A workaround for this issue is contained at
http://NetOrator.com or just
visit NetOrator Dot Com
Below is simply the text from the website less the graphics and
illustrations.
In the Windows Vista O/S, the Outlook Express program is not present. It
has been replaced by "Windows Mail". Please note that Microsoft may have
renamed this product by the time you read this.
The Only Issues in Vista Windows Mail that this workaround specifically
applies to are as follows:
1. Ten Second Plus Delay on "CREATE" New Email Message.
2. Ten Second Plus Delay on "REPLY" or "FORWARD" Existing Email Message.
3. Variable Delay in "AutoFill" Email Address from Address Book.
4. Ten Second Plus Delay When Called From a Web Browser to "CREATE" a New
Email Message.
Please note that I was able to reduce the delays above, which were very
painful and increasing in duration, to less than 1 second. My Windows
Vista Mail now has the Speedy Response of Outlook Express V6. The sluggish
(unbearable) response in WinMail.exe is NOT a function of your hardware or
processor speed. Nor is it a figment of your imagination or diminished
mental capacity. It is very real and usually lasts for 5 to 10 seconds for
each elemental use of WinMail, in effect totally wasting almost an hour of
an average workday.
The issue at stake is the CONTACT FILES contained in your Contact Folder
below your Desktop Folder.
In most default cases it is located at:
C:\Users\$LoginUserName$\Desktop\Contacts
Please note that you must substitute YOUR actual Vista Login Credential
Name in the above path without the "$" Dollar Signs.
I discovered the source of the delay utilizing two Microsoft Diagnostic
Utilities- Process Monitor (ProcMon) and Process Explorer. Both utilities
are free downloads at
http://Microsoft.com/TechNet
WinMail.exe automatically imported 2,225 Contacts from my previous version
of Outlook Express [V6], creating a Folder named CONTACTS beneath my
Desktop as per the path above. The Contact Folder contained prehistoric
email addresses totaling in size over 3.0MB of disk space.
Utilizing Procmon I was able to drill down and focus solely on the
WinMail.exe process in real time, and watch every function call for the
registry, memory, disk, etc. What I discovered was that every time I
opened an email, the WinMail.exe process would create an average of TEN
(10) Linear Function Calls to the O/S, as per the example below. The total
real time processor usage (DELAY) for each Contact to be processed was an
average of .0035 Seconds. It doesn't sound like a large amount of time,
but multiply 2,225 by .0035 and you will readily see that you have wasted
7.8 Seconds just parsing the same files over and over and over !!!! I
watched in real time while WinMail.exe whittled away 8 seconds every time
I used email, and continuosly opened and closed the same static contact
files over 22,225 times for EACH email I Created, Opened, Replied To,
Forwarded, or Web Created.
It is totally obvious to me that there was scarcely any Q/A testing at
Microsoft before Vista was released. I had less problems evaluating the
Beta Version than I do the RTM Version!
So what is the workaround ???? The 64,000 Dollar Question.... Until
Microsoft admits that they inserted a function call in the wrong routine,
we are stuck with fixing the problem by limiting the size of the contact
folder. You can do a very quick and easy analysis to verify proof of
concept. Simply move all of your files contained in the above captioned
Contacts Folder to a Temporary Folder somewhere else on your hard drive.
After they are moved restart WinMail.exe and see how fast all of your
emails work. You won't have any contacts but you can insert them back into
the Folder, from the temporary folder, about 50 at a time. I am not sure
what the total number of contact files begin the long delays, so you'll
have to figure that out for yourself.
I performed a slight alteration to the above. I simply Copied my Contact
Files to a safe backup folder, and then sorted my Contact List located at
the path above, by date. I then deleted about 1,900 contacts which were
older than 6 months. I now have about 900 Contact Files in my Contact
Folder and WinMail.exe still flies.
I imagine that there will come a time when the contact files grow too
numerous. I am sure it will be long before Microsoft releases a patch for
the problem. So until then I will hold my breath!
In other words, don't expect a Microsoft patch/update/fix or whatever to
correct this ugly problem anytime in 2007. Alternate input is welcome-
(e-mail address removed)
Hope this helps !!!!
EggHeadCafe.com - .NET Developer Portal of Choice
http://www.eggheadcafe.com
