GTD Outlook Toolbar causes slowdown

[johnmclean]

Hi all,
Earlier this morning I was working in Outlook 2003 when it crashed on me. When I restarted it, I didn't notice that the GTD Toolbar didn't start-up.
What i did notice was how much faster my Outlook was responding. The difference was so dramatic that I started looking for what caused the speed improvement.

It wasn't long before i noticed that the GTD toolbar was not there. After doing a proper Outlook shutdown and restart, the toolbar came back and so did the slowness I had grown accustomed to over the past year (I’ve been using the toolbar for about a year now).

Has anyone else notice this issue? If so, is there something I can do to improve Outlook’s performance while the toolbar is running?

Last thing of note; I have the Microsoft “Lookout” search plugin installed, but the slowness I’m referring to was there we’ll before the Lookout toolbar was added.

Thanks.
John

 

[mochant]

Make sure you have the latest version

John:

Outlook is a finicky beast and add-ins can cause all kinds of aberrant behavior including slow-downs. You only mentioned LookOut. Are you running any other add-ins besides these two? The chemistry between add-ins sometime seems like it requires an advanced degree (or some mystical knowledge).

That having been said, I have three recommendations:

1. Make sure you have updated to the latest version of the GTD add-in. NetCentrics has done a good amount of work on performance in recent builds.
2. Look for a new version sometime later this summer which is reported to improve performance and add new features.
3. Look into a collection of add-ins for Outlook called Bells & Whistles by DS Systems. This inexpensive package adds some nice features to Outlook but the crown jewel IMO is an Outlook Add-In Manager that lets you turn add-ins on and off without having to uninstall them (not all add-ins are directly accessible in Outlook's Tools dialog). Even if you decide not to purchase the package, you can keep using the Add-In Manager - a very generous offer by the developer. The manager will let you turn on the GTD add-in when you want it running and off when you don't.

Hope that helps.

 

[johnmclean]

Hi mochant,

Thanks very much for the help.

To answer your questions;

1. Yes, I believe that I am running the latest version of the GTD toolbar.

2. I was aware of the upgraded netcentric has been talking about releasing and I'm looking very forward to it.

3. I will try the plugin manager that you suggested below.

As an aside, I do believe that I am running one other plug-in. If I'm not mistaken, Adobe Acrobat installs its own toolbar when Acrobat itself is installed. Apart from that, there should be no other 3rd party toolbars installed (to my knowledge).

Lastly, can you confirm if you experience a slowdown with Outlook when the GTD toolbar is turned on?

Thanks again for the feedback.
John