After opening the Task Manager (see other posts) I spotted the problem. Outlook was running in more than one instance! This should not happen and is bound to cause problems and strange behavior. I tried closing Outlook down, but it was still showing as running in the Task Manager!

I closed down the running instances by highlighting them in the Task Manager and shutting them down one by one.

Did it work? For the moment yes, but as the next time I ran Outlook, I looked back in the Task manager, and there was another instance of it running again!

OK, so here’s the fix!

The problem was being caused by an addin that was running in Outlook as the result of installing some other software, and the culprit in this case was none other than another favorite of mine, iTunes!

Here’s how I fixed it:

I opened the Tools/Options menu in Outlook

Then I clicked on the Other tab, and opened Advanced Options:

Then I opened the COM Add-Ins

…and discovered that there was an entry called iTunes Outlook Addin in there, and it was ticked!

I unticked it, OK’d it and backed my way out, and from that point on, Outlook performed beautifully again – in only one instance, and when I shut it down it, it was really shutdown! No longer did I find multiple instances of it running in the Task Manager and no more buggy, unpredictable crashes or behavior. My good old trusty Outlook was back again!

Now I’m not saying that it’s the iTunes Addin that could be causing this to happen in your case, it could be any other addin. Just untick whatever addins are running one at a time, and try it out. Also look in the COM Add-Ins (it’s the button below the Add-In Manager – look at the image above to locate it), and try unticking some of the unnecessary stuff that may be running in there. Just remember unticking something may lead to another Outlook feature not working! You have to try this out by trial and error, unticking and saving one at a time.

By the way, if Outlook is shutting down properly when you close it, it should disappear out of the system tray down at the bottom right of your screen. NOTE: give it a little while to diasppear as it takes a while to shut down.

Here’s where you’ll see the Outlook icon running in the tray (Task Manager is open here, but it needn’t be, if Outlook is running you’ll see the icon down there):

….and here it’s gone from the tray after shutting Outlook down:

Easy fix. Let me know how it goes!

Computer viruses can cause a lot of damage to your computer. Having an anti-virus program is not enough to keep your computer free of viruses. After seeing too many people experiencing this problem on a regular basis, I decided to help you and others get rid of viruses for good. There is no need to shell out big bucks for one of the other commercial anti-virus programs!

Follow these 4 simple rules and your computer will be virus free:

1. Make sure you have a good antivirus program

I’m going to make this simple for you. If you are using your computer for personal (non-business) use then you need to be running Microsoft Security Essentials or AVG Free Anti-Virus (download it at http://free.avg.com/download-avg-anti-virus-free-edition), and start running it immediately.

Alternatively, if your computer is a business/work computer then go ahead and download NOD32 at http://www.eset.com/download/index.php – it is more than worth the purchase price.

Make sure you are running one of these two programs.

2. Keep that anti-virus program up to date

This is the biggest mistake that people make when it comes to keeping their computers virus free. Having the program is not enough. You need to make sure that it is up to date. People are out there as we speak creating new viruses. You need to have your anti virus software up to date so it can fight all of these new viruses.

3. Run regular scans

Set your anti-virus program to run a daily scan at a time your computer is actually turned on. It’s no good scheduling it for 3 AM daily if your computer is not usually on at that time. Make sure those scans run daily. On the weekend, run a full system manual scan yourself.

4. Do not open e-mail attachments unless you are 100% certain they are legitimate

This is a huge part of the problem. Joe gets an e-mail from his brother Gary and it has an attachment. The e-mail tells him to “check out this cool file – it’s hilarious”. Joe convinces himself that it cannot have any viruses because his own brother would never do that to him. WRONG! In many cases, the other person has no idea they are sending you that e-mail. It is automatically generated by a virus or worm on their system. Do not open any e-mail attachment unless they have been clearly mentioned in the e-mail in a way that assures you that the person intentionally sent it. Even then, you should still save it to your desktop and scan it for viruses.

That’s it. Stick to these 4 rules and you will have a computer that runs fast and is virus free. Now that you have this information, look out for detailed installation and configuration videos for these programs at ForNonGeeks.com