Re: OE6 newsgroup reader problem...

In View | Current View, is Show All Messages & Group Messages By Conversation checked?

Regarding the suffix (1). For some reason, when you unsubscribe from a newsgroup, OE occasionally *forgets* to remove the dbx file. Maybe it is possible that if you resubscribed, OE created a second dbx file with the suffix. Just a WAG here.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA


"GO" <aa533@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:ekIw0UY9HHA.484@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sorry, didn't mean to confuse you. I would like to clarify the problem and
possibly find a solution as it just happened again today (with the
vista.general group again).

OE creates a local store for *newsgroup* messages in the form of a .dbx
file. This dbx keeps track of read and watched messages. Now for some
reason OE has lost track of these messages and when I open the group it
shows none of the original messages and only the new/recent headers that
have been downloaded. When it happened yesterday a new dbx was created with
a "(1)" appended to the file name. Today, no new file was created so I am
assuming it has just started overwriting the existing one.

I hope that clarifies the situation.


Greg

Bruce Hagen wrote:
Now, I am lost. We are talking about using OE as your newsreader? And
you are talking about losing news and not e-mail? If you are only
relying on the server, you will lose messages when they are deleted
from the server, (Not your choice, but MSNews).

Once you Refresh, Compact, Reset, Download X headers, etc, you lose
any posts older than the days of the retention limit, unless you
saved them elsewhere.

Sorry if I am not on the same page as you.

"GO" <aa533@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ugLOn2O9HHA.1204@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Oops...sorry. I didn't make that very clear, did I? I was
referring to the
original problem with OE "losing" my messages.


Bruce Hagen wrote:
I just checked in another identity. This group, OE General, is 60
days. OE6 newsgroup is 90 days. Irregardless, there is nothing you
can change. It is not your choice, but the server's.

I'm not sure what you are asking about this:

<QP>
In the grand scheme of things it's not really a huge problem but I
like to find out what's going on when these types of things occur.
</QP>

When what occurs? When messages are removed from the server, you
will not see them any more, unless you copied them to another
folder for archiving.

"GO" <aa533@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%23NloWWO9HHA.4180@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Yeah, I am aware of that but never thought to mention it. Current
retention
level in OE is 60 days, and I believe that's the default as I don't
think I've ever changed it. Under normal circumstances I'll
witness some of my older watched threads disappear as they go
beyond the retention period. In
the grand scheme of things it's not really a huge problem but I
like to find
out what's going on when these types of things occur.


Greg

Bruce Hagen wrote:
From this reply, do you realize that once messages are removed
from the server, they will not be viewable by you unless you
saved them to a user created local folder?

I /believe/ the current retention for MSNews is 90 days using OE
as your newsreader.

IOW, if you reset, sync, or whatever, anything over the retention
number of days will be lost. Does this shed any light on your
current problem?

"GO" <aa533@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:erJlPqN9HHA.1416@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Bruce,

Thanks again for your assistance, it's greatly appreciated.

I understand what you were getting at now with the "Get XXX
headers at a time", that is, to download all the headers again.
I was originally thinking that you were saying that this option
could be the cause of the problem. But downloading all the
headers leads back to my original problem,
not that it's a huge deal but it is an annoyance, is that I lose
what messages have been read and/or watched. And from what I
understand this is
being monitored by the .dbx itself. The file is still there and
I'm assuming still contains all the original data, I was hoping
there was a way
to get OE to recognize and/or recover it again.

As for my non-updated OE: I realize doing so can put me at a
higher risk but I am confident enough that my computer is
sufficiently secured and that
my safe computer habits will and have kept me malware/virus free
(but out of
paranoia I still run AV and anti-malware software). And I also
don't believe this would be the cause of the problem as I would
have seen it a long time ago.

And regarding the installation of new software: This computer my
"working"
computer is fairly static, ie it rarely gets any new software
installed or any other changes.

Ultimately I just think it is some hiccup with OE as I subscribe
to numerous
other newsgroups and it has only happened to two of the .dbx
files, both of
which are the largest in terms of file sizes, possibly just a
coincidence.

Bruce Hagen wrote:
<Inline>

"GO" <aa533@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%23twMT$L9HHA.1188@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Bruce,

Thanks for the reply.


I've done this and a completely new .dbx has been created.
But is there any way to recover and/or read the contents of the
original .dbx? Any idea
what would trigger this problem? Could something have
corrupted the dbx? Is there a file size limit for dbx's?
That's the only thing that's similar
between the two incidents. They were two different dbx's but
both around 20MB in size.


You /were/ talking about newsgroups. correct? OE only mirrors
what is on the server, so there is nothing to recover in the
normal sense.

Tools | Options | Read. Uncheck: Get XXX headers at a time.
Then, right click on the newsgroup in the Folder Tree |
Properties | Local File | Reset. Switch to another folder and
then back and all available messages will be downloaded again.

It would be a good idea to compact your folders when you're
done.

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.



Make sure get xxx headers at a time is not checked.

I'm not sure what this will accomplish (other than the obvious
:) I've had
this feature checked since I've started using OE. What is the
benefit of doing this, or what is the problem caused by leaving
it checked?


You will get all messages currently on the server. If you want
to limit the ammount:

If you want to download newsgroups, but don't want hundreds, or
thousands, of messages, you can create a message rule such as
this:

Tools | Message Rules | News.

Box 1: Where the message was sent more than days ago
Box 2: Delete it & Stop processing more rules
Box 3: Click on "Days" and choose the # of days you want.
Name the rule.

In Tools | Options | Read - Uncheck: Get XXX headers at a time.
When you go to, or subscribe to a newsgroup, it will only
download the messages for the number of days you selected.

Opinions on this vary, but in Tools | Accounts | News |
Properties | General, I have Include this account when checking
for new messages checked. When OE automatically checks for mail,
(however often you have it set for), it will also download any
new news messages at the same time.



But before you do anything, get over to Windows Updates. I'm
not sure what your Windows version is, but from your message
headers:

X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2600.0000
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000

you are obviously running an outdated and less secure version
of OE, and that may be part of the problem.

Yeah, I'm aware OE is not up to date and unfortunately will
have to remain that way (the updates breaks several things in
OE). I am running Win2k and
other than that my system is up to date as far as security
patches. OE is locked down sufficiently that I have no fear of
being comprimised.



I can't
see this as causing the problem though as I would have
encountered it much sooner.


Look for the obvious. It may not be the cause, but if updates
break OE functions, you have two possible remidies.

1: Turn off your anti-virus program when you download and
install /anything/. Your AV can prevent a clean install.

2: You may be infested with some type of Hijackware.

Courtesy of MVP Robear Dyer (PA Bear):

Checking for/Help with Hijackware
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=5878

http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_Removal_and_Prevention:_Introduction
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/data/prevention.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/tshoot.html
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm
http://defendingyourmachine.blogspot.com/
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

When all else fails, HijackThis
v1.99.1(http://aumha.net/downloads/hijackthis.zip) is the
preferred tool to use. It will help you to both identify and
remove any hijackware/spyware.

**Post your log to http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30,
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html,
http://forums.subratam.org/index.php?showforum=7, or other
appropriate forums for expert analysis, not here.**


Thanks again,

Greg


"GO" <aa533@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ODZalXL9HHA.4612@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hello,

I'm using OE6 to access the MS Usenet groups (primarily MS's
own servers, news.microsoft.com) and this is the second time
this problem has occurred so I'm hoping I can find some help.
When I "opened" the newsgroup (vista.general) it seems to
have ignored my existing .dbx file and creating
a new listing of all messages (losing all my watched and read
threads). Looking in the message store location
(\D&S\<username>\Local Settings\Application
Data\Identities\{very-long-string}\Microsoft\Outlook
Express) I see that it has made a new .dbx file. So I now
have two: "microsoft.public.windows.vista.general.dbx" and
"microsoft.public.windows.vista.general (1).dbx". I closed
OE and deleted the new, smaller one
(...vista.general(1).dbx) and restarted OE but it didn't
seem to make any difference. The original file is still
there but the message listing is brand new, and it did not
make a new file this time around. All other newsgroups I
read are fine and have not experienced this problem. Is
there something that would trigger this into happening? Is
there any way I can get OE to read the contents of the old
.dbx? I'm assuming the contents are still there as the file
is close to 20MB. I've been using OE for Usenet for years
and have never experienced this before, other than now and
about a month ago.


TIA,


Greg





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