neatnettricks

[stiffy]

Using OE6 (6.00.2900.5512) and Windows XP Professional Service pack3. As of a couple of days ago, I cannot delete some email messages. Not all - most delete just fine. Others, mostly with attachments or embedded pix will not delete. I removed several messages from my deleted folder and that solved the problem, but now that doesn't help. I emptied my deleted items folder entirely, but still have messages I can't delete. This has now affected my inbox and sent folders. Any ideas would be appreciated.

[drcard]

Hi stiffy,

You have corrupt folders in OE.

First Open OE and select Tools>Options>Maintenance tab. Select Store Folder button. This will show the PATH (address on the HDD) where OE stores its files...usually this is a long address to the logged on user's settings. You may have to activate the I beam cursor in the location window and use the right arrow to see the entire path. I find it easiest to highlight the PATH and paste into a text document. The key is to know where these files are stored so you can find them in Explorer.

Now move any e-mail that you want to keep from the Inbox, Outbox, Sent Items, and Deleted Items. You can create folders to move them to.

Close OE.

Use Explorer to go to the OE storage Folder. Explorer must be configured to show hidden and system files. You will find files with the .dbx extension. You will see a file for each folder that you have in OE. For example if you have a folder in OE named Aunt Betty then you will find a AuntBetty.dbx file. That file will have all the emails you have in that Aunt Betty folder compressed into that one file. Look the files over. Look to see if you have any files with the same exact name but with (2) following the name. If so let me know as this could be the cause of the corruption.

Now delete Inbox.dbx, Outbox.dbx, SentItems.dbx, and Deleted Items.dbx. Any e-mail left in the folders will be deleted too.

When you open OE it will create new files and hopefully without any corruption.

HTH, Dana:))

[stiffy]

Thanks for the reply - I'm just back from 2 weeks travel, so will give this a try once I get caught up on work stuff. I'll let you know if it works. Thanks a bunch.

[stiffy]

THANK YOU!! Worked like a charm - thanks very much for the info. Easy and effective. Much obliged.

Stiffy

[drcard]

Hi Stiffy,

Your welcome. If it starts to occur on a frequent level, let us know. This is a common side effect of the OE folder being too large (too many emails). There are ways to keep OE lean and fast while keeping your emails readily available. When you notice that it takes longer and longer for OE to open, then it's time to clean it out before problems occur and emails are lost.

HTH, Dana:))

[stiffy]

Well, the same thing happened again, and I fixed it following the intructions given above again, and solved the problem (again). I suspect I may not be clearing the 'Deleted' folder frequently enough as both times the folder was full. I think I've learned my lesson and hope to not experience the same issue in the future. Thanks once more for the solution.

[drcard]

Hi stiffy,

This will help in the short haul:

Open OE
Select Tools>OptionsSelect Maintenance tab
Under Cleaning up Messages
Check Empty messages from "Deleted Items" folder on exit.
Click OK and close.

This will empty that folder each time you close OE.

Open OE and in left pane (called Folders) click Local Folders. This is a list of folders (in right pane) that are in OE and how many emails each folder contains. If the total of these messages in all folders passes 500-750 emails, then OE is getting to full. The exactly number depends on how large these messages are. Large means how much graphics are they holding.

Cleaning OE does not mean you have to get rid of the emails. It means you need to store them somewhere else and not in the OE storage folder. There are many ways to clean OE. I think the easiest way is using DBXtract. The current version (5.01) costs $14.00 and is at the following link:

http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtract/

Version 4.5 does a fine job for cleaning purposes and is free at this link:

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,23383-order,1-page,1-c,alldownloads/description.html

DBXtract will extract the emails from an OE folder and put them in the folder you desire. Each e-mail will be in eml format and can be opened and viewed anytime with or without OE being open. After the emails have been extracted you can open OE and delete those emails, thus cleaning OE out. The emails are no longer in the OE storage folder, but you still have them.

If you decide to do this let me know and I'll give step by step instructions on how to do this using DBXtract.

HTH, Dana:))

[stiffy]

Thanks once again for the advice - I'm sure I'm not the only one with similar problems. I think I'll clean everything manually - I don't save an awful lot so cleaning isn't difficult. Thanks once again,

Stiffy