Why is my Outlook Crashing?!

This is definitely happening because of a third-party add on. Uninstall all third-party add ons and then check if the Outlook crashes or not.

also check this link

https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/25143148/Outlook-07-corrupted-data-file-error.html

may be it helps you

Tools -> Trust Center -> Add-ins.

try disabling stuff. sometimes, if you can't find it there, i've found rare instance of mappoint and other weird apps leaving traces in the registry which cause such crashes. reinstalling outlook solved the problem there.

Grrr. I have uninstalled unified messaging seeing as it was the only add-on.

So far, so good although the crashes are random so I will have to wait and see.

Now I have no unified messaging : (

Why would everyone else in the company get to use it with no issue except me?

You think it's a Windows 7 compatibility issue?

well, with a new os you never know. get the latest SP and updates for office, etc etc etc.. and just pray and hope that the mighty 7 does not strike you down.

It is still crashing.

I tried to open an upcoming calendar appointment and BAM!

I opened Outlook to double-check that all add-ons were disabled, took a screen shot and BAM! Crashed again : (

I looked in the event log and got what appears to be a default error stating that Outlook crashed but doesn't tell you why.

I did some research and someone said that starting Outlook with the /cleanview switch along with disabling McAfee email scanner fixed the problem.

I just did the /cleanview start and have to see about disabling my McAfee email scanner.

Holy annoying Batman!

UPDATE:

It's 7:11am and I booted up Outlook at 7am.  It just crashed again.

There are no add-ons, clean view was ran, email virus scan was disabled as well.

I am getting frustrated.

What is left?

Come on experts!!!! HELP ME OUT ; )

heh. have you tried reinstalling outlook? which i already mentioned. and if so, check your application event log for eny errors or warnings that might have been logged.

I already mentioned in my original post that I re-installed Office with no success.

The event log only shows generic event IDs letting me know that Outlook experienced a mystery error and crashed.

Where are the experts?

dude. random things liek this happen with outlook all the time hahaha. with very little in the way of logging or any kind of informatino you could trace an error down with. if it throws an exception, you can try debugging it. if it throws no exception, well then you have to rely on logs, or install a different verion of outlook / service pack / different version of windows until the bug (if it is a bug) is resolved.

Here is the thing.  I don't want you to take offense to this but there are many MANY issues that I deal with on a daily basis and all of them have a solution.

I find it very difficult to except that I need to move to a different OS or just sit and wait for a service pack to be released.

Something happened.  Something is wrong.  It wasn't doing this 6 months ago.  It wasn't doing this 3 months ago.

A change on my machine or a change to my Exchange mailbox is causing this.

We already ruled out that it's not the add-ons.  I still have none of them running.

I am going to setup my Exchange account on an XP box and use it remotely to access my mail throughout the day.

If Outlook on the XP machine doesn't crash over the next day or so then at least the problem has been isolated to my machine directly.

If Outlook on the PX machine fouls up then we know the problem is related to my .OST.

PS - If it wasn't for my Blackberry going off I wouldn't have even known you replied seeing as my Outlook wasn't open (because it crashed a few minutes earlier).

PSS - It crashed again while writing all of this.

how could it be something in your exchange box? you said you disabled the addon...

and yes. stuff like this DOES happen every day. especially when dealing with windows 7. and like i've said. i had a few instance (2/3) where the problem simply could not be diagnosed biut a resinstall helped. but you already ruled out the reinstall.

Well it's 10am and I haven't had a crash since about 7:15am.  I am using Outlook 2003 on an XP box and have it connected remotely so I can check my mail (ghetto!).
So far, so good.
If I go the whole day without a crash on the XP machine then I need to think about either reinstalling Windows 7 on the machine or...well...I'm not sure what my other options are.

My Outlook is still crashing.

Even when the .PST files are closed.

I have copied the .PST files over to an XP machine with Outlook 2003 and everything seems to be working fine.

Is it Windows 7 or Outlook 2007 that is causing the crash?

Anything in the event logs?

Have you downloaded all Service Packs and Updates for Windows and Office?

I have to second giltjr's suggestion of looking in the event logs. The System Log and the Application Logs will show what is going on at the time of crash.

Far out possibility would be to say a memory module might be going on you. That would explain the randomness of the crashes. As soon as RAM usage reaches a point where the corruption in a module is inherent, crash. Think of it as trying to fill up a bucket that has a hole in the side, with water.

Can't hurt to try, just costs time; http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/715-memory-diagnostics-tool.html

Install virtual XP on the 7 machine and run it from there. Also run a scan with malwarebytes
http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html

Outlook 2007: Troubleshooting Outlook Crashes

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2000071

Try sfc /scannow and if you suspect a windows problem, do a "repair" install.

Couple more diagnostics

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA012340761033.aspx 

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA100758311033.aspx?pid=CH102499831033

Good luck

Can you run Outlook from the command line with the following switches:
outlook.exe /safe
outlook.exe /safe:1
outlook.exe /safe:3
outlook.exe /safe:4
Give each option a fair chance to run and see if any of the modes crashes.  Please report back if any of the modes works without crashing.
Thanks
Alan

I'd open the task manager and take a look prior to opening Outlook as to what is running.
Could be Windows Live running in the back ground, since that's the default email client.
MSN messnger starting with windows??
Is Outlook set to be your default email client?

Wow! Wasn't expecting so many replies at once. My Blackberry was going crazy! lol.

Anyway, I am starting to think that it IS my .PST files.

I had one large one nearing 1GB in size.

I opened it and split it into 2 by putting all of my sent items into one, and everything else into the other.

I leave them both detached throughout the day unless needed.

If I forget to close one after using it, my Outlook will crash when trying to view the calendar or setup a new appointment, etc.

I ran the .PST repair utility 2 times already but apparently that's not helping.

My machine is completely up to date regarding Office updates and Windows updates.

I don't have Adobe Acrobat 6 but do have a trial version of Acrobat 9 installed.

I tried disabling all add-ons a while back (see beginning of thread) which included any Adobe products.

Not sure where to see if Windows Live is running but I don't see it in the task manager under processes or services.

Outlook is surely my default mail client.

Attached is a screen shot of the events that appear when a crash takes place.

OutlookCrash.PNG

Have you tried Outlook in safe mode as described above yet?

I definitely did earlier but let me try it again.

I will attach both .PST files and run it in safe mode to see what happens...

UPDATE:
Started it in safe mode, attached the 2 .PST files and tried to add a new calendar appointment...CRASH!

Try each mode separately please.

I am now trying "outlook.exe /safe:1"

This seems to open OK. I can open calendar appointments and it looks like it keeps my color scheme / settings.

If this works properly, what does that tell us exactly?

Extract from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HP012185891033.aspx
/safe:1 - Starts Outlook with the Reading Pane off.
/safe:3 - Starts Outlook with Microsoft Exchange Client Extensions (ECE) turned off, but listed in the Add-In Manager. Component Object Model (COM) add-ins are turned off.
/safe:4 - Starts Outlook without loading outcmd.dat (customized toolbars).  

I always have the reading pane off.

That would be why it didn't appear any different on my end.

But if that is the only thing it does then why is my Outlook working?

I have both .PST files attached and I can open calendar appointments no problem.

I will leave it like this for a while and see what happens...

>>>>>>>>If this works properly, what does that tell us exactly?
Have you looked at the troubleshooter posted earlier?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2000071

UPDATE:

Outlook.exe /safe:1 just crashed on me while trying to dismiss a calendar appointment.

I am going to try outlook.exe /safe:3 now.

you know what it is probably? does wordpad work normally? etc? can you print? do you have an okipage printer? check if you print spooler service and any services it depends on are running properly. i just fixed a problem with the exact event logged.

your problem may be different tho, but it is definately not office.. it's a windows DLL it's choking on.

or some driver DLL. the tipoff here is that office is not reporting an error, just saying the session ended (aka. choked). probably on some underlying dependency inwindows, and it's not throwing an error.

i think clearing out the templates folder (back it up first) makes it go away for one application load then it returns, or something like that.

If applicable, reconfigure it to not use Cached Mode and test.
Rename outlook.ost and have Outlook rebuild it on next start.

Scan the computer with makwarebytes

Scan the computer with makwarebytes

Sorry, posting from phone, malwarebytes

TrustWise:Sorry, posting from phone, malwarebytes

I ran the program and it found one item.

I have removed it and rebooted as per the software's instruction.

Outlook just crashed, lol.  Guess it had nothing to do with malware.

centerv:  
If applicable, reconfigure it to not use Cached Mode and test.
Rename  outlook.ost and have Outlook rebuild it on next start.

I don't used cached mode.

I renamed the .OST after the crash and started Outlook.

So far, so good (it's only been a few minutes).

NOTE:
I found a few different .OST files in my folder.

A total of about 5.  Outlook0.ost, Outlook1.ost, etc.
I wonder why that is...

Have you looked in the System and or Application event logs?

giltjr:  
Have you looked in the System and or Application event logs?

Regarding what exactly?  The logs don't offer any additional info other than letting me know that the application crashed due to a "hang of xxxx seconds".

>>>>I wonder why that is...

http://www.office-outlook.com/outlook-forum/index.php/m/124104/#msg_124104

The only event log you posted was the one that is specifically from Microsoft Office Suite, which generally provides nothing, as you have found.

If you expand the "Windows" you should have an applications and system events.  Is there anything in those event logs?

I found this log under APPLICATIONS:

Faulting application name: OUTLOOK.EXE, version: 12.0.6524.5000, time stamp: 0x4b0761e4
Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 6.1.7600.16385, time stamp: 0x4a5bdadb
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x00051f70
Faulting process id: 0x11a0
Faulting application start time: 0x01cada35a83d606b
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\OUTLOOK.EXE
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll
Report Id: a60d9a2b-4629-11df-886d-0021708373c9

There are no events in the SYSTEM section of the event log.

Thanks for the info!

As of right now I am doing OK with the renaming and recreation of Outlook.ost.

It's been up & running for a few hours with both .PST files loaded and so far, so good.

If it crashes again I will try steps 2 & 3 together to see of that helps.

have you installed office sr1 2007 that has a fix for ntdll error?

sfc /scannow?

centerv:  
have you installed office sr1 2007 that has a fix for ntdll error?
sfc  /scannow?

I have SP2 installed for Office 2007.

I will try sfc /scannow if I continue to crash.

sfc might be an option. but, from my understanding, this has nothing to do with outlook itself. the problem is elsewhere. probobaly in windows. even a faulty driver that is completely unrelated... sfc might not fi it, a repair might not even fix it. you will probably have to find the problem/offending driver/incompatibility or reinstall windows from scratch.

try rebooting in safe mode with networking, see if it works, that should eliminate most drivers.

I have reinstalled Windows on the computer.

I have both .PST files open and I will see if I run into any issues.

you wanna close the question after all those people took their time to help?
look at that scroll go, baby!
seriously

What am I supposed to do?  

I can't assign points if we never found a solution.

You have to understand that I am at work and having my Outlook crash every 15 minutes is a bit disruptive.

I tried soooo many different things to fix this issue and it got to the point where I started noticing other things happening to my computer.

It was then that I decided that I need to reinstall Windows 7 on my machine and start fresh.

My Outlook was open all day yesterday with both .PST files attached; no crash yet (knocks on wood).

What would you recommend I do regarding this question?

what's more!

you closed the topic right after saying you reinstalled, without checking to see if it had actually fixed the problem.. and you never replied back to explain why you closed the question.

You sound a bit frustrated.

Please don't be.

You want points?  OK. I'll give you points.

I am not going to argue with you through Experts-Exchange.

You guys have helped me quite a few times and I am not trying to disrespect anyone (including you).

I am not happy about how this question was resolved.

im not frustrated. points mean nothing. they are simply a means of saying, thank you all for taking the time to provide other insights i might not have thought of immediately myself. if points are no object to you, might as well give them out for free as a way of saying thanks.

but adding exclamation points to text does not mean im actually jumping up and down in my chair while typing. its just for emphasis.

to be frank, the problem you described is undiagnosable as an office bug. there are so many possiblr causes i can think of, just describing my own situation which was causing wordpad to crash, no 'new text document' link in context menus, office to crash, clearing templates folder made it temp. go away, but in the end it was a printer driver. but that printer driver was not throwing any warning in event logs.

good luck on your problem tho and i hope the reinstall helped, else pray to the win7 god.

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