Re: OE6 hangs, Win-ME & XP

Tech-Archive recommends: Repair Windows Errors & Optimize Windows Performance

From: SomewhatAnonymous (Please_at_NoSpamWanted.yuk)
Date: 03/15/04 

Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2004 15:05:21 GMT

----- Original Message -----
From: "Frank Saunders, MS-MVP" <franksaunders@mvps.org>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress
Sent: Sunday, 14 March, 2004 2:14 PM
Subject: Re: OE6 hangs, Win-ME & XP

> This applies to OE5 and up on all Windows versions from Win95 to WinXP
> (although you can't have OE6 on Win95).
>
> From http://www.fjsmjs.com/OE/compact.htm
>
> Compacting in the background has been correlated to data loss. If OE
tries
> to access and add to a folder that is being compacted, data loss may
occur.
> If a user closes OE while compacting is in progress and then notices that
> Msimn is still running and does an End Task on it, data loss will probably
> occur.
>
> Go to Tools | Options | Maintenance and turn off compacting in the
> background.
>
> Then periodically (say once a week) click File | Work offline (or double
> click Working Online on the Status Bar).
> In the Folder list click Outlook Express at the top.
> Click File | Folder | Compact All.
> Don't touch your computer until it is done.
> --
> Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
> Please respond in Newsgroup. Do not send email
> http://www.fjsmjs.com
> Protect your PC
> http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/
>
Thank you again, Frank, for these additional tips. Background compacting is
enabled on that machine, I'll turn it off when and if I can get to the Menu
system. My customer will be bringing it back this afternoon. It was
mentioned that a lot of spam had been deleted (there was around 1k different
messages in the inbox, and it is an older and slower machine), and if I
remember right I was told that was when the trouble re-appeared. It took a
long time (around 3 minutes) just to index it when going to the inbox
immediately after opening OE, and the HDD activity could be seen during that
time, which was why I had it not go to the inbox right at opening.
Compacting would take much longer, I know, but the customer says a 40 minute
wait did not result in the hourglass going away. I'd already advised the
customer to obtain a new mailbox due to the high volume of spam being
received (around 200 or so a day, but not deleted and then manually
compacted). The machine was a zombie, which probably explains why the high
number of spam being received. I'll try again to educate this customer on
the limitations and time requirements of Outlook Express on slower machines
that must deal with high numbers of messages, in hope that file corruptions
do not again take place by it being terminated before it completes its
tasks. I hope that I'm able to resurrect OE, as we've not had good luck in
the past following MS directions on how to reinstall it. Usually, if IE or
OE is severely malfunctioning we've needed to reformat the HDD. Very few
exceptions to that. Probably because reinstallation is not checking for
checksum or corruption in addition to file version, but I really don't know.

People do not understand how to maintenance and protect their machines.
Problems occur in result. Maybe I should have insisted on just wiping and
re-installing everything, but the customer does not have all the software
existing on it still availalbe for re-install (this is typical, especially
with those machines that came with a restoration CD that is no longer being
sold by the vendor of the machine, or one that was purchased as an used
machine). Machines come in very sick zombies, and sometimes it's very
difficult to save everything for a customer after the cleansing proceess and
where malware may have damaged and even replaced system files. When they
don't even read the Help about maintenance and so on, I can not expect them
to understand why they have reoccuring problems after it's been demonstrated
that everything is working correctly just before it leaves the shop! <grin>
That's life... They just don't understand or care how complicated these
computers really are, and how difficult it can be to properly resurrect a
Zombie, why it happened, and how to keep it from happening again. Even after
giving training in these areas.

I should probably install PopFile, or K-9, to handle the (surely malware
infected - a good reason for email scanning) high volume of spam being
received. But the customer only has 2gigs left on the HDD and I'm loath to
install anything until I can clone to a larger HDD. Besides, that's another
customer learning curve if I do that. Customers just want to point & click,
not change the oil! <grin>

I wish the OE status bar was more verbose about what process is tasking when
things seem to be at a crash. Some computers don't have HDD indicators. I
also wish it would allow filtering on X-Headers, so that spam eliminators
(PopFile, K-9) could be used without them having to modify a Subject line.
Spam is a terrible problem, and OE won't even allow filtering on a blank
Subject or From header. Spam is why I'm taking a financial hit because the
computer is coming back. Multiply my complaint by all the other repair shops
around the world! 

---
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.622 / Virus Database: 400 - Release Date: 13-Mar-04

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