Outlook Express bug: compacting messages takes too long time

  • Thread starter Thread starter Miika Asunta
  • Start date Start date
M

Miika Asunta

6.00.2900.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm040803-2158)

computer: PIV 3,4 MHz / 1024 MB / 800 MHz FSB
80 GB IDE Hardrive

Processes running: 26
(no other applications)

Report: Outlook express malfunction

Symptoms:
- Offers message compacting maybe 2-3 times / week
- Spends lot of time compacting already compacted folders
- No option to disable compacting
- compacting takes 3-4 minutes
- Computer can't be used to anything while compacting in progress
- the overall speed is unacceptably slow

Changes requested:
- Option to disable compacting mail folders completetely
- Low priority compacting

Best regards,

Miika Asunta
 
Compacting in Outlook Express is important. If you do not compact once in a
while your folders.dbx file may become corrupted and OE may not even start
or cause other problems. Other .dbx files may become corrupted as fara
sthat goes and can cause other OE problems.

OE doesn't remove deleted messages, it only flags them to be removed at
a later time. The items are not removed until the folders with deleted
items are compacted. You need to compact all your OE folders regularly.
This saves disk space and speeds up OE. Compacting can also correct
corruption.

[[It is largely for this reason that the background compaction feature has
been removed in Windows XP SP2. Now Outlook Express will compact
automatically only after you have opened and closed Outlook Express 100
times. It will do so not in the background, when you might be busy doing
other things on the computer, but rather when you close Outlook Express for
that 100th time. Do not cancel this compaction, nor use your computer until
it is finished. For best results however, you should still compact all
folders on a regular basis, such as weekly or bi-weekly.]]
from...
When the Cure Kills: Compacting and Corruption
The Other E-Mail Threat: File Corruption in Outlook Express
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/community/columns/filecorruption.mspx#EZAAC

[[In XPSP2, the registry key
(HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{GUID}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0
where GUID represents the Identity Number) has a new value ("Compact Check
Count") that is incremented with each closing of OE. When OE is closed and
this value reaches 100, then the user is prompted to compact all the
folders. Only if the user agrees to compact such does the "Compact Check
Count" get reset to zero. Otherwise the user is continuously prompted until
they agree to compact. However, if this occurs during a machine shutdown,
the shutdown can interrupt the compact process and result in message
loss. ]]
from...
2. Turn off Background Compaction.
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#2

Compact Your OE Folders
http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/files/maintain.htm#compact

[Folders.dbx is the master index of an OE store folder and is required
for OE to run.]]
How OE stores files on your hard disk
http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/files/store.htm#storemain


--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
Thanks very much for the information.

I hope the behaviour will be changed in the future as this is really
annoying, many of my friends are suffering as well.

IMHO the disk space usage is no longer a problem, and therefore there's no
need to compact. However, I understand the need to check and maintain the
integrity of mailbox files.

I think the folder / account structure should be completely rewritten: the
mail messages should be stored in a relational database for easy and quick
indexed searches, I think in the long run this would considerably speed
things up.

Best regards,

Miika Asunta
 
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