[Longfellow]

From time to time there appears a notification
that my Outlook Express folders can be compacted.
I always accept the indication.
These are the results so far:
1. The action is correct.
2. All the news items are re-ordered to be in alphabetical
order instead of date order.
3. News entries vanish and have to be re installed and
items previously downloaded in full now appear
as headings only.
4. The contents of my Inbox vanish.
A/V is up to date, Ad-ware run weekly,
Anyone any suggestions, apart from not
accepting the compacting in the first place.

[Wesley Vogel]

Turn background compaction off.

OE | Tools| Options| Maintenance | UNCheck Compact messages in the
background | Apply | OK

Automatic Maintenance (background compaction)
http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/files/maintain.htm#auto

How to Compact All Folders

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. Avoid using Compact messages in
the background as this can lead to problems. This only compacts
newsgroup folders anyway.

Open Outlook Express.
To make sure you aren't receiving any mail, so your Inbox or any other
folders aren't active; Work Offline.
File | Work Offline (Or hit Alt + F + W).
To make sure no folders are open, highlight Outlook Express in the
Folders pane .
File | Folder | Compact All Folders (Or hit Alt + F + F + F) .
Don't do anything until your hard drive has quit thrashing.
Don't forget; File | UNCheck: Work Offline (Or hit Alt + F + W).

[[You MUST use File | Folder | Compact All Folders to avoid store
corruption. No other compaction method will compact the critical
index file, "folders.dbx". ]]

Tom Koch, MVP for IE/Outlook Express
http://www.insideOE.com/

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 news:t6fve.3931$rz1.1063@newsfe5-gui.ntli.net,
Longfellow <longfellow@ntlworld.com> hunted and pecked:
> From time to time there appears a notification
> that my Outlook Express folders can be compacted.
> I always accept the indication.
> These are the results so far:
> 1. The action is correct.
> 2. All the news items are re-ordered to be in alphabetical
> order instead of date order.
> 3. News entries vanish and have to be re installed and
> items previously downloaded in full now appear
> as headings only.
> 4. The contents of my Inbox vanish.
> A/V is up to date, Ad-ware run weekly,
> Anyone any suggestions, apart from not
> accepting the compacting in the first place.

[PA Bear]

General OE Caveats:

- Don't use Inbox or Sent Items to archive messages. Move them to local
folders created for this purpose.

- Empty Deleted Items folder daily.

- Disable Background Compacting [N/A in SP2] and frequently perform a manual
compact of all OE folders while "working offline". More at
http://www.insideoe.com/files/maintain.htm.

- WinXP SP2: When Automatic Compacting is taking place, do not attempt to
shut down OE via Task Manager and do not attempt to shut down your computer.
Allow the compacting to complete.

- Your anti-virus application's email scanning feature can also cause such
corruption. Disable it. It provides no additional protection.
--
OE6-specific newsgroup:
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress

~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE) & Security, AH-VSOP

Inside Outlook Express
http://www.insideoe.com


Longfellow wrote:
> From time to time there appears a notification
> that my Outlook Express folders can be compacted.
> I always accept the indication.
> These are the results so far:
> 1. The action is correct.
> 2. All the news items are re-ordered to be in alphabetical
> order instead of date order.
> 3. News entries vanish and have to be re installed and
> items previously downloaded in full now appear
> as headings only.
> 4. The contents of my Inbox vanish.
> A/V is up to date, Ad-ware run weekly,
> Anyone any suggestions, apart from not
> accepting the compacting in the first place.