Cannot delete files older than a specific date

[Dougbert]

I am trying to delete old messages in my Inbox folder manually (Outlook 2003
PST on Windows XP sp2). For all the messages older than a specific date,
about a year ago, if I try to:
- DELETE them, I get the error, "The messaging interface has returned an
unknown error"
- MOVE them, I get the error about "already deleted or access denied"
- ARCHIVE the folder, I get a generic archiving failure error message

How do I get rid of these undeletable old messages? I've "repaired" the PST
multiple times and everything else works normally. Thanks!

-Doug

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

how are you finding them? What type of email account do you have?

 

[Dougbert]

This is a .PST file used for POP3 email. I simply sort by date with oldest
messages to the top, then try to delete old messages until I reach a point
where it no longer raises the error. This appears to be consistent across
multiple restarts of Outlook...I can't delete messages from before abgout
4:15 PM on 2/14/2005. Bizarre.

Thank you for any suggestions,

-Doug

how are you finding them? What type of email account do you have?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/

I am trying to delete old messages in my Inbox folder manually (Outlook
2003 PST on Windows XP sp2). For all the messages older than a specific
date, about a year ago, if I try to:
- DELETE them, I get the error, "The messaging interface has returned
an unknown error"
- MOVE them, I get the error about "already deleted or access denied"
- ARCHIVE the folder, I get a generic archiving failure error message

How do I get rid of these undeletable old messages? I've "repaired" the
PST multiple times and everything else works normally. Thanks!

-Doug

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

This was after trying scanpst to repair them, correct? Were they put in that
pst using autoarchive? Can you flag them without raising the error?

Can you move the newer messages into a new folder then delete the folder
with the older messages?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/

This is a .PST file used for POP3 email. I simply sort by date with oldest
messages to the top, then try to delete old messages until I reach a point
where it no longer raises the error. This appears to be consistent across
multiple restarts of Outlook...I can't delete messages from before abgout
4:15 PM on 2/14/2005. Bizarre.

Thank you for any suggestions,

-Doug

how are you finding them? What type of email account do you have?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/

I am trying to delete old messages in my Inbox folder manually (Outlook
2003 PST on Windows XP sp2). For all the messages older than a specific
date, about a year ago, if I try to:
- DELETE them, I get the error, "The messaging interface has returned
an unknown error"
- MOVE them, I get the error about "already deleted or access denied"
- ARCHIVE the folder, I get a generic archiving failure error message

How do I get rid of these undeletable old messages? I've "repaired" the
PST multiple times and everything else works normally. Thanks!

-Doug

 

[Brian Tillman]

I am trying to delete old messages in my Inbox folder manually
(Outlook 2003 PST on Windows XP sp2). For all the messages older than
a specific date, about a year ago, if I try to:
- DELETE them, I get the error, "The messaging interface has
returned an unknown error"
- MOVE them, I get the error about "already deleted or access
denied" - ARCHIVE the folder, I get a generic archiving failure error
message
How do I get rid of these undeletable old messages? I've "repaired"
the PST multiple times and everything else works normally. Thanks!

My approach to this would be to create a new PS and copy to it all the items
for which I'm NOT having trouble, closing the old PST when finished and
deleteing it from disk after closing Outlook.

 

[Dougbert]

Yes, I used scanpst multiple times to repair the .PST file.
No, the problem messages arrived in the Inbox as ordinary incoming POP3
messages, definitely not through archiving.
Yes, I can flag the problem messages for follow-up or open them to read; but
I cannot delete or move them.
I am reluctant to try any solution that involves deleting the Inbox itself
because of the special settings that I assume are attached to that important
folder. Would I be able to recreate these?

Thank you,

-Doug

This was after trying scanpst to repair them, correct? Were they put in
that pst using autoarchive? Can you flag them without raising the error?

Can you move the newer messages into a new folder then delete the folder
with the older messages?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/

This is a .PST file used for POP3 email. I simply sort by date with
oldest messages to the top, then try to delete old messages until I reach
a point where it no longer raises the error. This appears to be
consistent across multiple restarts of Outlook...I can't delete messages
from before abgout 4:15 PM on 2/14/2005. Bizarre.

Thank you for any suggestions,

-Doug

how are you finding them? What type of email account do you have?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/






I am trying to delete old messages in my Inbox folder manually (Outlook
2003 PST on Windows XP sp2). For all the messages older than a specific
date, about a year ago, if I try to:
- DELETE them, I get the error, "The messaging interface has
returned an unknown error"
- MOVE them, I get the error about "already deleted or access
denied"
- ARCHIVE the folder, I get a generic archiving failure error
message

How do I get rid of these undeletable old messages? I've "repaired" the
PST multiple times and everything else works normally. Thanks!

-Doug