Outlook 2000 suddenly locks up computer

[MBaker2396]

One computer in our office, running Windows 98SE, suddenly began locking the computer up when you try to open Outlook 2000. Outlook Express runs fine, but calendar and important reminders are located in Outlook.

I have run scandisk and defragged. We have McAfee antivirus software installed. I have also run RegClean to remove unwanted items from the registry. I did a repair/reinstall of the Office 2000 Pro programs, hoping that would help, but haven't found the fix.

I'm hoping that someone out there is a whole lot smarter than I am and can provide some assistance. Please let me know.

Marcia Baker

[Mesaeus]

Welcome to PC Mech, Marcia. First of all, does it continue if you wait one or two minutes ? I've known Outlook to 'lock' for up to two minutes, and then continue normally. How long have you waited for it ? The problem you describe could have several different causes. The first thing I like to do in a case like this is making sure the PC is as clean as possible. Next to a virus scanner, you need to use anti spyware programs like Adaware and Spybot to remove any traces of spyware. Spyware is known as a source for many computer problems, and can certainly crash Internet Explorer, and probably Outlook too. So download these two programs (they're both free) and scan the computer in question, remove all spyware you find and try Outlook again.

[GaryRouth]

The antispyware and antivirus tools Mesaeus recommends are invaluable, especially since the Internet has become such a dangerous place (with the malware about). So definitely give those a try.

There is one other thing you may want to check in this instance, which is an incompatibility between RegClean and Office2000. [While RegClean is one of my favorite tools, this is probably one of it's thornier flaws - luckily, however, RegClean creates an "UnDo" file each time you run it, and you can try un-doing the file closest to the Outlook trouble for a quick fix]. More details and a few other strategies for coping with the RegClean/Office2000 tangle (some which require you to reinstall portions of Office2000) are in this article over at the MS Knowledge Base: http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;299958

Best of luck, hope the easier repair (using the UnDo file) does it!
. . . Gary