cannot delete or move message from outbox

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Thanks Gary. When I tried the deletion again and deleted the 'messagestore
in the subfolder of \backup, the regeneration cleared the Outbox and this
user (my wife) is again able to send email.
 
Glad it worked for you. Some users have reported strange
folder anomalies after doing the double MessageStore delete.

Gary VanderMolen
 
I'm having the same problem as Ko Olina and spatelli. I am now having to
telephone people to tell them that I have a bad case of Windows Vista and
that as a result I cannot answer any of my emails. I am advising them not to
get WV.
 
I don't understand how to (safely) try some of the things that have been
suggested here over the previous weeks and months -- and the things I have
tried have not helped. I have been reduced to making phone calls explaining
why I am not anwering my emails. This is not a happy thing.
 
This is a serious issue and for God sake - microsoft team should wake up, why
people waiting to file lawsuits , as that is the only word which can wake
microsoft.
we need solution
fidaali
 
Ok I am having the same problem, did 1st part just fine, but there was only 1
file there, it's been deleted. How do you repair the database? How do you log
in as admin?

Thanks
 
Fidaali said:
This is a serious issue and for God sake - microsoft team should wake up,
why
people waiting to file lawsuits , as that is the only word which can wake
microsoft.
we need solution
Click to expand...

I don't think you'll see a fix from Microsoft any time soon. My current
theory, and it's only a theory, is that an anti-virus is causing the problem
by deleting messages as they are saved to the hard drive even though email
scanning is turned off. My problem appears to have gone away after
switching to Avast.

Have you tried marking the message as read and then deleting it? That's
what I've been doing and so far it has always worked. Other things:

Try repairing the database with WMUtil from www.oehelp.com

There are two copies of WindowsMail.MSMessageStore, One in
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Microsoft\Windows Mail
and one in
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Microsoft\Windows Mail\Backup\New
If you delete both of these the database will be rebuilt. However, while no
messages should be lost, some may be downloaded again and you may lose some
record of which have been read. I recommend that you only do this when they
are causing you trouble, like when they are in the Outbox. Otherwise I now
just mark them as read and ignore them.

If none of those fixes work for you or you're afraid to try them, use a
different program like Thunderbird, which is free.
 
There is currently no patch available for the problem of emails not dispaying
and not allowing you to empty deleted emails or delete them one by one using
the delete command.

I too, received the error code "Message could not be displayed
Outlook Express encountered an unexpected problem while displaying this
message. Check your computer for low memory or low disk space and try again."
I tried several fixes and database repair programs to no avail.


The following process worked for me:

Make sure that Windows Mail is closed when you do the next steps.

Go to the folder C:\users\%your computer name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\ and
copy the “Windows Mail†folder to another place on your hard drive for backup
purposes so you will not lose any important emails.

Go back to the C:\users\%your computer name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows
Mail\ folder and delete ALL of the contents.

WINDOWS MAIL, SINCE IT IS PART OF THE OPERATING SYSTEM WILL REBUILD THE
FILES NEEDED TO RUN.

Open Windows Mail.

In Windows Mail, Go to File-Import-Messages

Select Microsoft Windows Mail 7, select next.

Browse to the location that you save the backup copy of Windows Mail. Then
select OK.

Your messages will then be imported back into Windows Mail.

You will notice a folder that will be called “Recovered Messagesâ€

Now, depending on what folders you had, recreate those under the Local
Folders heading.

Go back to the folders of the messages you recovered, you will notice
messages that were not removable before still there.

THE FOLLOWING WILL TAKE SOME TIME, BUT WILL REPAIR YOUR PROBLEM.

Locate each email that has NO Heading and highlight each one and hit the
delete key, they will be placed into your Deleted Items folder, you must not
go too fast or try to highlight and delete them all at once or you will get
the error message again,.

Once you get to the emails that you want to keep from the Recovered folders,
highlight all the messages by clicking on the first one, holding down the
Ctrl key and selecting the last one.

Right click on the messages you highlighted and click “Move to Folderâ€, then
select the folder you want them moved to.

Once the files have been moved, delete to folder that they were moved from
(Makes it easier to keep track of where you are at.

Then go to your Deleted Items folder, right click and hit Empty “Deleted
Items†Folder.

Hope this helps.

It also helps to change your setting under Tools-Options in the tab of
“Advanced†under “Maintenance†Where the heading of “Cleaning up Messages†is
located, check the box for “Empty messages from the “Deleted Items†Folder on
exit. That way, your emails are removed and hopefully the problem stays gone.

Let me know if it works for you.

John
 
That's why I suggest moving the entire directory contents to another
location. Then they can import the messages from where they moved it.

Otherwise they have issues with the "recovered folders" it seems.

steve
 
Move all the contents of the message store directory to another directory so
that it is completely empty. Then WinMail will start fresh and once it
works, you can import the messages from the directory to which you moved the
files.

steve
 
Move all the contents of the message store directory to another directory so
that it is completely empty. Then WinMail will start fresh and once it
works, you can import the messages from the directory to which you moved the
files.

steve
 
I agree. I am sytill having a problem delketing a message from my outbox. I
have been on the computer for hours trying to get assistance. A TECH
in So. Dakota is to get back to me next week. This is Bill Gates
problem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
First thing is to remove McAfee or Norton AV and antispam from the computer
if they exist. You may need to visit their website to fully uninstall the
product (for Norton see here:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039.
Then get something less invasive. There are a number of free
antivirus programs, but with any you have to disable email scanning. See
www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3

You can also try compacting and repairing the database using my WMUtil
program (www.oehelp.com/WMUtil/).

After that, the only solution so far is to wipe out the database. So go to
Tools | Options | Advanced | Maintenance | Store Folder to find the message
store location. Then move everything under that Windows Mail directory to
another directory, so that the Windows Mail directory is completely empty.
Then restart WinMail and it will open fresh with nothing
in the database. You can then add your accounts and if they work correctly
then you can drag messages from the directory to which you moved the files
back into WinMail.

steve
 
Steve,

I'm not really good at computers. my sent mail is stuck in my outbox and i
don't know why. is there an update from ms coming to fix this problem? why
are so many customers having this problem? I'm trying to use your advice to
fix this but shouldn't i just junk this crappy software?
 
Unfortunately this is a common bug with Windows Mail.
Once you get a 'ghost' email stuck in the Outbox, and
it won't let you send anything, your options are quite limited.
If you don't feel comfortable doing the database deletion/regeneration
method that has been advocated by Steve Cochran, then your
only remaining option is to install and use a different email program
until such time as Microsoft comes out with a fix for WinMail.
Mozilla Thunderbird is free:
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/

Gary VanderMolen
 
I followed this thread all the way through, and tried many times to get the
problem taken care of. With some of the suggestions and several phone calls
to tech support here is what worked for me.
This may be a bit more lengthy than what most people need to do due to the
Vista user problems my version has (I am waiting on a new boot disk as we
speak, I am told my version has a brain of its own). Most people should be
able to go to Computer, C Drive, Users, select their user name, and see the
AppData file from there, and I cannot.

I went to start
in the start search area (just above start) I entered C:\Users\my user
name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Mail (note that Windows Mail must be
written as two separate words)
I clicked on Windows Mail at the top of the list page
I selected WindowsMail.MSMessageStore and pasted a copy in my documents
(just in case)
then deleted the file
I opened the Backup folder
then Opened the New folder
Deleted the WindowsMail.MSMessageStore in this folder
Closed out of everything and then upon opening Windows Mail it restores
itself and also gives you several "restore" folders under the default folders.
I then proceeded to input my emails into the folders by copy and pasting (I
did notice a note online while searching that stated it is not a good idea to
copy and paste several emails at once as this action can cause another
"ghost" email, it also stated that doing anything too fast can cause this
problem.)

I hope this helps. I am more than happy to save anyone and everyone from
having the problems I've had.
CF
 
I, too, cannot send any messages because of an email sitting in my outbox
that is preventing it. I have sifted through your suggestions and have even
tried deleting the mail database file windowsmail.msmessagestore, but my
system keeps recovering it! I am at my wits end and need help with this!
 
Jill said:
I, too, cannot send any messages because of an email sitting in my outbox
that is preventing it. I have sifted through your suggestions and have
even
tried deleting the mail database file windowsmail.msmessagestore, but my
system keeps recovering it! I am at my wits end and need help with this!
Click to expand...

I've seen other people with this problem being recommended
to try repairing the database with the WMUtil tool...

A quote from its web site...
"Occasionally the database becomes corrupted as indicated for example by the
inability of being able to delete messages from various folders. The Windows
Mail database has a built-in repair feature that can sometimes fix such
problems. Windows Mail provides no access to this feature, so clicking on
the Repair button will manually run the repair feature on the database."
http://www.oehelp.com/WMUtil/Default.aspx

It has to be worth a try.
 
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