I have the "Wondows Mail" blues...

[Paul H]

I want to go back to Outlook Express! Please? Windows Mail continues to
perform in unacceptable ways that never get fixed. If I click "Ignore All"
during a spell check, each subsequent time I spell check again, the same
misspelling is challenged again. OE6 remembered to "Ignore" that misspelling
for the duration of the email being composed. If I click "Create Mail" it
usually takes over a minute before the window that appears is ready to be
used. If I click in it, it says "not responding" until it is ready to be
used. When I click "To:" or "Cc:" it takes at least a few seconds before the
"Select Recipients" window appears. Both actions were instant in OE6. I have
almost 800 contacts, and thousands of emails in numerous folders and
subfolders. Windows Mail occasionally locks up, saying "not responding",
then Vista tells me that Mail has stopped working and will be stopped and
re-started. How can Microsoft have the arrogance to decide that I should not
use email like they have allowed me to, and supported instant response time,
no matter now numerous my emails or contacts, for at least the past 10
years. I need a way to move back to OE6 on my old Windows XP laptop, so I
can do all my emailing from there. I want to support Microsoft, but they
make it difficult. Vista has new features I like, but on my newer, much more
powerful laptop it is soooooo slooooooow...

 

[Dave]

Try the newer Windows Live Mail. The Windows Mail that came with Vista has
not been updated in over a year, and is unlikely to be "fixed".

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

Comments inline:

I want to go back to Outlook Express! Please? Windows Mail continues to
perform in unacceptable ways that never get fixed. If I click "Ignore All"
during a spell check, each subsequent time I spell check again, the same
misspelling is challenged again. OE6 remembered to "Ignore" that misspelling
for the duration of the email being composed.

I'm pretty sure my WM remembers "Ignore All" for the duration. You could
add that word to the custom dictionary and never be bothered by it again.

If I click "Create Mail" it
usually takes over a minute before the window that appears is ready to be
used. If I click in it, it says "not responding" until it is ready to be
used. When I click "To:" or "Cc:" it takes at least a few seconds before the
"Select Recipients" window appears. Both actions were instant in OE6. I have
almost 800 contacts, and thousands of emails in numerous folders and
subfolders. Windows Mail occasionally locks up, saying "not responding",
then Vista tells me that Mail has stopped working and will be stopped and
re-started.

None of that behavior is normal for WM. Try this fix for sluggishness:
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/72674-windows-mail-slow.html

If that did not help, you are probably running a non-compatible antivirus.

You can upgrade to Windows Live Mail, which is better supported and
has more features: http://get.live.com/wlmail/overview

 

[Paul H]

Thanks, Gary and Dave,

I did look into Windows live mail, and there were enuf differences that I
preferred to live with the Windows Mail performance penalties. I'll look at
it again, but my expectations are pessimistic. The performance issues are
caused by my quantities of contacts and folders and emails in these folders.
A folder-by-folder, email-by-email solution requires drudgery that is
impractical to perform.

I use Avast, that Brink says is acceptable. He says to turn off email
scanning, so I have, although that worries me, and sending and receiving
performance are not my complaints. Most of his suggestions do not apply to
me, or are impractical for me. I don't want to go back thru my contacts to
think about each one and decide if I really need each one.

I really want to go back to OE6. It does everything I want, is instant, and
seldom if ever locks up. The Windows Mail directories are huge! I copied
my OE6 data to back it up in just a few minutes, whereas the Windows Mail
directories are gigantic!

I have used my email folders as my filing cabinet for 10 years. I
frequently search for issues that occurred months or years ago. For
example, I recently had to find email evidence of a commitment someone made
to me two or three years ago. I found it in minutes. Since I have almost a
year's worth of new email, I can't just go back to my last version of my OE6
info, and throw away the "new stuff". I need a way to convert the Windows
Mail files back to OE6.

I keep my Vista updated. Believe me, the "Ignore" problem does exist for
me. Try it yourself. I don't want to add every acronym I may use one time,
to my dictionary.

Is there no way to return my data to OE6 without days or weeks of manual
labor with lots of error risk? Even a program I have to pay for, for this
one-time use?

Thanks,
Paul

===============================

Comments inline:

I want to go back to Outlook Express! Please? Windows Mail continues to
perform in unacceptable ways that never get fixed. If I click "Ignore All"
during a spell check, each subsequent time I spell check again, the same
misspelling is challenged again. OE6 remembered to "Ignore" that
misspelling
for the duration of the email being composed.

I'm pretty sure my WM remembers "Ignore All" for the duration. You could
add that word to the custom dictionary and never be bothered by it again.

If I click "Create Mail" it
usually takes over a minute before the window that appears is ready to be
used. If I click in it, it says "not responding" until it is ready to be
used. When I click "To:" or "Cc:" it takes at least a few seconds before
the
"Select Recipients" window appears. Both actions were instant in OE6. I
have
almost 800 contacts, and thousands of emails in numerous folders and
subfolders. Windows Mail occasionally locks up, saying "not responding",
then Vista tells me that Mail has stopped working and will be stopped and
re-started.

None of that behavior is normal for WM. Try this fix for sluggishness:
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/72674-windows-mail-slow.html

If that did not help, you are probably running a non-compatible antivirus.

You can upgrade to Windows Live Mail, which is better supported and
has more features: http://get.live.com/wlmail/overview

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

"Differences" aren't necessarily detrimental. There is no drawback to
trying WLM because if you decide you don't like it, merely uninstall,
and WM is back as your default email program. You can even run
the two programs side-by-side, as I have done for the past year.
I just tested "Ignore All" in my WM spell checker, and it works fine.

I have never attempted a WM to OE reversion, but I know the .eml
files in which WM messages are saved are fully compatible with OE.

Avast is usually compatible with Windows Mail, except when it was
installed using the default install method. If that was the case,
uninstall, then reinstall using the custom install option, which allows
you to forego installation of the mail scanning module. That mail
scanning module causes trouble for WM, even if it is disabled after
installation.