Nod32 + Windowblinds hangs Outlook XP

I'm having a problem with Outlook XP hanging when minimized
on the taskbar.

I've traced the hangs back to an apparent poison kool-aid mix
of Nod32 V2 and Windowblinds 4.2.

The hangs occurs within seconds to minutes after Outlook XP is
minimized on the taskbar. When it hangs, Outlook will not respond
to efforts to reopen it from the taskbar. At this point Outlook must
be terminated.

Disabling either Nod32 (turning off IMON alone doesn't help), or Windowblinds
eliminate the hangs. When both are active Outlook hangs.

I recently switched from Norton Antivirus to Nod32. The Outlook
hangs started after switching to Nod32.

I'm looking for a clue to solving this problem.

Sadly, I have been unsuccessful at getting a response from Eset Tech
Support. My email seems to have gone down a black hole.

 

I've used NOD and WindowBlinds for years without issues that I can attribute to either program but YMMV. This machine (XP) I'm presently using doesn't have Outlook XP so I can't say one way or the other specifically in regards to that.

Have you tried excluding Outlook itself from scanning by AMON and/or skinning by WB to see if that makes any difference?

 

Here's what I've tried:

1) Disable Outlook skinning via per-application settings in WB.

Outlook still loaded WB DLLs when launched, Outlook still hangs.

2) Turned off IMON via Nod32 control panel.

Outlook still launches an IMON thread, Outlook hangs.

I did't configure AMON to skip c:\program files\microsoft\office10\... Not sure how skipping over on-disk binaries would relate to operational hang of a running instance.

The upshot is that if the DLLs for both WB and Nod32 are loaded when Outlook is launched it will eventually hang.

The only way I've found to ensure that DLLs aren't loaded is to totally disable either one or both of WB and Nod32.

It would be nice if there were better support in Win XP for diagnosing application crashes and hangs rather than just collecting crash dumps and sending them to the black hole that is Microsoft.

I have been able to capture some Outlook crash dumps, then look them over with the MS Windows Debugger. Thought, not being a Win32 programmer all I have been able to do is examing the call stacks of each running thread to gain a bit of insight.

It was examination of the call stacks that led me to suspect a conflict between WB and Nod32 (IMON).

 

Have you tried holding down CTRL while loading Outlook? This automatically temporarily disables skinning for the programs being loaded when you do.

Though one note - I wouldn't be surprised at all if Outlook already has some process running, I cannot verify this when I do not have Outlook XP.