Inbox Folder

[JamesJ]

I navigated to:
C:\Users\Jay\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Mail\Local Folders\Inbox
and found over 1,000 files with .eml extension. The names where
unrecognizable.
The size of all these files is over 100 gb
What are these email files and why are there so many and can I safely remove
them?
Also in the Outbox I have over 100 gb of .nws files.

James

 

[JamesJ]

Sorry, the size for one of the folders with over 1,000 files 1.7mb

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

If you want to delete messages, do so from within the UI
(user interface) in Windows Mail. Deleting them via Windows
Explorer is likely to lead to message store corruption.

 

[JamesJ]

My problem here is although Windows Mail shows no messages in the Inbox, for
instance,
but in C:\Users\Jay\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Mail\Local Folders\Inbox
in Explorer it shows over 1,000 items. Why is this so? If Windows Mail's
Inbox shows no messages
then there should be no messages in the store to corrupt? Am I missing
something?

James

If you want to delete messages, do so from within the UI
(user interface) in Windows Mail. Deleting them via Windows
Explorer is likely to lead to message store corruption.

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

Try running the various database repair functions in the WMUtil
program: http://www.oehelp.com/WMUtil

If no improvement, upgrade to Windows Live Mail:
http://download.live.com/wlmail

 

[JamesJ]

Let me understand.
These thousands of .eml and .nws (in the Outbox folder) files being stored
in the folder
are an indication of a problem that needs to be repaired?
What are these files? I open them and there's no subject or body. Why are
they being
saved by Vista?
There's no indication of a problem with Windows Mail.

James

Try running the various database repair functions in the WMUtil
program: http://www.oehelp.com/WMUtil

If no improvement, upgrade to Windows Live Mail:
http://download.live.com/wlmail

 

[Sam Hobbs]

Note that there is no clear problem, and "if it ain't broke don't fix it".
Trying to fix something that is not broken is likely to break it. I hope you
will continue to be a loyal friend and clean up any messes caused by the
"fixes".

Follow these steps.
1) Move all emails from the Inbox/Outbox/Sent Items/
Drafts folders. Put them into folders that you create.
They should NOT be sub-folders to the Inbox, etc;
They should be on the same hierarchy as those default
folders. Also, delete all the emails that are in the
Deleted Items folder.

2) Compact WM. Tools->Options->Advanced Tab.
Click Maintenance Button. Set compact to zero (0).
Close WM, it should pop-up and say it will compact.
If not, open and close WM again. Once compacted, go
back and set compacting to 100 (or a number of your
choice). Then close WM.

3) Now go look in Windows Explorer and see if the
1000s of .eml files are still showing in the above
folders.

If they are still visible, then go ahead and try running
the various database repair functions in WMUtil.

 

[Sam Hobbs]

Most likely there is no problem. You might be chasing a ghost, which happens
to be part of the "Royal Pains" show that is airing right now, but that is
totally irrelevant to you.

Calm down and assume everything is okay; probably it is okay. Don't be so
quick to assume there is a problem that you see 100 GB files that are not
100 GB.

If you truly believe there is a problem, then take the time to analyze it
and to provide accurate information here. If you were to slow down and not
assume there is a problem, you will likely learn that there is a totally
valid explanation for everything. Unless you tried to fix a problem that
does not exist, in which case there is good chance there is a problem.

 

[JamesJ]

I'm not trying to fix anything.
I'm curious what these files are and why they're there.

James

Note that there is no clear problem, and "if it ain't broke don't fix it".
Trying to fix something that is not broken is likely to break it. I hope
you will continue to be a loyal friend and clean up any messes caused by
the "fixes".

 

[JamesJ]

When you say emails from the Inbox.... folders do you mean the
Inbox folder in Windows Mail UI or the folder in \users\....?
Reason I ask is after I delete emails form the folder in Windows Mail ui
there obviously are no more emails to move. But when I view the folder
in Explorer there are several files there.
I've already deleted the thousands of files in the folder in Explorer.

James

Follow these steps.
1) Move all emails from the Inbox/Outbox/Sent Items/
Drafts folders. Put them into folders that you create.
They should NOT be sub-folders to the Inbox, etc;
They should be on the same hierarchy as those default
folders. Also, delete all the emails that are in the
Deleted Items folder.

2) Compact WM. Tools->Options->Advanced Tab.
Click Maintenance Button. Set compact to zero (0).
Close WM, it should pop-up and say it will compact.
If not, open and close WM again. Once compacted, go
back and set compacting to 100 (or a number of your
choice). Then close WM.

3) Now go look in Windows Explorer and see if the
1000s of .eml files are still showing in the above
folders.

If they are still visible, then go ahead and try running
the various database repair functions in WMUtil.

 

[Steve Cochran]

My Windows Mail utility (www.oehelp.com/WMUtil/) is non-destructive and
creates a backup file in case of problems after repair, so it doesn't
"break" anything as you describe.

steve

Note that there is no clear problem, and "if it ain't broke don't fix it".
Trying to fix something that is not broken is likely to break it. I hope
you will continue to be a loyal friend and clean up any messes caused by
the "fixes".

 

[Steve Cochran]

That is unclear. It appears that something is broken if the inbox shows no
messages and there are tons of eml files in the directory. You might try
repairing the database (see www.oehelp.com/WMUTil/) or it could be due to
some 3rd party program interference such as antivirus or antimalware or
antispam software. Those eml files are text files, so you can open them in
Notepad to see what they actually contain, if anything.

steve

I'm not trying to fix anything.
I'm curious what these files are and why they're there.

James

 

[JamesJ]

I did remove the .eml files from explorer and then compacted.
I'll keep an eye on it to see if it still refuses to remove emails from the
inbox folder in explorer.
If not I'll use the repair utility.

James

Yes, I meant for you to be sure there are no emails
sitting in the default folders (inbox, etc) in WM.
Then compact.

My guess was that compacting would have removed
all the .eml files from Windows Explorer.

If you already have gotten rid of the eml files in
Windows Explorer, have you compacted yet? I
would suggest still doing the compacting.

 

[JamesJ]

Thanks for the link. I'll go ahead and downloiad it.

James

Try running the various database repair functions in the WMUtil
program: http://www.oehelp.com/WMUtil

If no improvement, upgrade to Windows Live Mail:
http://download.live.com/wlmail

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

You're very welcome.
Using Windows Explorer to delete .eml files should usually be
avoided since it tends to corrupt the message store (database).

 

[Steve Cochran]

Compaction only compacts the database. It has no effect whatsoever on eml
files.

steve

I did remove the .eml files from explorer and then compacted.
I'll keep an eye on it to see if it still refuses to remove emails from
the
inbox folder in explorer.
If not I'll use the repair utility.

James

 

[Steve Cochran]

Compaction only compacts the database. It has no effect whatsoever on eml
files.

steve

Yes, I meant for you to be sure there are no emails
sitting in the default folders (inbox, etc) in WM.
Then compact.

My guess was that compacting would have removed
all the .eml files from Windows Explorer.

If you already have gotten rid of the eml files in
Windows Explorer, have you compacted yet? I
would suggest still doing the compacting.

 

[Steve Cochran]

Well, that is not supposed to happen. <G>

steve

My thought was that they would maybe just disappear
once they were no longer in the database. I have seen
what I called "ghost files" - files that were definitely
erased but still showed up in Windows. They were not
related to any email program though.