Office 2003 SP 3 on Win XP SP3 Locks up computer

Hello I just updated ESET AV in hopes to get rid of this issue that just started happening within the last few days. When working in Outlook Email, my system locks up, I mean no caps lock, no mouse etc. The system does not write any dump info or log files about the crash. Below is what I have done:

Checked/repaired .pst files
Detect and repair Office 2003.
Defrag/Chkdsk
Turned off NOD32 AV and Anti-Spam
Unchecked Email Client Protection
Ran SpyBot S&D and a Full AV scan to see if it is a virus
Updated to NOD 32 4.2.71.2
Ran Memcheck
Defragged

I may have missed some things, but this one has me stumped. If it refuses to log anything, tracking it down is nearly impossible. I am not sure it is NOD 32, but I am about ready to uninstall it, just to rule that out. If anyone has any other ideas, let me know please!

Virus signature database: 5866 (20110211)
Update module: 1031 (20091029)
Antivirus and antispyware scanner module: 1293 (20101110)
Advanced heuristics module: 1115 (20101116)
Archive support module: 1125 (20110202)
Cleaner module: 1050 (20101207)
Anti-Stealth support module: 1024 (20101227)
SysInspector module: 1217 (20100907)
Self-defense support module : 1018 (20100812)
Real-time file system protection module: 1004 (20100727)

 

scan the pst file
http://www.slipstick.com/problems/scanpst.asp

or create another outlook profile, to test and in case present one is corrupt. check event viewer logs for errors.

 

Normally if caps lock and mouse etc doesn't work it indicates a hardware fault, rather than software. When it's a software problem you can almost always (in my experience anyway) get the caps lock LED to change state.


Jim

 

Cudni, thank you, I did use the scanpst method, it did find errors, but the lock ups continued. I then created another .pst file and also experienced lockups.

Jim, I agree, it is just that this one is not making much sense. chkdsk and scandsk both report no errors. SMART (although limited) yields nothing out of the ordinary.

I did run across this site:

http://www.pchell.com/support/outlookerror.shtml

Which explained a portion of my error/slow start up and that it could be related to the outcmd.dat (which stores custom toolbar data). I see this file being scanned by ESET in the "Statistics" view. I renamed the file and boom it opened up so fast! Then, I tried to shut it down adn reopen Outlook and received another Lock up.

However, upon rebooting and restarting Outlook, I was presented with an error message:



I clicked to disable the add-in, and will re-run disk checking after last lock. Thanks for your help, I do appreciate it!

 

chkdsk results ok, and since disabling the plug in, no more system lockups. Is the plug-in required for NOD32 to work with Outlook properly? Or is it just an "extra".

 

Still looking to find this out, it appears that I do not get tag at the end of the email messages that the message has been scanned by ESET NOD32. Thank you!

 

I face similar problem with Word 2003 on XP-SP3- I post here as its on topic even tho' I dont use Outlook 2003:

Using latest EAV 4.2.71.2 / Win XP-SP3 :

Word 2003 hangs repeatedly on opening "running virus scan...."
I can open Word in safe mode, but repairing fails ie. just cannot open
Word 2003 normally.

I unchecked both boxes under EAV Advanced settings - under document protection, but stil no effect. Word 2003 is now unusable for me.

Luckily I can manually open most doc files in Wordpad (but not docx files) using context menu - right click > Open with... wordpad, but is a pain.

Which to uninstall & re-install EAV or Office 2003(shudder) ?

Anyone with ideas / lionks - please help me - thanks.

SKA

 

The statements contradict each other. When you see the message "Running a virus scan", Word calls an antivirus scanner (in case of EAV/ESS Document protection) to scan the document utilizing the MS Antivirus API.
If you have unticked the "Integrate to system" check box with Word closed, there's no chance Word would call Document protection to scan the documents you open.
Try uninstalling EAV and installing v. 4.2.71 from scratch to make sure that no settings from the previous installation are preserved.