Outlook 2010 is very slow and error in HDD SMART

Question

I've got a problem with PC performance when I run Outlook 2010. It's starting for 20 minutes or more. My PST data file is 50 GB, so it's a lot. I moved some messages to new data file, so it takes now 4 GB, and I removed old data file from Outlook. It's still very bad performance - it takes Outlook very long time to reacts to mouse click. PC is new, it's a HP workstation bought in 2015. I also checked HDD with mhdd and there's no problems with blocks, none of them is more than 150 ms, but when I checked SMART, it's showing an error: "reallocated sector count". Could it be a reason of slowing down?

Answer 1

1. Run CHKDSK /F or Right Click drive in expolorer, Properties -> Tools -> Error checking [Check now...] -> [V] Automatically fix file system errors // Mhdd is great, but don't forget that not all filesystem errors are hardware based, and MHDD can not fix logical errors on NTFS so use CHKDSK first //

2. Defragment your PST file using Compact feature

Compact Now feature on the Outlook can compress your folders and reduce the size. It is just like the defragmenting feature on the Windows operating system. It compresses the data to provide a faster and quicker accessibility.

In order to do this right click on the Mail folder (It will be either look like a Mail id above all or else it will be called Personal folder)
Then click on Data File Properties
Then on the General tab click Advanced button and then proceed with Compact Now button to compress the Mail folder.

3. Scan and repair the PST file with Scanpst.exe

Outlook has its own medic in built in the application package the scanning utility is called SCANPST.EXE, located in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\scanpst.exe For office 2007 check it in side Office12 folder instead of Office14 Run this, browse your PST file and it can scan and repair for any potential corrupted part in the mail folder

Answer 2

Is the file that is 50gb your .ost file? If so, make a copy of it to put elsewhere for safety and then do the following:

1) Close outlook

2) Go to control panel -> mail (32-bit)

3) Select 'Profiles' and 'Remove'

4) Delete your data from your Outlook AppData folder. DO NOT DELETE ANY PSTs. If you want to verify you don't delete anything just move the contents of the folder elsewhere and then delete it from AppData

5) Launch Outlook and Type a new outlook profile name (Standard is: Outlook)

6) Wait and see how large your new OST file becomes, it should be less than 50gb.

That number is common with corrupted .ost files, I have to deal with it at my job a user or two about once a month, very strange.