Stand alone Outlook 2010

macbook laptop running a virtual windows xp professional it is loaded with office 2003 and has outlook upgraded to 2010 the macbook has been doing great and now all of a sudden Outlook is hogging half the cpu (outlook.exe) which usually ends up with 80+ to %100 cpu on the tack manager window, with the least bit of activity (like sending or receiveing mail) even after i close outlook, in the processes window of the task manager, the outlook.exe is using about %50 of resources which seems like forever appreciate any help thanks gary

It's just me again (sgaryr37), I'm really praying that someone will take a look at this problem. I'm trying to help a friend that needs this computer for a trip to NY by Thursday (tuesday now) thanks again

First thought that comes to mind is that Outlook starts bogging down as the number of emails in folders increases. That's why Outlook periodically "archives" older emails. "Archived" emails in Outlook remain easily available but are stored away from the active folders such as Inbox, Sent Mail, Drafts, etc. Not sure, but I think the bog-down starts effecting performance once number of emails in a folder reach about 150. (I could be wrong) Since I don't know how your user-friend has XP configured and Outlook features configured to save in folders, and routinely archive, I wouldn't know any more about what is actually happening. But it could help if you recommended to your user-friend to check the AutoArchive settings Outlook - Tools - Options - Other - AutoArchive It might also help to Empty - Deleted Items Folder, and Empty - Junk Mail Folder