Windows Mail Folder Problems

[Guest]

trying to help a ffriend that just got a Vista pc... (she is a novice with
pc. Problem: I helped her set up Windows Mail. She uses sbcglobal as the
default for e-mail, but in Advanced I have set up to leave a copy of messages
on the server.
Her Windows Outbox shows a huge number of e-mails (more than 30) that do not
send. Her Sent mail Folder is always empty. She says no one is getting her
e-mail when she uses Windows mail. What is wrong, and what ccan I do to
correct this for her? Note: She did make the mistake of changing the
setting for how often Windows mail checks for new mail- she set it to ONE
MINUTE. I told her to change it back to at least five minutes. Should she
delete all the e-mail from the Outbox for starters? I am assuming that since
nothingg shows in her Sent Mail- nothing was actually sent?
I have XP, so hard ffor me to work with her with her Vista machine. Would
appreciate any help you can offer. thank you. C

 

[Peter]

Tools/Accounts/Properties.....same as in XP - are the settings for outgoing
correct as per her ISP? Especially "My Server needs authentication" under
the Server tab?
When Windows Mail copies/imports settings it sometimes omits things so that
would be the first place to check.
If you don't see the Toolbar then right-click the coloured area at the top
and check "Toolbar"

 

[Guest]

The settings are correct, infact, while there yesterday she received an
e-mail from sbcglobal/yahoo (her isp) telling her they are changing ports and
i went in and changed the port settings for her to the new ones. off hand i
don't recall what there are now. "My server needs authentication" is also
checked, and has been since I set it up for her. She is using a wireless
laptop connected to her husband's desktop with Netgear wireless connection.
Do you think it COULD help to unplug their dsl connection for a couple of
minutes, then reconnect and reboot? I don't know what else to do to help
her. This may or may not help to know: since she is having trouble with
Windows mail, she is also using her sbcglobal/yahoo to sent/receive e-mail
(sbcglobal is the server) and, also has an e-mail only account with aol. got
to get this fixed so she can get down to using Windows Mail as much as
possible. Thanks for any suggestions. C

 

[Peter]

By the way, the mail in the outbox should send itself once the client is set
up OK. (Or delete it - your choice).

 

[Guest]

PS She is not receing any error messages either.

Tools/Accounts/Properties.....same as in XP - are the settings for outgoing
correct as per her ISP? Especially "My Server needs authentication" under
the Server tab?
When Windows Mail copies/imports settings it sometimes omits things so that
would be the first place to check.
If you don't see the Toolbar then right-click the coloured area at the top
and check "Toolbar"

 

[Guest]

I told her to try to delete everything out of the Outbox- My thinking is,
maybe there is a corrupt one in the bunch that is preventing sending the
rest? yes/no? I am wiaitng to hear if she was able to delete everything out
of her Outbox. Will reply again oncce I hear ffrom her. Thank you Peter.

 

[Peter]

Did you click the settings button next to "my server requires auth"? Those
settings may not be correct.
The other thing to try would be to disable virus scanning of email.
Also check that email has permission in whatever firewall settings.

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

It is quite likely that there is one undeletable message stuck in the
outbox. If so, use the Clear Outbox function of WMUtil:
http://www.oehelp.com/WMUtil

Gary VanderMolen

 

[Guest]

Update: She was able to delete all but one message in the Outbox. I
suggested that she download/install the utility you supplied(WMUtil) but she
does not want to do that (sigh) She went to website & saw 'something' about
not being responsible if something goes wrong?"
OK- Would it be possible for her to delete the Account in Windows mail, then
re-create it using the current settings? Would that then, delete all
references,etc. to any messages she had in Inbox, Outbox, sent mail,etc? In
other words, would she then be starting from scratch as if she never had
created in account in Windows Mail at all? I can't believe Windows Mail
doesn't work as great as Outlook Express 6.0 does for me. I am tempted to
tell her to just stop using Windows mail- seems to be a number of issues with
it
Thanks for your help and response to my newest questions.

 

[Guest]

I am getting no where fast I called her, she "doesn't want to try
anything else
new", said she is having enough trouble already and that Windows mail is not
worth it. She sayss she would rather just stick to her yahoo for e-mail. I
tried, did what I could, but...
What will happen IF she does remove her account? Does all the messages then
stay somewhere on her pc that could cause any other trouble with her yahoo
mail or aol mail? Thank you.

 

[Cal Bear '66]

Lock her in the bathroom and use the WMUtil tool.

It is easy to use, and does work. Just read and follow the instructions,
especially the ones in the RED box. Quick, easy and effective.

http://www.oehelp.com/WMUtil/Default.aspx

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

It certainly would not hurt to delete that account, and then
recreate it from scratch. It probably won't fix the problem, though.

We have never had a report here of someone being worse off
after using the WMUtil program to clear the outbox.
I recommend it without any reservations.

Since your client appears to be a bit of a technophobe, I'm
not going to recommend she upgrade to the WLM beta.
If webmail fills her needs, so be it.

Gary VanderMolen

 

[Peter]

I like Cal Bear 66's solution the best. Lock her in the bathroom and do it
anyway...LOL

 

[Guest]

LOL Re: bathroom... Going to have to go over there and try to peruade her.
If I can't well- I have done all that I can. I do in a very tiny way feel
responsible, since I encouraged her to use Windows mail, instead off
server-based e-mail. Can you explain please, why deleting the account would
not fix the problem? Thanks again.

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

I can't explain why it usually won't work. All I know is that account
recreation was tried hundreds of times by many different people,
(myself included), without much success. It did work in a few cases.

This is why Steve Cochran went to the trouble of rewriting his
WMUtil program to add the Clear Outbox function.

Gary VanderMolen

 

[Guest]

Thank you all for your help- If the problem was on MY pc, i would certainly
download the WML as you have recommended... but it isn't, of so will just
have to go along with the wishes of one that is not too computer savvy. I am
going to tell her to just remove her Windows Mail account, not open it again,
and let her stay with her server based accounts until I can talk her into
fixing it

 

[Steve Cochran]

The problem is in the database. There is nothing you can do to change the
database directly, so that's why I wrote the Utility to clear the outbox.

You can set up a second account with the same parameters as the existing
account. Make it the default account and remove the first account. That
then may let you remove the outbox messages.

Otherwise she should just stick with her webmail. No one has complained
that WMUtil caused problems for them, and I get about 200 downloads of it a
day.

steve

 

[Guest]

Thank you all, for your help. For now she is going to delete her account
from WM and stick with her server based account. Perhpas as she learns more
about pc's she will be willing to try what has been suggested, but not now.
Thanks again.