[neamb2]

Hi. I'd appreciate any insights on this first time problem. I opened my Outlook email (Vista PC) as usual and all froze: no mouse or keyboard. Reboots returned the Desktop, but all was still frozen; all icons were visible (but just a square shape) except tray items.

Working in Safe mode, mouse and keyboard work and I can access all files and use the Internet. I copied all my files, etc. to a disk, just in case.

I've tried the following to return things to normal: Last Known Good Config; System Repair; System Restore; Disk Error check/repair; Memory Diagnostic tool; and resetting BIOS to defaults. Cables look tight, power supply works. But still no success. I've run two deep scans with Norton and Malwarebytes, all is clean.

If you might have any thoughts on what else I might try before doing a System Recovery (hate the thought, 4 years of Updates, etc.), I'd love to hear them!

Thanks in advance.

[compnovo]

neamb2, on 09 November 2012 - 12:50 PM, said:

Hi. I'd appreciate any insights on this first time problem. I opened my Outlook email (Vista PC) as usual and all froze: no mouse or keyboard. Reboots returned the Desktop, but all was still frozen; all icons were visible (but just a square shape) except tray items.

Working in Safe mode, mouse and keyboard work and I can access all files and use the Internet. I copied all my files, etc. to a disk, just in case.

I've tried the following to return things to normal: Last Known Good Config; System Repair; System Restore; Disk Error check/repair; Memory Diagnostic tool; and resetting BIOS to defaults. Cables look tight, power supply works. But still no success. I've run two deep scans with Norton and Malwarebytes, all is clean.

If you might have any thoughts on what else I might try before doing a System Recovery (hate the thought, 4 years of Updates, etc.), I'd love to hear them!

Thanks in advance.

Hi neamb2, and welcome to the forums. Don't do a System Recovery yet, you might find the answer you need from one of the posters here.
The fact that you can boot in Safe Mode and access your files hints that you may have a corrupt driver, or the Explorer shell has become corrupted. I would try going into Device Manager and either upgrading or rolling back your graphics driver to see if that has any effect, then let us know the results.

[brainout]

Did you just go through a Windows update? That's the usual problem. If that's the problem, just shut down and unplug for about 30 minutes or less. Then replug and turn on. Vista doesn't become stable until after Service Pack 2, so make sure you've updated Vista for those service packs.

See, when you go through an MS update, it never clears the old memory properly; Peter Norton warned of this going all the way back to the early 1990's. Even using RESTART doesn't help. So unplug and let the computer sit, so the memory will drain enough (or whatever is the right terminology).

The other possible problem is that you're using an older version of Outlook, pre 2003. It makes password calls which hang up the system briefly. If this isn't your first time using Outlook on Vista, then this isn't the problem.

I've not yet unboxed my Vista computer, am still struggling with my Win7 Pro, to set it up. Both Vista and Win7 have problems with Outlook as stated above. But I've not yet installed Outlook on Win7 and probably won't. Windows 7 stinks. Microsoft is truly deaf to customer needs.

[neamb2]

Thanks! I have tried all suggestions to no avail, and then did several Recoveries (from hard drive and disk) also to no avail. I'll start a separate post to discuss this. Thanks again.

[neamb2]

Thanks! I have tried all suggestions to no avail, and then did several Recoveries (from hard drive and disk) also to no avail. I'll start a separate post to discuss this. Thanks again.

[brainout]

brainout, on 10 November 2012 - 08:50 AM, said:

Did you just go through a Windows update? That's the usual problem. If that's the problem, just shut down and unplug for about 30 minutes or less. Then replug and turn on. Vista doesn't become stable until after Service Pack 2, so make sure you've updated Vista for those service packs.

See, when you go through an MS update, it never clears the old memory properly; Peter Norton warned of this going all the way back to the early 1990's. Even using RESTART doesn't help. So unplug and let the computer sit, so the memory will drain enough (or whatever is the right terminology).

The other possible problem is that you're using an older version of Outlook, pre 2003. It makes password calls which hang up the system briefly. If this isn't your first time using Outlook on Vista, then this isn't the problem.

I've not yet unboxed my Vista computer, am still struggling with my Win7 Pro, to set it up. Both Vista and Win7 have problems with Outlook as stated above. But I've not yet installed Outlook on Win7 and probably won't. Windows 7 stinks. Microsoft is truly deaf to customer needs.

UPDATE: I've now installed MS Office 2003 on my Win7 machine, and have installed what I need on my Vista Business machine. Win7 can't accept Outlook 2000 due to its passwords. The hangup you describe, might be due to your having MS Outlook 2000 on your machine.

Win7 uses a radically different mail setup, with 'Contacts' as part of the OS as a separate file, to support Windows Live Mail. Vista had that, too, but it also has Windows Mail, a successor to Outlook Express.

Best to use Thunderbird instead, which is also compatible with Linux. Thunderbird can only import mail, unless Outlook Express is on the machine at the time you Install Thunderbird. Since you can't put Outlook Express on a machine, best to install Thunderbird in XP and then import everything, find out what the file names are in Thunderbird, then install Thunderbird in Vista or Win7, and then copy over the address book and mail files to the same places Thunderbird uses them, in Vista/Win7.

Win 8 has a different mail system, so that's another reason why you want to use Thunderbird. Pity that MS messes around with incompatible mail programs from one version to the next. MS is deaf to its customers' needs.

I see now that none of this helped you solve your problem, dang!

This post has been edited by brainout: 24 November 2012 - 01:45 AM