Member Avatar for bbarron1215

Okay, I have been using Outlook 2003 since it was released, I am familiar with the s/w and I've made no changes to the settings in a l-o-n-g time. Then all of a sudden I start having issues when replying to emails. It just hangs, up to a minute at times, evenutally opening up the reply window. Thru Options I've tried unchecking the boxes 'use Microsoft Word as editor...' and when I replied to an email I get an error regarding ActiveX control, so I set it back. I would prefer using MS Word as my editor, but cannot deal with this lengthy delay.

Now today I found out that some of my email recipients are getting 'empty' emails or are having the same issue when trying to reply back to me. Was there a recent release that would impact Outlook 2003? As I mentioned, I have done nothing to alter my settings, no new s/w loaded, nothing. At a loss here and would appreciate any helpful suggestions on correcting the problem?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by bowlerman

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A few focused checks that often find the real cause (rather than a full reinstall):

Since already tried toggling the Word editor and reinstalled Office, try isolating the problem by ruling out add-ins, the Word editor/template, custom forms or signatures, and printer/driver issues first.

Start Outlook in Safe Mode (outlook.exe /safe). If replying is fast in Safe Mode, disable COM add-ins (Outlook 2003: Tools > Options > Other > Advanced Options… > COM Add-Ins / Add-in Manager) and re-enable one at a time to find the offender. This is the quickest way to prove an add-in is involved. (support.microsoft.com)

Because Word is used as the editor, a damaged Word global template can hang Outlook when Word is called. Close Outlook/Word and rename Normal.dot (Word 2003) to OldNormal.dot so Word rebuilds a clean template; then test replies again. Also temporarily set the Windows default printer to a simple local driver (for example Microsoft XPS/Print to PDF) — Word queries the default printer and a bad or remote printer driver can block composition. (support.microsoft.com)

If recipients get empty replies or only certain messages fail, clear Outlook’s custom-forms cache and test with signatures disabled — published/custom forms or corrupted signature files can strip or mangle message bodies. (Tools > Options > Other > Advanced Options > Custom Forms > Manage Forms > Clear Cache; signatures are under your profile’s Application Data\Microsoft\Signatures.) If none of the above helps, create a fresh Outlook profile to rule out profile corruption. (slipstick.com)

Make one change at a time and test with the same message that reproduced the hang (HTML vs Plain Text, with/without images/signature). Note which message types or senders reproduce the problem — that detail usually points to the exact culprit.

Member Avatar for larrym

Have you been able to find a fix? Or even a cause? I have the same exact issue. I even tried to uninstall and reinstall the office suite, but the problem came right back. Don't know if this will help anyone in diagnosing the problem, but when I tried to uninstall I got the error message,

"The installation source for this product could not be found."

So I had to use the Windows Install clean up tool to remove office. Anybody have any advice?

Member Avatar for bbarron1215

I spent the entire day Sunday uninstalling windows updates, microsoft office, anti-virus applications, spysweeper, removing toolbars fom IE, gosh you name it, rebooting after each itme. Then I reinstalled everything, except spysweeper, and the issue is still there. I heard on another tech website that this issue is "worldwide" and Microsoft doesn't have a 'fix' yet. So for now I have found that the only solution is to reply by creating a new email. Betsy

Member Avatar for larrym

Thanks for the response. As soons as I find something else that might help, I'll keep you posted. Please do the same.

Member Avatar for larrym

Run SCANPST.exe
This seemed to work for me (at least for now). The scanpst repair tool is installed by default
<system root>\program files\common files\system\msmapi\1033

Member Avatar for bowlerman

i think it has to do with a recent update that was pushed out by microsoft

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