OE very slow when starting, but everything else normal

The usual cause is a missing or corrupt "Imagehlp.dll" in C:\Windows\System. Without this file, OE will be very slow to open, although usually nothing else is affected. If you uninstall a version of McAfee VirusScan and then install a later version without first restarting your computer, the McAfee install routine will delete "Imagehlp.dll" by mistake. You can either extract this file from your Win98 CDROM (using Start Run, SFC.EXE, Extract a single file), or from your IE5/6 setup files using a command line at the setup folder like this:
extract win98_32.cab /a Imagehlp.dll
On some systems, it is found in win98_26.cab. For IE5 users on Win95/NT, it is found in setup295.cab.
Another cause of slow starts is opening OE at its home page, rather than the Inbox. Because that page is an HTML file, it is usually slower to display than is the Inbox. Click Tools Options and place a check mark for "When starting, go directly to my Inbox folder."
On the other hand, this might also cause the problem if the Inbox is very large. The Inbox is a very active folder, and I strongly recommend that you not use it to store messages. Create subfolders and move messages into them as soon as possible so that the Inbox stays small.
Leaving the Preview Pane open in combination with opening directly to the Inbox can result in a slower startup. You can turn the Preview Pane off under View Layout, or add the Preview button to the OE toolbar to toggle the pane on and off with a single click.
Sometimes removing or disabling Windows (or MSN) Messenger causes OE to open slowly. This will shown by an entry in the system error log: The server {FB7199AB-79BF-11D2-8D94-0000F875C541} did not register with DCOM within the required timeout. To fix this, open Regedit and navigate to this key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \CLSID \{FB7199AB-79BF-11d2-8D94-0000F875C541} \InProcServer32
In the right-hand pane, double-click on the (Default) value and delete whatever is entered there, leaving it blank. Click OK. Now perform exactly the same step with the key directly underneath, namely
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \CLSID \{FB7199AB-79BF-11d2-8D94-0000F875C541} \LocalServer32
Once both (Default) values are empty, OE will open normally.