Outlook Express

[Bill Rose]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask but for some time now Outlook Exp
has been acting up. When I have read mail, usually i delete it, but the next
time i log on, all previous deletions are there again, and again, untill
sometimes the same mails are shown 6/7 times. Is there any way i can prevent
this please, At present mail is being repeated from as far back as 18
June!Thanks in advance
Bill Rose

 

[Bruce Hagen]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask but for some time now Outlook
Exp has been acting up. When I have read mail, usually i delete it, but
the next time i log on, all previous deletions are there again, and again,
untill sometimes the same mails are shown 6/7 times. Is there any way i
can prevent this please, At present mail is being repeated from as far
back as 18 June!Thanks in advance
Bill Rose

The correct newsgroup would be.

Outlook Express General newsgroup:
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.outlookexpress.general

But lets see what we can do. Answer these by number, please.

1: Is this a Pop3 account?

2: Are the messages reappearing in the Inbox, or Deleted Items?

3: If the Inbox, do they have a new time stamp, or the original?

4: Tools | Accounts | Mail | Properties | Advanced. Is: Leave a copy of
messages on the server checked?

 

[VanguardLH]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask but for some time now Outlook Exp
has been acting up. When I have read mail, usually i delete it, but the next
time i log on, all previous deletions are there again, and again, untill
sometimes the same mails are shown 6/7 times. Is there any way i can prevent
this please, At present mail is being repeated from as far back as 18
June!

After deleting the e-mail in OE, and after exiting OE, do you still see
that e-mail when you use the webmail interface to your e-mail account
(to look up on the mail server if it is still there)?

Do you have the "leave messages on server" option enabled in OE for a
POP account?

Do you have e-mail scanning enabled in an anti-virus program? Try
disabling e-mail scanning by the AV program and retest. The scan is
superfluous, anyway.

From WHOSE mail server are you retrieving e-mails? Gmail perhaps?

 

[Bill Rose]

Thank you for the response Mr Hagen. Answers are:-
1) Yes Pop 3
2) Inbox
3) Original
4) No - Unchecked

 

[Bruce Hagen]

Seems to be one or more corrupt dbx file.

Move any messages you want to save out of Deleted Items, Sent Items and the
Inbox to folders that you create and then close OE and delete the dbx files
for those three folders.

Tools | Options | Maintenance | Store Folder will reveal the location of
your Outlook Express files. Write the location down and navigate to it in
Windows Explorer or, copy and paste it into Start | Run.

In WinXP, Win2K & Win2K3, the OE user files (DBX and WAB) are by default
marked as hidden. To view these files in Windows Explorer, you must enable
Show Hidden Files and Folders under Start | Control Panel | Folder Options
Icon | View, or in Windows Explorer | Tools | Folder Options | View.

With OE closed, find the Deleted Items.dbx, Sent Items.dbx and Inbox .dbx
files and delete them. New files will be created automatically when you open
OE.

Compact all folders as described below.

To help prevent this in the future:

Do not archive mail in the Inbox or Sent Items. Create your own user defined
folders and move the messages you wish to save to them. Empty Deleted Items
folder daily. Although dbx files have a theoretical capacity of 2GB, I
recommend about a 300MB max for less chance of corruption.

Information about the maximum file size of the .dbx files that are used by
Outlook Express:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=903095

After you are done, follow up by compacting your folders manually while
working *offline* and do it often.

Click on Outlook Express at the top of the folder tree so no folders are
open. Then: File | Work Offline (or double click Working Online in the
Status Bar). File | Folder | Compact all folders. Don't touch anything until
the compacting is completed.

Turn off e-mail scanning in your anti-virus program. It is a redundant layer
of protection that eats up CPUs and causes a multitude of problems such as
time-outs and account setting changes. Your up-to-date A/V program will
continue to protect you sufficiently. For more, see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3

In Tools | Options | Maintenance: Uncheck Compact messages in background and
leave it unchecked. {N/A if running XP/SP2 or SP3}.

 

[Bill Rose]

Thanks for all the help, Im having a friend comin round who is more
knowledgable than I to implement your advice.

Seems to be one or more corrupt dbx file.

Move any messages you want to save out of Deleted Items, Sent Items and
the Inbox to folders that you create and then close OE and delete the dbx
files for those three folders.

Tools | Options | Maintenance | Store Folder will reveal the location of
your Outlook Express files. Write the location down and navigate to it in
Windows Explorer or, copy and paste it into Start | Run.

In WinXP, Win2K & Win2K3, the OE user files (DBX and WAB) are by default
marked as hidden. To view these files in Windows Explorer, you must enable
Show Hidden Files and Folders under Start | Control Panel | Folder Options
Icon | View, or in Windows Explorer | Tools | Folder Options | View.

With OE closed, find the Deleted Items.dbx, Sent Items.dbx and Inbox .dbx
files and delete them. New files will be created automatically when you
open OE.

Compact all folders as described below.

To help prevent this in the future:

Do not archive mail in the Inbox or Sent Items. Create your own user
defined folders and move the messages you wish to save to them. Empty
Deleted Items folder daily. Although dbx files have a theoretical capacity
of 2GB, I recommend about a 300MB max for less chance of corruption.

Information about the maximum file size of the .dbx files that are used by
Outlook Express:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=903095

After you are done, follow up by compacting your folders manually while
working *offline* and do it often.

Click on Outlook Express at the top of the folder tree so no folders are
open. Then: File | Work Offline (or double click Working Online in the
Status Bar). File | Folder | Compact all folders. Don't touch anything
until the compacting is completed.

Turn off e-mail scanning in your anti-virus program. It is a redundant
layer of protection that eats up CPUs and causes a multitude of problems
such as time-outs and account setting changes. Your up-to-date A/V program
will continue to protect you sufficiently. For more, see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3

In Tools | Options | Maintenance: Uncheck Compact messages in background
and leave it unchecked. {N/A if running XP/SP2 or SP3}.
--

Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP [Mail]
Imperial Beach, CA

Thank you for the response Mr Hagen. Answers are:-
1) Yes Pop 3
2) Inbox
3) Original
4) No - Unchecked