Fixing slow loading of attachments from Outlook
Do you experience a long wait when opening attachments from within Outlook? And the same file opens in a snap when you save the attachment first on your hard disk, launch the program and then open the file from within the program?
If you answered yes to all questions above, you probable have a DDE issue. DDE (short for Dynamic Data Exchange) allows applications to communicate with one another. For example, when you double-click a document in Windows Explorer, and the associated application is already running, Explorer sends a DDE message to the application, with instructions to open the document on its own, rather than launching another copy of the application. Sounds neat, no?
Well, on my machine, DDE has the tendency to get corrupted… or at least confused. I’m not sure why, but when that happens, it does cause significant delays in opening documents. Not only when launching it from Outlook, also when double-clicking a file in Windows Explorer.
The solution? Disable DDE for those file types that you have trouble with. Like Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. This is the process:
- Start > Control Panel > Folder Options
- In the File Types tab, select the file extension you want to change (e.g. .doc for Word documents)
- Click the Advanced button
- Select the Open action, click Edit. You will get a dialog box like this:
- Uncheck Use DDE
- In the field Application used to perform action, you will see something similar to
“C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\WINWORD.EXE” /n /dde
Remove everything after the application (in this case /n /dde) and add “%1“. (Ensure you put %1 between double quotes (“), otherwise this might not work if the folder and/or filename of the document contains spaces).
The field should now contain
“C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\WINWORD.EXE” “%1″ - Click OK, OK, Close
That’s it. One final note: the DDE functionality gets restored when you re-install the application. But that will probably also fix the DDE issue itself, and if not, simply follow the instructions above again.
Tags: attachments, DDE, Microsoft Office, Outlook
This entry was posted on Thursday, July 10th, 2008 at 09:37 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
July 10th, 2008 at 23:40
Rick says:Interesting. I have found much about the DDE work-around, but I’m still looking for a REAL repair method. The situation on one of my PC’s has been similar. When a web link is clicked in Thunderbird… a document is double-clicked to open in Word or Excel… a folder is clicked to open from StarDock’s ObjectDock… 10-20 seconds pass before the action occurs. Argh!
December 3rd, 2008 at 19:17
Steve Jones says:I have also noticed after doing this to several of our XP pro PCs, Microsoft has un-done my changes and has put DDE back in. Interestingly enough, the Vista boxes already are using “%1″ method instead of DDE.
Just thought I would mention seems like this change is temporary at best.
December 15th, 2008 at 01:22
John says:Well, it’s a good solution if only a single document type is giving a problem. I have the slow launch with EVERY file extension from any place I double-click to launch. RTF, DOC, XLS, PDF…even a link in an email. And slow? Try 60-120 seconds to launch.
January 30th, 2009 at 12:13
Robert says:Running Office 2003 on XP SP3 one of our PC’s had real problems opening attachments and shortcuts. This fix worked really well. Will probably re-install Office when we have a chance.
Thanks for the good work.
February 21st, 2009 at 01:53
John S. says:This has been a nuisance for awhile, and I’ve tried several things. I actually think this works. Thanks.
February 25th, 2009 at 00:48
bob says:@John
I haven’t had slowness with all apps but if you do you need to change the settings for each file type. Also check your Outlook ad-ins and disable 3rd party ad-ins that aren’t needed.
Here is a script to change the registry. Just copy it and save it in notepad as a .bat file and then double click the .bat file to make the registry changes automatically.
This script will make changes for xls, xlsx, doc, docx, ppt, pptx, rtf, and pdf. Make sure to backup your registry prior to running for just in case.
# DOC
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Word.Document.8\shell\Open\command]
@=”\”C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\WINWORD.EXE\” \”%1\”"
# docx
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Word.Document.12\shell\Open\command]
@=”\”C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\WINWORD.EXE\” \”%1\”"
#xls
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Excel.Sheet.8\shell\Open\command]
@=”\”C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\EXCEL.EXE\” /e \”%1\”"
# xlsx
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Excel.Sheet.12\shell\Open\command]
@=”\”C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\EXCEL.EXE\” /e \”%1\”"
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Excel.Sheet.12\shell\Open\ddeexec]
#ppt
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\PowerPoint.Addin.8\shell\Open\command]
@=”\”C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\POWERPNT.EXE\” \”%1\”"
#pptx
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\PowerPoint.Addin.12\shell\Open\command]
@=”\”C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\POWERPNT.EXE\” \”%1\”"
#rtf
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Word.RTF.8\shell\Open\command]
@=”\”C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\WINWORD.EXE\” %1″
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Word.RTF.8\shell\Open\ddeexec]
#pdf
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AcroExch.Document\shell\open\command]
@=”\”C:\\Program Files\\Adobe\\Acrobat 9.0\\Acrobat\\Acrobat.exe\” \”%1\
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AcroExch.Document\shell\open\ddeexec]
May 14th, 2009 at 21:18
Seth says:How do you do this in vista? File types does not exist…
September 30th, 2009 at 15:30
Lewis King says:Been looking for a fix for ages. Thanks for this.
Another case-by-case “workaround” I had been using (for info) was to open a new explorer window when it hangs.
e.g.
1. In an email, I open an attached DOC file.
2. Hang starts — could last 30 seconds or more.
3. Start > Run > C: to open new Explorer window.
4. BANG – Word springs into life with new DOC loaded.
Oddness. Would also like a “proper” fix but the suggestion is great. Thanks.
January 14th, 2010 at 21:09
Mark says:Thank you!!
January 18th, 2010 at 15:16
capricorn says:Hi!
This fixed the problem for me but for short time. Its back after some time and new documents are taking more time
..
January 18th, 2010 at 20:48
capricorn says:Sorry the file opens fine but if i create a new document and try to open that it will take much longer time.
January 22nd, 2010 at 18:53
capricorn says:Any suggestion how to fix my problem?
February 1st, 2010 at 22:44
Prama says:Sorry, but this start make the grinding noise all over again now pc do not shut down unless turn it off and even then there is still alway the grinding noise. Many user complain of this. Any idea?
March 12th, 2010 at 17:12
Fernando says:Hi,
I just wanted to let you know what happened to me.
I was aldo experiencing a huge delay when opening links from outlook to my browsers and I found the problem was the AntiPhishing addons form my AV software.
I just disabled the toolbar and my firefox was again running wonderfully.
So check if that is causing your problems
Hope it helps.
March 22nd, 2010 at 16:11
Zac says:Hi,
I’m having issues opening attachments in SharePoint 3.0 “2007″. My helpdesk system receives emails to a list and are then assigned. However, the staff has to wait sometimes minutes before the attachment is opened. What can I do?
July 30th, 2010 at 00:40
Nate says:Fixes the problem but changes are completely undone the next time I boot up. Any suggestion on how to make permanent?
September 7th, 2010 at 04:29
noobzarrr! says:Hey Guys,
I found Outlook “detect and repair” resolved this issue without changing every file type in folder options. As it is only an issue with Outlook itself, I wouldn’t recommend changing DDE settings as it could mess up other software (especially in an enterprise environment). To perform a detect and repair go to:
(Outlook 2003) open outlook > Help > “Detect and repair”
(Outlook 2007) Start \ Programs \ Microsoft Office \ Microsoft Office Tools \ Microsoft Office Diagnostics
It will run and should fix these issues.
Cheers,
Noobzarrr!
September 28th, 2010 at 13:01
Raype says:Hey,
it’s really strange: about 4 weeks ago I used these ideas described above – and they worked nicely.
Now I encounter the same problems again – and the trick does not work again. I tried “detect and repair” – to no avail.
Neither firefox nor iexplore are of any difference . . .
???????
April 8th, 2011 at 22:05
Jason says:@noobzarrr! – Thanks! That found my 1 error and the error was apparently attachment related. That got it.
September 6th, 2011 at 11:05
Jim Green says:Hi Folks,
Like you, I have tried every fix out there without success. Can’t open or preview attachments without a 2 minute wait. Can’t save them to the desktop without a 2 minute wait. Can’t attach new attachments to emails I am sending either. This is for Outlook 2010 on Windows 7
Solution! My new pc has drive letters from C to K (for all its internal disks and devices) but our company automatically maps the “I” drive to a shared folder, via a logon script. Presumably every interaction was trying in vain to connect this drive, failing, and then eventually giving up before showing me my attachment.
Anyway, remapping the drive to anything other than “I” fixed the problem as soon as I rebooted. To try this, go to Computer Management (right-click Computer and choose Manage). Click on Disk Management, right-click on the drive you want to change, and then choose Change Drive Letter And Paths…
Hope this helps someone else out there.
November 9th, 2011 at 18:24
Stacy says:I noticed Google Toolbar for IE9 caused this exact problem. Uninstalled it and “bang” all attachments open lickidy split now.
April 16th, 2012 at 15:27
Tom says:Brilliant! Saved me a call to the beleaguered IT staff. Thank you!