Big problem, Outlook 2007 and Solid State Disks (SSD)

I've a user with a Dell laptop that was purchased with a 64GB Samsung SSD, and ever since getting the laptop at the start of 2008 he's had a severe problem with it where the laptop regularly hangs for 30 seconds or so. The cause of the problem has been narrowed down to Outlook 2007 !.

Recently whilst conducting more reasearch on this I came across the following...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940226

... so I now have hard evidence that there is an issue with Outlook 2007 and SSD's.

OK, now how the heck do I find out what Microsoft are actualy doing to try and fix this issue ?. I doubt they will let me discuss this with the 'Outlook Product Team' ?, also how far away could the fix be as if it's months away I'm going to have to argue with Dell to get the SSD swapped over with a standard HDD as I very much they even know about this problem

Thanks.

 

Well, Microsoft will only talk to me if I log a support call, very dissapointing as this appears to be a bug with Outlook 2007.

I've posted a message on Dell's support forum as if Microsoft can't fix the problem I'll have to get Dell to swap out the SSD with an ordinary HDD

 

Can you use a different mail client... like Thunderbird?

Also... and it's been years since I used Outlook, and I haven't used the latest version, but... I always found that you could greatly improve performance by "archiving" your Inbox... you know, creating another mail folder and moving all messages older than a month or two to the folder you created... that way your Inbox stays small and efficient.

 

I imagine if it is in print that they are working on a fix, that it should be released within the next few months. Maybe if you actually log a support call you can talk them into sending you a batch file fix, like something that hasn't been released yet. Obviously it's not the safest bet, but there's system restore and other safeguards. You'll never get the product team on the phone, but if you're lucky you could get a knowledgeable support person who knows something of the issue.

I wouldn't give up your SSD, as it is nice to have the speed that comes with it. However, it does seem unfortunate that there's this known issue with Outlook. As swarmer said, you could try archiving or creating other .pst files to separate your email better, thus making it easier to handle for Outlook.

 

As an update - I have the same issue with a Lenovo x200, T60, T61 & a T61p. I believe that the issue has to do, not with mailbox size, but with the indexing that Outlook & Outlook search do. As a test, you may want to try & uninstall Microsoft Search & see if that improves the performance. For me, since I determined it wasn't hardware specific, I just switched over to my Western Digital Black drive for now. Once I find word (not sure where I will find it...which is how I ran across your post), then I will plug my SSD back in & hopefully enjoy all of the benefits. I would assume it will have to come as a patch from Microsoft. SHAME SHAME!

 

SLC drives have no problems with Outlook

 

Its to do with the small random multiple queued data writes that outlook performs on its database. MLC drives hate this and slow to a crawl trying to deal with the read then write operation needed to change part of the cell contents.

This does not only affect Outlook, it also affects Vista (times out doing a normal install) and other programs that do small quick writes in random locations very quickly to the drive.

Intel are the only company so far (that I know of) that have a true working MLC SSD drive that does not suffer this problem as they cache the small writes to combine them, most of the cheap SSD drives use the same flawed controller chip which gives them good sequential read and write but multi layer writes (up to 8 in the queue for example) stall the drive for over a second.

SSD are still not ready for use as a cheap general drive in the same way that HDD's currently are. It looks like they thought they could remove the data cache used on a HDD but it appears not.

 

So what is the solution for people (like me) that bought, for example, a Patriot 128gb SSD drive? Is it going to be a patch from Microsoft to fix it? A firmware upgrade from Patriot? Or a 400 dollar waste? (maybe a backup drive =)

 

Do you absolutely have to use Outlook? Thunderbird is better in my opinion. It may be worth a try.

 

Glad I just bought a intel X25-M. I didn't feel any stutters going on yet. Does this happens when you use email on Outlook? I do use Outlook, but only for my calendars. The size is about 100 MB right now. As of email client, I moved on to Windows Mail. I'll probably switch to Windows Live Mail later on.

 

I second the archiving - depending on how "bad" you are the performance increase can be gigantic.
I believe I reduced my Outlook file by about 100 odd MB - using the archiving function is important for good performance.
PS: Outlook 2007 has a slightly different interface to 2002 - but its much better

Other clients may not be an option under certain conditions.
For example if your company uses MS - I believe that's Outlook orientated.

Personally - phone support - Outlook can synchronize with your phone.

I'd say Thunderbird will only be a good replacement if you need a simple e-mail client, but then there is Live Mail...

(PS: Outlook, -> Adress Book, Notes...)

 

Ironically, I just bought a Kingston OEM'ed Intel x25-m & I tell you what, IT IS FAST! My mailbox with Outlook 2007 indexing & XOBNI indexing is is flying! The time from swiping my finger to being 100% functional with Outlook open & my other 3-4 main apps went from 5-6 minutes to 5-6 SECONDS! I literally just turned on my computer a minute ago & got this email & have clicked on the link in that short of time! It is amazing, SHAME ON PATRIOT for making such a crappy drive!