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Outlook 2003 still won't quit

The symptom: you File | Exit out of Outlook 2003, but it keeps on running, down in the Windows notification area (next to the clock).

I’ve had reports from many of you that you still can’t get Outlook 2003 to quit, even after applying the nostrums in a recent article of Office Watch. The symptom: you File | Exit out of Outlook, but it keeps on tickin’, down in the Windows notification area (next to the clock). WinFax Pro appeared to be the culprit for many of you, but plenty of folks who don’t run WinFax can’t get Outlook 2003 to quit, either.

What’s happening? I don’t know.

Long-time Office Watch reader CH found a solution: “I had so many problems with Outlook 2003 I wiped my laptop computer & reinstalled Office XP, including Outlook 2002. It now works faster. Outlook not quitting is exacerbated by PocketPc syncing, and has some problems with Dragon Naturally Speaking as well. Perhaps this is ‘tinkerers disease’ on my laptop but I found Outlook 2003 unreliable & unresponsive & slower than 2002. This virgin re-install sans a few patches, solved all the other hang problems I reported to you earlier.”

Norton continues to be a major suspect, but I haven’t heard anything definite. Will keep you posted.

 

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