Outlook 2013 - Startup with Blank Screen?

[char...@email.com]

I asked this question before, but have not found a fix for it. Wanted to try
again to find a solution:

charliec

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I am running Outlook 2013 on Win7 64bit and have it starting in "Start-up" at
boot. I have run it for many years (prior versions of course :). But, in the
last few weeks, when I start up the computer, the Outlook window is blank
sometimes. I close it and restart it from Start-up and it works fine.

What could be causing this problem and how would I correct it?

Thanks for any insights.
charliec
----------------------------------------------------

[VanguardLH]

charliec wrote:

> I am running Outlook 2013 on Win7 64bit and have it starting in "Start-up" at
> boot. I have run it for many years (prior versions of course :). But, in the
> last few weeks, when I start up the computer, the Outlook window is blank
> sometimes. I close it and restart it from Start-up and it works fine.
>
> What could be causing this problem and how would I correct it?

So the blank window only shows up when OL2013 is a startup item. When
you manually load it later, its window is okay. I'd start by disabling
all startup items other than OL2013 to see if there is a conflict
between startup programs with OL2013. Reenable the startup items one at
a time, reboot, and test if OL2013 paints okay. If so, proceed to
re-enable another startup item, reboot, and check again. When the
window painting problem for OL2013 shows up again, the last re-enabled
startup item is at fault.

[char...@email.com]

Thanks for the reply, but the main problem with that approach is that the Blank
screen does not happen in any pattern - it is random - so, taking that approach
may not locate the problem area.

I viewed a possible solution on the Office Community Forum that suggested
disabling Add-ins in Outlook and see, over time, if that solves the problem. So,
I have taken that approach and will see what happens in the near future.

charliec

[VanguardLH]

charliec wrote:

>> VanguardLH wrote:
>
>> charliec wrote:
>>
>>> I am running Outlook 2013 on Win7 64bit and have it starting in
>>> "Start-up" at boot. I have run it for many years (prior versions
>>> of course :). But, in the last few weeks, when I start up the
>>> computer, the Outlook window is blank sometimes. I close it and
>>> restart it from Start-up and it works fine.
>>

>> I'd start by disabling all startup items other than OL2013 to see if
>> there is a conflict between startup programs with OL2013. Reenable
>> the startup items one at a time, reboot, and test if OL2013 paints
>> okay.
>

> Thanks for the reply, but the main problem with that approach is that
> the Blank screen does not happen in any pattern - it is random - so,
> taking that approach may not locate the problem area.

If the load of Outlook on startup is due to conflict with another
startup program then you might want to move Outlook from wherever you
made it a startup program and define an event to load it in Task
Scheduler. That will change when Outlook loads in relation to other
startup program.

I used to have a VOIP service called magicJack. It required their
dongle and software which loaded as a startup program but cause halts
on Windows startup which was noticed in other startup programs. I
don't remember the particular problems it caused but the cure was to
move it into Task Scheduler. To make it load even later, I could use
WinPatrol which lets me specify how longer after Windows has loaded
before a startup program gets loaded. I had problems with WinPatrol
but I did like its configured delayed start feature for startup
programs.

> I viewed a possible solution on the Office Community Forum that
> suggested disabling Add-ins in Outlook and see, over time, if that
> solves the problem. So, I have taken that approach and will see what
> happens in the near future.

What add-ons have you installed into Outlook?

[char...@email.com]

I did not install any Add-ins into Outlook - they are installed by something
else. In Outlook, go to File/Options/Add-ins, then at the bottom of that
window, see Com Add-ins and click GO, and you will see the installed Add-ins.

[VanguardLH]

charliec wrote:

>> VanguardLH wrote:
>
>> What add-ons have you installed into Outlook?
>
> I did not install any Add-ins into Outlook - they are installed by
> something else. In Outlook, go to File/Options/Add-ins, then at the
> bottom of that window, see Com Add-ins and click GO, and you will see
> the installed Add-ins.

So, you could check what was the navpath to that list but then you
couldn't mention what was listed there? Are they secret add-ins?

The Exchange add-in is included in the distro of Outlook. If you are
not connecting to an Exchange mail server then disable this add-in.

http://www.msoutlook.info/question/751
That lists some other included add-ons in Outlook. The descriptions
give you an idea if you might use those add-ons. If not, disable them.

Backup programs often complain that Outlook's files are inuse (locked)
and cannot back them up. So they install an add-in into Outlook that
will read its message store while inside of Outlook. Just don't be
trying to use Outlook during the scheduled backup since Outlook will
probably get much slower during a backup.

You may have installed other software that works with Outlook and
installs add-ins. Do you have any Outlook add-ins that were not
included in the distro of MS Office?

[char...@email.com]

I have not installed any add-ins to Outlook. What you see are some that were
added by something else.

[VanguardLH]

I can't see any add-ons in your instance of Outlook. YOU have actually
look at the list of add-ons? If all are included in the bundle of
Microsoft add-ons that come with Outlook then disabling add-ons isn't
going to solve your problem.

[char...@email.com]

Ok, thanks for the insights

[char...@email.com]

Hi VanguardLH,

After turning the Add-ins off, I did get a blank screen once again on Outlook
2013. So, it appears it does not have anything to do with the Add-ins. I went
back in and restarted them. So, any other ideas on what might be causing this
situation?

charliec

[VanguardLH]

charliec wrote:

> After turning the Add-ins off, I did get a blank screen once again on
> Outlook 2013. So, it appears it does not have anything to do with
> the Add-ins. I went back in and restarted them. So, any other ideas
> on what might be causing this situation?

Your anti-virus program (or anything else that interrogates your e-mail
traffic) perhaps. Disable your security software to see if the problem
remains or goes away.

Was this "once again" blank window in Outlook exhibited during a Windows
startup or when you later manually loaded Outlook? If it only happens
albeit irregularly on Windows startup then I'd suggest changing the load
order of Outlook. One way is to add an event in Task Scheduler to load
Outlook on login (not on Windows startup). Another is to use a program
that will let you specify how long after login a program will load;
e.g., WinPatrol.


_Execution Order for starting programs_ /(found elsewhere)/

There are 13 places that programs can start from and they are executed
in the following order:

Before Logon
1) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce
2) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices

After Logon
3) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce\Setup
4) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
5) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx
6) WIN.INI [Windows] Load
7) WIN.INI [Windows] Run
8) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
9) HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
10) C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
11) C:\Documents and Settings\<yourAccount>\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
12) HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
13) As a Scheduled Task set to run at startup.

Startups in groups 6 to 11 all run at the same time (more or less).
However, the groups themselves are triggered in the order shown above.
In other words, the next group can begin launching while the previous
group is still loading its startups. Due to timing issues it is
impossible to say what order these items will finish loading, thus it
is impossible to predict the exact order of execution for individual
startups. For instance, you may notice two or more system tray icons
changing position with each boot - even when no changes have been made
to the order.

The order of items within a group is not necessarily the final order, as
some programs take longer than others to load, and synchronous groups
can overlap each other.

[char...@email.com]

Thanks for the insights. It only happens every once in awhile on startup. Does
not occur after it is started and in use over the day. Just sometimes at
startup (no pattern)!

[char...@email.com]

I'm still having the problem I outlined below in July - still no fix for it. Any
furhter thoughts on what could be causing this and how I can fix it?

Thanks
charliec

>On Sun, 27 Jul 2014 11:17:34 -0700, char...@email.com wrote:

>
>-----------------------------------------------------
>I am running Outlook 2013 on Win7 64bit and have it starting in "Start-up" at

>boot. I have run it for many years (prior versions of course, as well as Outlook 2013 :). But, in the