Slow preview pane display in Outlook 2002

Question

I have an Inspiron 8500 with a NVidia GE Force 4 4200. I am using Outlook 2002. All available updates applied. Trouble: I am experiencing a delay (or slow response) in the preview pane when I click on messages. I do not know if this is a video or software problem. Other displays seem to be quick as expected so it might be software related.

I am an experienced user of Outlook and have not seen this probem before. I have always had this problem on this computer however.

Any ideas?

AnnaMackCeo · Answer

How much memory do you have running on your notebook? You might need more memory.   Anna

wjd32000 · Answer

I have 512 Meg of Ram. Also have a 60Gig HD with 30G free.

I also bought the new UXGA wide LCD panel with this computer. I wonder if it is having issues with Outlook?

It almost seems when I move from message to message it is looking on the disk. I have already compacted the database thinking that might be the issue but it did not solve the problem.

AnnaMackCeo · Answer

No, it's definitely a software problem. It has nothing to with your graphics card or UXGA. Have you tried running the Detect and Repair tool in Office?

Click Help and Detect Repair. Follow the prompts.

Good Luck

Anna

abach · Answer

Sometimes the Messenger Service is enabled, causing Outlook to run slowly. Try Tools, Options, Other tab. and remove the check mark in 'Enable Instant Messaging in Outlook'

wjd32000 · Answer

You nailed it. Turned it off and preview pane runs like it did before.   Thanks to all who tried to help. I hope I can return the favour some day.   Bill Dorion

wjd32000 · Answer

Excellent idea. I disabled McAfee and unfortuntely the same results. It appears to be looking for the message contents before it can display them. ??????

Mary G · Answer

It might be your antivirus settings. You can catch a virus just by previewing it and so your antivirus scans the mail beforehand. You should only use preview in folders that contain saved mail, not in Inbox.

rickmktg · Answer

@wjd32000 wrote:

You nailed it. Turned it off and preview pane runs like it did before.

Thanks to all who tried to help. I hope I can return the favour some day.

Bill Dorion

Bill:

You should turn off the Preview Pane, it's a virus invitation as Mary stated.

And you should turn McAfee back on immediately.

Mary G · Answer

Preview pane also allows malicious scripts & worms to run without your knowledge. Turn it off for all new mail. When you preview a message, Outlook actually has to open the email to show you a preview!

JenDScot · Answer

With 30 GB used on your system, how many items do you have windows start when you boot up? If your resources are below 80%, you will see a speed difference in how the system opens any program, for that is a lot of data on the disk. With that much data, you should also be  running your scandisk, defragmentation, and cleaning out junk files, almost 4 to 5 days a week. Corrupted files will slow the system down, and hope your system does not have any, but how often is basic file maintenence done on this system, as the more data you have, the more often the maintenence must be done to keep data integrity. Also when the system is running for quite some time, the processor build up heat just from conducting, and processing ones and zeros ( turning things on and off), which also diminishes in performance as resources slowly diminish. Check to see what is unnecessary from your start up items and shut them down, and see if your performance increases.

plankalkul · Answer

FWIW, the instant messenger fixed it for me as well... thanks much :) I wonder why it does that... strange

wjd32000 · Answer

According to recent informaiton received (accuracy not verified), the Messenger option causes Messenger to look to the net each time a preview pane is updated with material. ? Go figure.

ChrisRLG · Answer

Most people turn off the preview pane, as it can activate virus's received without you openning the email.

lbomar · Answer

Great solution!  Solved my problem as well. Thanks Lbomar

sttwice · Answer

That fixed our problem too. Ours had nothing to do with Preview pane though. Outlook was starting up slow and running proc at 100%. Now Outlook starts up in a flash. Looks like a great fix for alot of slow probs with Outlook.

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Slow preview pane display in Outlook 2002

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