Sometimes I do not know but I try hard"- R.F. Haughty 1923

 

[Murugs]

Some more ideas..
Try sunning scanpst.exe

Start outlook in safe mode
Outlook.exe /Safe
and see if it still persisits..

Also a link from MS

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q255/5/03.asp

Post back

MP

 

[mscallisto]

Murugs...scanpst is only meaningful if you are using personal or offline folder(s).
Outlook in /safe really only starts outlook without extensions, preview pane and no toolbar customization.

DViper...you say
"I can have it just sitting there and it will close "

To make sure I understand the problem can you clarify that the thing closing is Outlook and not the laptop going into hibernation or some power saving mode?

Kippy13...good guess, I've seen that happen when the sensitivity was too sensitive!