Outlook slow to open first e-mail

[dozert]

The first thing each morning after I log on to my computer and AFTER Outlook 2003 has loaded and updated the folders, the first e-mail that I open takes forever to open. (That's 50 seconds for those of you who don't know how long forever is.)

It doesn't matter if the e-mail has already been read already or not. All that matters is that its the first one out of the chute.

Yes, I've done all the virus scanning and spyware searching and reducing the amount of junk that loads on start-up but I still have the same problem. I've got 2G of memory.

Oh, yeah, I'm using XP SP 2. Any ideas what the problem could be? I realize it would be nice if I could tell you what changed from the time it worked okay to the time it started slowing down, but other than the regular Windows updates, I haven't got a clue.

 

[PCmad]

Is your email account on an exchange server or is it a pop mail account? If its on an exchange server it sounds to me like a speed issue connecting to the server. You could amend Outlook so its starts somewhere different like in contacts instead of the Inbox. Do you get the same problem then? If on an exchange server you could remove the exchange account and add in again. You could try doing a full detect and repair in Outlook, but need to backup up mailbox as it will reset back to original out the package then apply service packs

 

[dozert]

It's an exchange server. I tried starting it in Contacts. Still get the same problem. I'll let our IT guy try your other two ideas. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[58sniper]

Just out of curiosity, how many items are in your Inbox?

Pat Richard, MCSE MCSA:Messaging CNA
Microsoft Exchange MVP
Want to know how email works? Read for yourself -

http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2821.txt

 

[mojomade]

what is your network speed? We had this issue with a few cubicles and it was discovered that my predecessor had extended the lan by using an old 10 mbit hub. 65 bucks and a 10/100/1000 workgroup hub later and all is good. Also are you desktop or laptop user. If you are on a laptop then perhaps configuring cached xchange mode would benefit you.

 

[58sniper]

Cached mode should be on for ALL users. ALL USERS.

If you have a large amount of items in the Inbox (or any of the default folders), that will seriously impact performance.

Pat Richard, MCSE MCSA:Messaging CNA
Microsoft Exchange MVP
Want to know how email works? Read for yourself -

http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2821.txt

 

[dozert]

That could be it. I have 2563 items in the inbox (about 240 meg). I'll try moving or deleting a bunch and see what happens. Thanks.