Member Avatar for Member #7331

Just today I goto Load Outlook Express (version 6) and only the left folder view and the very top menu appears. No messages are visible. It checks for email as I hear the new mail sound. The program will not do anything (clicking on anything doesnt make anything happen). I load up Task Manager and it shows msimn.exe using all of the cpu.

Also when notepad.exe is loaded is does similar (uses 100% cpu and doesnt respond). However these seem to be the only programs doing this (I can surf the net, play games, watch movies, play music, etc).


I have done a virus scan and found no viruses (using latest Symantec scan). I ran Norton WinDoctor and corrected any registry problems it could find but that didnt help.


Ideas?

Thanks!

-createcoms

keywords: outlook OE express 6 freeze freezes Windows XP notepad.exe msimn.exe CPU 100 100% Load crash crashes frozen

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A short, practical troubleshooting add-on that complements the thread (examples from @createcoms, and show this can be caused by very different things):

Outlook Express (msimn.exe) pegging CPU often points to a corrupted folder database (.dbx — especially Inbox.dbx or Folders.dbx), or to the message-rendering step (the preview/reading pane) trying to load a malformed message, or to an external hook (antivirus/mail‑scanner or a driver). Back up the OE store before any change; the store location is shown in Tools → Options → Maintenance → Store Folder. (learn.microsoft.com)

Quick triage (order matters):

  • Close OE and kill msimn.exe in Task Manager.
  • Start OE offline or with networking disabled.
  • Turn off the preview/reading pane (View → Layout → uncheck Use preview pane) so OE won’t attempt to render any suspect message. If OE becomes responsive, a single bad message is the likely cause. (sony-asia.com)

If OE opens but is unstable:

  • Back up the entire Store Folder (copy it to another drive).
  • With OE closed, rename suspected .dbx files (for example Inbox.dbx → Inbox.old; Folders.dbx → Folders.old). Restart OE — it will recreate clean files. Import or recover messages from the backups later (use OE’s import or a DBX-recovery tool if needed). Always compact folders while offline and keep individual folder sizes modest to reduce corruption risk. (learn.microsoft.com)

If the freeze persists, isolate third-party interference: perform a clean boot or Safe Mode to rule out drivers or resident software (antivirus e-mail scanning is a common culprit); if a clean boot restores normal behavior, re-enable services/startup items in halves to find the offender. For stubborn mailbox recovery, use an import/recovery tool (OE Classic / DBX utilities) or migrate to a modern mail client that can import DBX files. (support.microsoft.com)

Cautions: always back up before deleting/renaming .dbx files; compact only with plenty of free disk space and do not interrupt the operation.

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Member Avatar for Member #7331

I have solved my own problem.

For some reason the NVidia drivers were freaky. I find it fascinating I could play games and use other applications despite this. But lo and behold an uninstall and reinstall of the Detonators has righted the wrongs and OE is now a happy email client :-)


keywords: outlook OE express 6 freeze freezes Windows XP notepad.exe msimn.exe CPU 100 100% Load crash crashes frozen repair reload install uninstall recover backup nvidia detonator display driver

Member Avatar for Catweazle

An unusual problem you had there. I've not seen nVidia driver corruption cause this particular behaviour before. Thanks for posting the details of how you resolved the matter.

I'll mark this topic as 'solved'.

Member Avatar for cavoiles

Help! This is exactly what is happening to me. Outlook Express is freezing up when I try to open it (generally) and sometimes if I get it to open, then it freezes up if I go from a mail folder to my Inbox. When Task Manager comes it, it shows that msimn.exe is using 99% of the CPU.

I have all the Windows patches; I reloaded Windows last night (yuck). It's still happening. I do not have the NVidia driver that the other person was discussing - at least if I do, I don't know about it.

Help please! Suggestions? I'm definitely not a computer tech person.

Member Avatar for DMR

cavoiles,

First of all- Welcome to TechTalk!

This being your first post I'm sure that you aren't aware of our posting guidelines, but we do ask that members not tag their questions on to a thread previously started by another member. Answering multiple members' problems in a single thread can quickly get quite confusing.

Please post this question in its own thread, and have a read through the "Forum rules when posting" announcement at the top of each forum's main page for more info on our general guidelines for using this forum.


Thanks,

-DMR

Member Avatar for cicblue

Hi, I'm a new person here too.

Wow, same thing happening to me too. Outlook Express freezing, CPU 99 to 100%, wordpad not working - freezing and cpu up also. If anything, all the virus scans and the shredder program did find some malware that was a desktop highjacker. Uninstalled Nvidia, had a beta driver that did work really well, but not worth what it did to Outlook E. and notepad. So much information here, Thank you!

Member Avatar for bishopronald

As simple as it sounds, try loading OE BEFORE you connect to the interenet. This worked for me and I just emptied all the clogged mail and went online.


Pax
Ron
Sydney Australia

Just today I goto Load Outlook Express (version 6) and only the left folder view and the very top menu appears. No messages are visible. It checks for email as I hear the new mail sound. The program will not do anything (clicking on anything doesnt make anything happen). I load up Task Manager and it shows msimn.exe using all of the cpu.

Also when notepad.exe is loaded is does similar (uses 100% cpu and doesnt respond). However these seem to be the only programs doing this (I can surf the net, play games, watch movies, play music, etc).


I have done a virus scan and found no viruses (using latest Symantec scan). I ran Norton WinDoctor and corrected any registry problems it could find but that didnt help.


Ideas?

Thanks!

-createcoms

keywords: outlook OE express 6 freeze freezes Windows XP notepad.exe msimn.exe CPU 100 100% Load crash crashes frozen

Member Avatar for ReDuX

Hello there, This is my first post, so please bare with me.

I had this very same issue with my OE since upgrading to SP2.

I tried the above ideas and the solution posted in the other thread, but it failed to solve the issue.
Eventually after significant thought, I solved it with the following:

Deleted the most recently modified files relevant to OE in the WinNT/Prefetch/ folder. The most obvious of which being the MSIMN.EXE file which Outlook uses to access the email files stored on the drive, which seemed to be the cause of the 100% CPU utilisation.
The files in the prefetch folder are appended with a random string followed by the .pf extension. So the above file would be named ' ' for example.
The files I moved were the following and may not _all_ have related to OE or IE:




Moving these files forces Windows to re-create the prefetched files from the originals (hopefully removing the corrupted files and using the fresh files again)
.

If the other solutions didnt work for you, I hope this helps you as it did me.

Member Avatar for bishopronald

Try loading OE6 Before you go online. It worked for me.

Member Avatar for Cheikh49

Have used CCleaner to clear hard drive space. OE6 is frozen and will not allow me to do anything. Many emails yet are needed to be deleted but unable to do so due to OE 6 freeze.

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