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Thread: IE7 and Outlook HTML e-mail create is slow

  1. #31
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    See this post from the good people at AumHa for a great summary of the issue.

  2. #32
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    Yes, I will also bring this to Team Spybot's attention, thanks.
    Microsoft MVP Reconnect 2018-
    Windows Insider MVP 2016-2018
    Microsoft Consumer Security MVP 2006-2016

  3. #33
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    This issue of delayed typing in a new Outlook 2000 email has been bugging several users (~5 out of 30) at my firm for the last day and a half. None have current Spybot immunizations. Several reported the problem improved or went away. One user continued to have significant delays. After switching her OL to use MS Word as the email editor, the problem appeared to go away.
    -mastman

  4. #34
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    Default Number of IE7/Spybot issues increasing

    After this last Windows Update 2 days ago, I started experiencing the issue with slow typing in Outlook and slow performance in opening HTML e-mails in general. Similar to what I did about a month ago on my in-laws computer, removing the immunization from Spybot restored the performance in Outlook.

    I would like to keep the immunization, but would prefer to not reduce my security level in Outlook and feel it is much more likely for Spybot to come out with a fix for what is likely a IE7 problem than for Microsoft to do it.

    Dell E510 Dual core 3.0 GHz
    1 GB RAM
    Windows XP Media Edition SP2
    IE7
    McAfee AntiVirus and Firewall

    Let me know what else you'd need to know. It would be nice to get this nailed down.

    Rgds/Mark M.

  5. #35
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    The real problem turns out to be an issue with one of the new security features in Internet Explorer 7 and older versions of Outlook (2003 or earlier) which used Internet Explorer for editing HTML email. The problems apparently don't exist in Outlook 2007 since it uses a different HTML editor. It's also claimed that Vista isn't affected, though I heard no explanation or testing of why this might be true.

    Apparently using Word for HTML email or switching to text only will work around the problem, but the only currently known workarounds using IE 7 are complex and reduce security as a side effect.

    I won't go into further detail here, since these aren't my own discoveries and I haven't examined them to the depth required to explain them more completely anyway. The only true 'fix' would require [possibly extensive] changes by Microsoft to the operation of at least IE 7 and probably also older versions of Outlook.

    The point for this thread is that Spybot S&D and even its Immunizations are NOT the cause, they simply aggravate and expose the situation. The only 'fix' with Spybot would be to remove the Restricted Zone Immunization entries, which is really just a workaround as it removes the items contributing to the overhead, not the root cause.

    As I stated earlier, any true 'fix' would need to come for Microsoft and their position has always been that Restricted Sites were never intended to have thousands of automatically added entries, but rather a handful of manual entries made by the user over time. In other words, I wouldn't hold my breath and would probably look at one of the workarounds already mentioned to solve the immediate problem.

    Bitman

  6. #36
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    Arrow General Re-Summary Of Problem.

    My Fellow Americans, (I just felt like using it this one time!)

    So as I've been reading through the various posts from all of the readers, I've noticed that some people may not know exactly what's causing this. Obviously, the thread is getting a little deep, so naturally many people may be losing the facts in the process because they're getting buried under a bunch of other helpful posts. So to make things easier, I just wanted to sum up the major issues, and to see if I couldn’t clear some ideas up in the process.

    Okay, here goes...

    =========================================================

    (The Problem)
    When typing or accessing HTML-formatted text in Outlook 2003 (possibly other versions of Outlook as well), there is a great slowdown with either typing or opening an e-mail.


    (The Cause)
    This problem is ultimately triggered by a combination of factors. Although there have been many potential causes listed for this problem, the root causes are as follow:

    • Outlook 2003
    • Internet Explorer 7
    • Spybot 1.4 + Immunizations (Not At Fault, But Does Add To The Delay)



    (The Summary)
    By running Spybot Immunizations, Spybot is placing several thousand entries into a user's registry in order to help specify which websites Internet Explorer should not under any circumstances open or run. These are known as "bad domains," and they are actually a very handy way of enhancing security in Internet Explorer.

    The main problem is that inexplicably, Outlook will scan this entire list of "bad domains" each time that it has to access an HTML-formatted e-mail or any of its text. For example: If you start Outlook and open an HTML-formatted e-mail, you may notice a delay. Conversely, if you create a new e-mail and begin to type, you may notice a gradual typing delay that will eventually build into a complete stall with no text appearing until you stop typing.

    The reason for this awkward behavior is because Outlook is instructing your CPU to scan each and every single entry listed as a "bad domain," which when combined with the 15,000+ (at present) entries that are also added by Spybot in addition to anything that may already be there, causes a tremendous slowdown.


    (The Solution)
    Officially, there is none yet. However, there are several work-around solutions. These are:

    1) Each time Outlook is started, go to Tools/Options (in your menu bar), click on the Security tab, and then click OK to exit.

    - This is a revised solution to the one I originally proposed, and after doing more tests I noticed that no change/revert was needed under the Security tab, only an OK click. -


    2) Don't use HTML formatting.

    - By disabling HTML formatting in your Outlook Mail Format options you circumvent the problem entirely, as all e-mails (not matter what their original format) are presented in either RTF or plain text mode. Although in theory this is a safer way of viewing e-mails, many people (myself included) do not wish to use this format setting. -


    3) Using Spybot, go to Immunize, and click the "Undo" arrow in between the "Check Again" magnifying glass icon and the "Help" icon.

    - Doing this will instruct Spybot to remove all of the entries that it had previously entered into your "bad domains" list, and thus greatly improving (if not entirely) solving your slowdown. *It is important to know that by doing this, the real nature of the problem is not resolved, in addition to this fix turning off what would otherwise be a very strong security feature offered by Spybot. This can of course be re-enabled at anytime by going to Immunize and by clicking the green cross icon labeled "Immunize." -


    (The Questions)

    Why does resetting my Internet Explorer fix this problem?

    - Resetting Internet Explorer, amongst other things, clears all of the entries listed as "bad domains" in the registry. Doing this removes the enlarged list that is ultimately scanned by the CPU when reviewing HTML-formatted text or e-mails. This problem will absolutely return as soon as any substantial entries are replaced in this section of the registry, i.e. when running a Spybot Immunization. -


    Where are the "bad domains" stored?

    - To answer a previous reader's post, this list of "bad domains" can be viewed manually with the registry editor under:

    "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap\Domains"

    This list includes any domains that have been added by default, manually by the user, and by any other program (such as Spybot).

    *Please be advised the editing the registry manually or accidentally deleting important keys/entries could result in serious system software damage. Do not view or edit the registry unless you are confident in your abilities. -


    Are Windows Updates to blame?

    - Possibly, although not in my case. Although this may be different for other users, I can personally comment and say that I do not believe this to be the result of a Windows Update. I myself do not run an Automatic Update (permanently disabled for all user accounts), and I do not visit the Microsoft Windows Update website unless I am going there to manually download a hotfix or new software. In this case, I did not have any hotfixes or anything else of that nature installed, and my computer began exhibiting the typing delay exclusively and immediately following my upgrade to Internet Explorer 7. Obviously, with each Spybot Immunization update that I performed, my problem continued to get worse, as my CPU progressively had to run through more and more entries in the "bad domains." I have a very well-powered machine that is relatively new (9 months old), and in my case I can attest to not having many of the components associated with Windows Updates (such as Windows Defender) installed on my computer. -


    Will a Service Pack or Windows Update to either my Windows or my Office 2003 fix the delay?

    - At present, no. No Service Pack or individual update yet exists that addresses this problem. -


    Does my Anti-Virus program (such as Norton's or McAfee) cause this problem?

    - Fortunately, it does not. This problem is not in any way caused by the presence of an Internet Security or Anti-Virus program. This has been verified by me, as well as by many other competent users. -

    =========================================================

    Well folks, there you have it. A nice and complete summary for anyone who may be visiting this thread for the first time. If I neglected to mention any other important facts, please feel free to tack them on as replies. Of course, I will also post again should I have any more answers or input to give.

    I can only hope that my continuing research turns up more answers. Of course, judging by the explosive progress of this thread, it is likely that Microsoft will jump on this before I or anyone else ever figures out what's really wrong. Or at least I hope that they would! Anyway, I have filed a bug report with Microsoft detailing my findings, so hopefully they will be able to act upon it and many other similar ones that I'm sure they have also received.

    Until this happens, my only course of action is to say, "Mr. Microsoft, please tear down this delay!"

    My Best,


    -Ronald Reagan
    Last edited by RonaldReagan; 2007-05-12 at 13:49.

  7. #37
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    RonaldReagan,

    Have you tried switching your Outlook 2003 to use Word as its email composer?

    Since the core problem here is apparently a change in the handling of Security Zones between Internet Explorer 7 and earlier versions of IE, removing IE from the equation appears to be the simplest workaround.

    Actually, the simplest way to fix it is to upgrade to Outlook 2007, since that inherently uses Word 2007 for email composition, but that would entail a cost. Since you can get exactly the same effect by simply choosing your current version of Word (2003 or earlier) for email composition, you avoid the cost but workaround the problem.

    Eventually this may get fixed with changes to Outlook 2003 and possibly IE 7 itself if that wouldn't reduce security. However, I wouldn't expect this to be carried back to older versions of Outlook which are no longer in mainstream support, so it's likely that the workarounds will be the only recourse for anyone with older versions of Office than 2003.

    Bitman

  8. #38
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    As a followup, I just discovered that the reason why Outlook 2003 is affected is quite clear, based on the following exceprt from Office 2003 Security Enhancements:

    Restricted Sites Setting - In Outlook 2003, the default security zone setting is Restricted Sites (rather than Internet); active scripting within restricted sites is also disabled by default. The Restricted Sites security zone disables most automatic scripting and prevents ActiveX controls from opening without permission. These new security features help protect users from many viruses that are spread by means of scripting. For more information on Restricted Sites and Internet zones, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article (Q174360), How to Use Security Zones in Internet Explorer.
    So the problem was created by the combination of Outlook 2003 operating in the Restricted Sites zone, which implies it will be affected by entries within that zone and the fact that zone handling has changed in Internet Explorer 7. How to fix this issue without reducing the level of security will be the challenge.

    The change to using Word for email composition with Outlook 2007 is likely part of the larger security initiative at Microsoft, since this compartmentalizes the security concerns for Outlook messaging within the Office development group, rather than including Internet Explorer dependancies that have existed in the past. This decouples the Office application suite from both IE 7 and to some extent even the operating system itself, since past versions were deeply entwined in both.

    Bitman

  9. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by RonaldReagan View Post
    I just wanted to sum up the major issues ...
    Excellent! Thanks.

    Quote Originally Posted by RonaldReagan View Post
    I have filed a bug report with Microsoft
    Cool.

    Thanks for your efforts. Undoubtedly many will benefit from your efforts.

  10. #40
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    Default Fix?

    So based on Bitman's post, I went into TOOLS, OPTIONS, MAIL FORMAT then clicked on using Word to edit and read emails...voila...the delay seems to be gone.

    Of course we've thought it was fixed before....

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