Screen Constantly Refereshes when outlook is open

Screen Constantly Refereshes when outlook is open **Cause Narrowed Down**

I'm running Vista Home Premium 64 and when I open Outlook 2003 Pro it makes my screen refresh every 10-20 seconds. When it refreshes it stops me from typing for about 2 seconds and makes me misspell words all of the time. This only happens when outlook is open.
The keyboard and mouse is a MX 5500 bluetooth combo.

I uninstalled office and reinstalled it, no change.
I ran outlook in safe mode and it still happens.
I connected a different monitor and it still happens.
I downloaded all of the drivers again and installed them, no change.
I ran every virus and malware program I could find and found nothing.

This is really getting to me, I searched all over the net trying to fix this issue but no luck. I'm not sure if it is a software issue or hardware issue. I was hoping to get some answers here.

I had this happening to me on my computer at work. I believe it is caused by outlook polling for new mail, not "refreshing" the screen. But it does lockup all the resources of your computer and make it hang for a second. I don't remember what all my IT guy did to get it fixed, I know one of the problems was my hard drive was almost full, but he also changed some of the other settings in outlook.

Maybe try chaging how often outlook polls for new mail; it won't fix the problem, but it will hopefully at least make the computer more usable.

Do you have any large pst files connected to outlook?

The biggest pst file I see is 280 mb.
it is set to check emails every 5 mins.
my hd is about 80% used.

is there any chance you could ask your it guy what he did, or maybe direct him to this thread?

Firefox is having a similar issue - constant refreshes when in hotmail. Apparently its a bug that has to be addressed by MicroSoft and affects new browsers with HDML5 capability. It's suppose to be fixed in the next month or so.

I did some searches on and found several solutions for 2007 and none for 2003.

A couple of the solutions for 2007 were:

1.) Changing your default printer (bizzare I know)
2.) Uninstalling Intellipoint if you have it
3.) Updating all video drivers / bios
4.) Boot in safe mode to ensure it isnt hardware related.
5.) Finally, pick a system restore point when you didnt have the problem.

I would like to know if you downloaded any patches or software prior to this issue. Have you installed any new hardware?

h055 said:

I did some searches on and found several solutions for 2007 and none for 2003.

A couple of the solutions for 2007 were:

1.) Changing your default printer (bizzare I know)
2.) Uninstalling Intellipoint if you have it
3.) Updating all video drivers / bios
4.) Boot in safe mode to ensure it isnt hardware related.
5.) Finally, pick a system restore point when you didnt have the problem.

I would like to know if you downloaded any patches or software prior to this issue. Have you installed any new hardware?

Click to expand...

1. I changed my default printer, no change.
2. I checked for Intellipoint and I don't have it.
3. I checked for updated drivers (I don't know what bios is)
4. What exactly am I looking for here...? Running in safe mode I am not experiencing any problems, what does this mean?
5. It won't let me choose a point far back enough

This started when I deleted some information off of my back up hard drive, it had some kind of a link to outlook because I ended up loosing pst files.
Since then unplugged the external drive (still disconnected) and reinstalled office.

I installed HTC Sync for my Evo Phone recently, but that was back in January, the issue I am having started about 1.5-2 weeks ago
As far as any other updates or downloads I can't think of anything unless there was a automatic update for a program that I already have.

I know an ok amount of computer stuff (all self taught) but when it comes to things other than daily tasks, I'm a noob for the most part.

This is driving me nuts, almost to the point of getting a new computer, but even if I were to get a new computer this issue would still be haunting me due not finding a cure.

I ran a Hardware tool test and this came up, it was the only error.

Shutdown the computer and turn it back on. While it is POSTing hammer on F8; you will get several options.

Boot into windows safe mode (without networking)

Open Outlook and see if it is flickering.

Replacement said:

The biggest pst file I see is 280 mb.
it is set to check emails every 5 mins.
my hd is about 80% used.

is there any chance you could ask your it guy what he did, or maybe direct him to this thread?

Click to expand...

Our IT work is actually "out sourced". Its the same company, but they charge our department. So not without racking up another $150 charge I can't

It does sound like you are getting close to the scenario I was at. 280MB isn't exactly small, unless that is mostly attachments and not mail. And 80% used on your harddrive is getting up there.

If you can't figure it out, I would just take the brute force method and do a clean install if its been more than 6 months or a year since you've last done that.

In terms of a PST 284mb is small. MS recommends a 2gig cap on PST simply because anything after that makes the database unstable. I have seen PST's in excess of 4 gigs

Again, I would like to know if you have recently installed any new software / hardware, or if you have done any major software upgrades.

I edited my last post with some more info, also I ran safe mode networked, and didn't have the refreshing.

antivirus/antispyware program maybe? outlook by itself wouldn't cause that issue you're having. can you shut off any antivirus you have and see how it goes?

I turned off AVG Anti Virus and it still happened

Replacement said:

I turned off AVG Anti Virus and it still happened

Click to expand...

Did you install any new software or hardware recently? Did your OS receive any patches? Are all your drivers current?

h055 said:

Did you install any new software or hardware recently? Did your OS receive any patches? Are all your drivers current?

Click to expand...

no, not that I know of, yes

I narrowed it down to Outlook and Logitech Setpoint (mouse and keyboard software). I need Logitech Setpoint to use my mouse and keyboard, any work around ideas?
The keyboard and mouse is a MX 5500 bluetooth combo.

Does Setpoint offer more control over the keyboard and mouse than normal? If it is just a GUI app to bind special keys then I would just ditch it.

EDIT: I use a USB blue tooth mouse on my notebook and it requires NO additional software to work.

I have that same MX 5500 combo on my PC and you do not need Set Point for it to work.
I tried once to install SetPoint to see what I'd gain from it and it just made things worse, so I uninstalled it.

terran2k said:

I have that same MX 5500 combo on my PC and you do not need Set Point for it to work.
I tried once to install SetPoint to see what I'd gain from it and it just made things worse, so I uninstalled it.

Click to expand...

I really like having the keyboard notify me of new emails and being able to program the keys to open specfic files. Also one of the main reasons I have this combo is because of the mouse having the "free scroll" feature.

Do you know if will I still have access to these features if I uninstall SetPoint?