Do Rules Organizing Your Inbox Slow Down Your Computer?
Wayne Overbo
approximately 100 different senders' messages out of my
Inbox and into appropriate subfolders.
I was wondering if anyone else has had any problems with a
lot of rules like this, and did it slow down your overall
PC performance?
I have been having a PC slowdown problem at work, and they
have replaced my PC three times! I have removed all non-
standard programs, even the MS Optical mouse software, and
the problems persist.
The problem is basically one of it taking 10 or 20 seconds
for my computer to change directories when navigating with
Windows Explorer, or when trying to open a file from
within Word and Excel.
The only two things we can think of that are left are the
frequency with which Outlook checks our mail server for
new mail (removed the automatic every 2 minutes and have
gone to manual sned/receive update); and the number of
rules I have set up to manage my Inbox.
Any help is appreciated.
Wayne Overbo
Lee H
presumably they are also giving you a ready-to-go machine that has their
standard configuration of software. They obviously wouldn't have time to
install everything from scratch and figure out all the conflicts and setup,
so they'll copy a disk image onto the drive with their standard image.
Have you installed anything AFTER they give you the new computer? How about
configuration changes (to Windows, Outlook, or other apps)? Have you been
logging these so you know what you've changed? Are they all approved? If
you've been using the standard image provided by "them" then it would have
to be something they included in the image.
Do these 13 rules only move the items to different folders based on some
matching criteria? Do they move or copy the messages? Copy would take
longer than a move since you are duplicating the contents. Or do any
execute external scripts (using the "start application" or "run script" or
"perform a custom action" clauses)? Do any rules forward the emails or do
any reply to them?
What happens if you disable all the startup programs? I don't mean to boot
into Safe Mode which is useless for real work. Although you can use
Administrative Tools -> Computer Management, "System Tools: System
Information: Software Environment: Startup Programs" tree node to check what
startup programs you have, this doesn't give you any control over them. You
could use the Startup Control Panel applet from Mike Lin
(http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml) or install the msconfig program from
Windows XP (works on Windows 2000; available from
http://www.3feetunder.com/files/win2K_msconfig_setup.exe or
http://www.thetechguide.com/downloads/msconfig.zip).
You didn't mention which Windows version you are using. If NT-based (NT4,
2000, XP), you might also try disabling all non-critical NT services for
awhile to check if the machine still slows down. Don't stop the following
services: Event Log, Logical Disk Manager, Plug And Play, Remote Procedure
Call, Security Accounts Manager, Windows Installer (unless you do not need
to Install a product), Windows Management Instrumentation, Windows
Management Instrumentation Driver Extensions.
Even if you are using Exchange (instead of POP), are you using .pst files?
Are they local or are they on a networked host? Access to .pst files across
a network can get slow when there is heavy traffic; after all, you are
competing for bandwidth across the network to read and write into your
non-local .pst file. Microsoft recommends against this and instead says you
should use offline folders with an .ost file; see
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q297019 (they tell
you how to do it in
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q197263 but still
recommend not doing it).
It is highly unlikely that you actually want an email to get processed (or
looked at) by several rules. Usually when one rule applies, that's the only
rule that you want to execute on that matching email. Add the "stop
processing more rules" clause to each rule that applies singly to an email.
--
____________________________________________________________
(Remove "-nix" from username if present in email address.)
Lanwench
Rules will slow down your Outlook a bit in the sense that it has to process
a lot of stuff when it checks mail, but shouldn't slow down your PC in
general. Sounds like you have network browser problems, to me.
"Wayne Overbo" <wayne_...@gov.nt.ca> wrote in message
news:004f01c237e5$2f411cb0$9de62ecf@tkmsftngxs01...
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
instance, have about 45 rules that I run and my PC/Outlook 2002 is very
snappy.
--
Milly Staples - [MVP-Outlook]
Post replies only to the news group - do not send me copies, they will be
deleted.
"Lanwench" <lanw...@heybuddy.donotsendme.unsolicitedmail.yahoo.com> wrote
in message news:#hG965#NCHA.1620@tkmsftngp10...