I left this thread after i gave up on the issue. Months down the road, i did a reinstall of Win7 due to some MBR issues.
I attempted to forward the merchant's html email that was causing this outlook problem and guess what? it is still causing outlook to freeze. :\
I also tried forwarding some other html emails i have received and some will cause freezes and some will not.
We are using a 3rd party proxy which is causing most of our problems with HTML forwarding.
Things I have done that seem to fix it
1. uncomment out the local host entry in HOST file - c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc
2. in outlook trust center - automatic downloads - uncheck dont download pics automatically
3. in outlook tools -options - mail format - uncheck "Reduce the file size of the message .."
I thought I had it. Outlook eventually loses session with our proxy(etrust webfilter) and I get the freezes back.
I have to start internet explorer and browse to the internet to get a session going . Then I can open outlook and HTML messages will work for about a minute.
Seems outlook has a tough time with some proxies.
Uncommenting out the local host did fix our IE problems at least.
another work around.
Under outlook trust center - automatic downloads
click the top box, and then uncheck all the the others.
I dont get the downloads, but the freezes are gone.
Correction, I can get the downloads. If I click the warning, download now, I can get the pictures.
So trick for me was
1. add local host to HOST file( havent tested if this is still necessary for outlook, but it fixes issues with ie and our proxy)
2. in the outlook trust center under automatic downloads, click the top box and uncheck the rest.
So outlook just wasnt handling the automatic download well while opening the message. After the message is open and clicking the download picture warning, everything is fine.
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