Outlook PST file maintenance

[jbischke]

I'm having some problems with my Outlook (Outlook 2003 running on Windows XP) lately (just general strangeness and slow loading when I open Outlook) and I'm wondering if there should be some things I should do on a regular basis to the PST file. Size doesn't seem like it should be the problem (file is 1.3 GB). Is there anything I should be doing here?

[pam123]

Describe general strangeness?
Is it sluggish only when you have other programs opened at the same time?
Is your anti-virus constantly scanning it?
Did this start up when you were trying to sync the calendars?

[jbischke]

In terms of strangeness, it's taking a long time to load and I'm getting a lot of the "hourglass effect." Plus, yesterday when I went to type a message everytime I'd hit "s" it would automatically send. Kinda embarassing given that I sent two consecutive messages to investors with the entire text being "Hey guy" :)

I almost always have other programs open (e.g., Firefox).

Not continually scanning AV (will get on that ASAP).

No, problem has existed for a while...just has gotten worse recently.

[pam123]

This is good for a laugh but I don't recommend you try it : http://www.zoliblog.com/blog/_archives/2007/3/10/2795589.html

What this does tell you is that it's probably a good idea to "archive" any but the most recent mail in Outlook.

Outlook's sluggish behavior when calendar and contacts are open, isn't just your problem and it seems to be caused by other apps fighting for Outlooks attention. Do you have Windows Deskbar?

[glc]

I went to type a message everytime I'd hit "s" it would automatically send.

I'd try a different keyboard - sounds like you have a stuck "alt" key.

[jbischke]

Yeah, it likely could have been a stuck ALT key in that case.

I am getting hourglass behavior a lot more lately though and don't seem to recall Outlook being so sluggish in the past.

I'm going to go ahead and change the archive setting and re-archive and see if that helps.

In terms of Windows Deskbar, I'm not really sure what that is or how I would check for that?