Outlook with the Outlook Connector is crashing or hanging!

Summary

Outlook has unexplained crashes or hangs when using the Outlook Connector.

There are many possible causes for Outlook to crash or hang. Outlook may be configured improperly. The Outlook profile may be corrupted. Add-on programs may cause problems with Outlook Connector. Antivirus programs can interupt the normal flow of communication between the client and server.

We will address all of the common problems in this article, and how to solve them. If all else fails, you can contact Support. We will provide information on how to best contact Support for these issues.

Details

Staying Up To Date

First, make sure that your operating system, Outlook, and Outlook Connector are all fully patched and up to date.

To check the status of your operating system, go to Windows Update and follow the prompts.

To check the status of Outlook, go to Office Update and follow the prompts.

To check the status of the Outlook Connector, check your version number by looking at Help -> About Kerio Outlook Connector. Compare this to the version at the Kerio MailServer download page. Update if there is a more current version.

Profile and Configuration

The Outlook profile is a frequent cause of problems. Many problems can be resolved by creating a new profile.

To create a new Outlook profile:

1. Open Control Panel -> Mail.
2. Open "Show Profiles". You will see a list of your current profiles.
3. Set "When starting Microsoft Office Outlook, use this profile" to Prompt for a profile to be used.
4. Click "Add" to create a new profile. Follow the steps and create an account of Additional Type, Kerio MailServer
5. Please make sure that you set "Default Delivery Location" to Kerio Outlook Connector Store. This is critical for Kerio Outlook Connector to function properly!
6. Complete the account with the information you have used to create prior Outlook Connector accounts
7. Do not create additional POP3 or IMAP accounts in this profile. This is not supported.

Note: When you create a new profile, you will not lose any mail, calendars or contacts. Your original profile will continue to be available. Your profile-specific settings will not be available in the new profile; these include default views, sorting options, and distribution lists.

Antivirus and Personal Firewalls

Antivirus programs and personal firewall programs can change or remove packets, rewrite files on disk, or alter the memory of running programs. All of these can cause problems for Outlook. Disable any antivirus programs and personal firewall programs.

Please note, this is a very common problem. Do not skip this step. If you contact Support and you have not disabled your antivirus and personal firewall programs, this is the first thing we will ask you to do.

AVG AntiVirus is known to cause problems with Outlook and the Outlook Connector. You need to disable the email scanning portion of AVG antivirus for Outlook to work properly. On most versions of AVG, the systray icon will change to a gray color when this is done.

Add-Ins for Outlook

Outlook add-ins (also called "plug-ins") can cause conflicts with the Outlook Connector.

To disable other Outlook Add-ins:

1. In Outlook, go to Tools -> Options -> Other -> Advanced Options
2. Click on Add-In Manager. Uncheck everything except for "Kerio Outlook Connector UI Extentions", then choose OK.
3. Click on "COM Add-Ins" and be sure nothing is in there except perhaps the "Kerio Synchronization Add-In."

Other Causes

The Google Desktop Search can cause excessive memory use and hangs when used with the Outlook Connector. You should uninstall it to confirm that it is causing your problem. If it is not the cause, you may reinstall it.

Contacting Kerio Support

If none of the above steps have solved your problem, then you should contact Kerio Support. Before you contact us, please do the following so we can resolve your problem as quickly as possible.

1. Enable KOC debug logging as described in this article. We will want the logfile it creates when you next experience the problem.
2. Enable 'SMTP Server session' and 'IMAP server session' in the KMS debug log. We will want the debug log after you next experience the problem.
3. When the hang or crash occurs, note the exact time.
4. If it was an email (either being sent, or received) then get the source of that email from webmail by right-clicking on it, and going to "View Source" and paste it into a text document.
5. Contact Kerio Support. Send the files above, the exact time, the username that experience the problem, and the versions of the user's operating system, Outlook and Kerio Outlook Connector.

This information makes discovering the source of a hang or crash far easier, and resolution is greatly speeded.