Outlook 2003 SP3 takes 15-25 seconds to open

[fireforge55]

All-

I am helping a friend with a problem they are experiencing with using Outlook 2003 SP3 on a new Windows 7 Professional x64. I inititally found that their Outlook .pst file was over 2GB. I then broke that up into smaller PST files saved on a server..with the original Outlook.pst (default mail delivery location) still on the PC at C:\users|etc..

After I did this, the performance improved, but a few days later..presented it self again. This is what I have done, with no improvement. I am completely confused. This person had a Windows XP machine, that this all worked fine on..so I am confused why a more powerful PC with more memory and processing power is performing worse.

1) Turned off MS Security Essentials from scanning .PST, as well as the folder C:\Users\%USERNAME%
2) Closed the network connection to all the extra PST files that I created to widdle the size down
3) Checked memory and CPU usage whilst opening Outlook

 

[ex_bubblehead]

First thing that jumps out is that you have .pst files on a network share. Microsoft specifically states that this is not supported. It's also a great way to lose the files due to corruption.

Second, have you performed a db compression on the .pst's?

Third, multiple smaller .pst's will impact performance just as much as a single larger file. Although they have the advantage that one or more may be closed without losing access to the entire db.

Fourth, how many and what kind of rules are being applied to the inbox? Lots of rules, and extremely complex rules will affect performance.

 

[fireforge55]

I am using Outlook with Gmail (ISP uses Gmail for hosting). So, there are no rules applied to the inbox from Exchange, etc. In addition, I have compacted the PSTs. Let's forget about the network PSTs for a minute, as I have taken that out of the equation. Is there any reason why a 500MB main PST file (Outlook.pst) would cause Outlook to open so slow?

 

[ex_bubblehead]

I am using Outlook with Gmail (ISP uses Gmail for hosting). So, there are no rules applied to the inbox from Exchange, etc. In addition, I have compacted the PSTs. Let's forget about the network PSTs for a minute, as I have taken that out of the equation. Is there any reason why a 500MB main PST file (Outlook.pst) would cause Outlook to open so slow?

500MB is still a large file. When it is initially opened there is quite a bit of indexing going on which will have a negative impact on performance.

 

[fireforge55]

Best answer selected by fireforge55.