Re: deleting mail folders

Don't worry about the Pop3uidl.dbx file. It is a log file and one will be created if it is needed.

The Search folder. dbx was created when you did a Search, or Find. It is not needed either.

The question about Deleted Items having a subfolder named Temp. Is there anything in it you need? Just empty the Deleted Items and it will go away. I assume you are not saving messages in Deleted items? It is a Garbage pail.

General precautions for Outlook Express:

Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually become corrupt. Create your own user defined folders for storing mail and move your mail to them. Empty Deleted Items folder regularly. Keep user created folders under 100MB, and Default folders as empty as is feasible.

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}.

And backup often.

Backup & Restore:
http://www.insideoutlookexpress.com/backup/

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB):
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"donna" <drc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:OaUeyw1OHHA.4940@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ok - I created a new identity and imported all the messages. Everything went fine and all folders present except for two from the main identity - "pop3uidl.dbx" and "search folder.dbx" - and two newsgroups. There is something odd that I didn't note before in the Main Identity but only after the import. My Deleted Items folder now has a subgroup titled "temp," which I never created and which has only one message in it that was dumped into my Norton Anti-Spam folder but which I moved to the Inbox. The file sizes are still screwy and I don't know if this explains why my folder name changed back to the old name inexplicably and why the the same folder after changing the name again was suddenly empty when I opened OE6? Any suggestions?

"Bruce Hagen" <Nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:elAbFgrNHHA.4912@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I'm not sure what is going on. Are you positive that you are checking the message store files for the same identity you compacted?

Try creating a new identity and then importing the messages from the old identity and see what happens. This will not cause you to lose messages in the old identity and you can switch back any time you want.

File | Identity | Add New Identity.

How to Create and Use Identities in Outlook Express
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=209169
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"donna" <drc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:%23fr99ZrNHHA.3552@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
no change to file size when I do it offline and i'm afraid it's not the only dbx file size that doesn't make any sense.

to make matters worse, the mail folder that I renamed the other day but the old name mysteriously reappeared in OE6 when I opened it again. well, i renamed the same folder again, having checked that all the messages were there before and after. this time when I opened OE6, the new name of the mail folder remains but all the mail is missing - the folder is totally empty. what is going on with my program?

"Bruce Hagen" <Nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:uqS0HUoNHHA.992@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
That size does not make sense. Work offline and compact that folder by itself and see if there is any change.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"donna" <drc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:%23BMgd9mNHHA.960@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thank you. That was what I needed to confirm - that the compact feature of IE backs up every dbx file in the store folder, not just the folders you can see in OE6. And when you delete a mail folder in OE6, you still have to delete it in the store folder. I have one more question before I go. I'm saving mail foldes to CD so I can delete them from my HD. So I'm trying to be very careful to make sure I have the mail backed up properly. I usually don't pay attention to size, but after compacting all folders before copying them - does it make any sense that a mail folder with only 8 messages (no attachments) would be 11MB when another mail folder with 43 messages of equal size (but with numerous large attachments) would be only 5MB? Is there a reasonable explanation for this? Thanks.

"Bruce Hagen" <Nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:%234pNwUeNHHA.5104@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The bak files are created when you compact. This is a backup /just in case/ something happens when you compact.

Delete all unused dbx files in the store folder.

Empty the Recycle Bin.

Now compact your folders. you should get one copy of each dbx file in the RB as a bak file, and no new, or old dbx files should appear in the message store.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"donna" <drc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:e9Gwp2cNHHA.4720@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
now I am confused. I only deleted mail folders in OE6; I never deleted the corresponding dbx files in the store folder. This was the basis for my initial question. So based on the recommendation, I opened OE6 1st to compact all mail folders before deleting the empty dbx files in the store folder. However, 1) when I looked in the Recycle Bin, there were new bak files for all the folders I had deleted yesterday that are not listed in OE6 under folders. And 2)a mail folder I had renamed yesterday from "typesetter" to "Copeland" was now listed in OE6 back to "typesetter" although there both a "copeland" and "typesetter" bak file in the Recycle Bin. Previous to all this the Recyle Bin was completely empty.

"Bruce Hagen" <Nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:OsE0rpcNHHA.536@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
When you deleted the dbx file, was OE closed? It won't delete permanently if OE is open. Close OE and delete any unused dbx files. Restart your computer and check that all is well in your OE folders. If it is, compact again and recheck the message store.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"donna" <drc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:uVXs9kcNHHA.1872@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks. But I compacted all the folders and something odd happened. A mail folder that I had renamed reappeared with the old name in OE. When I checked the backup files in the Recycle Bin, not only is a bak file there with the new name, there is also a bak file with the old name neither of which was there prior to the file compact process. What is this about?

"Bruce Hagen" <Nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:ecVjpYbNHHA.3872@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
When you move messages to a new folder, and delete the old one, it will still show a dbx file for the deleted one. You can safely delete it from the store folder.

The reason it shows some size is because when you delete, or move messages, the space they took up is not recovered until you compact your folders.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"donna" <drc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:%23sxV8GbNHHA.4928@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I have an archive folder section in OE6 and had created a subgroup off of this with 4 mail folders. I wanted the 4 mail folders to be part of the main group. So I created new folders under the main group with slightly different names. I copied and pasted all the messages from the subgroup into these new folders. I then deleted the empty folders from OE6. However, when I went into the store folder on C drive, the deleted folders were still listed as dbx files??? Why is this and what can I do about it because when I click on the properties of the deleted dbx files, it suggests they still have the data in them?

Thanks.

















.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Sent Items still MIA, tried importing from .dbx
    ... Then if you can recover any messages from the DBX files you moved and ran the utility on, drag them to an appropriate open folder in your new identity. ... Write down the location of your identity's store ... Open OE and compact all folders. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress)
  • Re: deleting mail folders
    ... I just found out that if you exit OE after deleting a mail folder (which I ... it should be automatically deleted from the store folder. ... Delete all unused dbx files in the store folder. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress)
  • Re: Recovering a *.dbx file
    ... During the Compacting process, some versions OE make DBT ... Newer versions of OE make a backup copy the DBX files to the Recycle Bin ... folder and drag it to the Desktop. ... successfully restored the bak file. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress)
  • Re: Cannoy launch OE, cannot import dbx into Outlook either
    ... The extracted files are eml and are located on my desktop in a New Folder. ... I can neither import them or the dbx files into Outlook nor can I open ... Once you completed the extraction, did you then *move* all of the corrupted ... DBX files that were in your message store folder to another location on your ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress)
  • Re: Problem with OE .dbx files
    ... See the last paragraph on this page to import individual dbx files: ... Because of this tendency of attachments to infect, ... , then wasted space is generated in that file, and the folder must be ... Turn off email scanning in your antivirus software. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress)