compacted messages

[clueless with vista]

Once compacted, where do the messages go and how do I find them??

 

[Gary VanderMolen \(MVP\)]

Compaction in Windows Mail should not disturb any messages.
It only removes empty spaces from the database.

 

[Dave]

The messages don't go anywhere, because they don't get compacted.
When you exit Windows Mail, on the 100th time (default) it offers to compact
the message store (not the messages). The message store is a type of index
that keeps information on the messages. It should be compacted occasionally
to eliminate data on messages which were deleted, etc.

 

[Sam Hobbs]

In Windows Mail, messages are stored in separate files. It would take a lot
of time to open and close each message (file) when messages are listed for
you. So for efficiency, Windows Mail keeps some data such as the sender
address, date and subject in a separate message "store" which is a database.
The message store only has information about messages, but not the messages
themselves.

 

[bethofspring]

I am literally in tears.
I accepted Mail's offer to compact, as it seemed reasonable.
NOT!!
It not only removed ALL MY MESSAGES, but my folders.
I use my email as a reference file in preparing two books.
I fear five years work may be gone.
I must find a way to restore them. And I am afraid of system restore. I
did it once and it wiped eveything.
Please help!

 

[Guest]

What's worked for me a few times: Find a few messages
you no longer need, and delete them. Then restart Windows
Mail, after shutting it down WITHOUT doing a compaction.
That brought back many folders that were only hidden, not
fully deleted.

Also, if you've accidentally deleted something but still have
the Deleted Items folder, look for it in that folder.

Some types of failures move messages to a Recovered
Messages folder, creating that folder if needed, so check
there as well if that folder is visible.

I have found, though, that if you let too many messages
accumulate in the same folder (well over 50,000),
expect at least some of them to eventually disappear in a
way that's harder to bring back, if it's even possible.
Moving some of the messages to storage folders, and
keeping those below 50,000 messages each. will avoid
this.

Do you do backups? Restoring from a backup can be
safer than a system restore.

Robert Miles

 

[Steve Cochran]

Search for *.eml and include hidden files and folders and see if you find the messages. Also see here for background: www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx

Compaction only compacts the database, as Gary indicates below, so the messages should be there somewhere.

steve