Comment 162 for bug 631395

John: I've found that freeze while syncing at startup MIGHT (again I'm trying & falling) have a relationship with an option in your account preferences.
I'm attaching a screenshot of what it looks in Ubuntu spanish (the option, unchecked in order to avoid the problem) is pointed. In english it should say something like "scan all folders for new messages".
What I've found is that when this option is checked, Evolution hangs badly at startup. When unchecked, Evolution starts and syncs Inbox fine.

Of course, you'll only be able to test this if you manage to start Evolution up to the point where you configure your account preferences.

My advice, is try over and over. You may need to kill Evo, or even restarting your computer. Also, give a try to an off-line startup.