Mail is stuck in the outbox..

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I ahve an email that is stuck in the outbos and is blocking other mail from
going. I have tried to locate the folder it was in and delete from there but
it's still there. It isn't a pic or vid file just a short brief email.....
 
Krahls said:
I ahve an email that is stuck in the outbos and is blocking other mail from
going. I have tried to locate the folder it was in and delete from there
but
it's still there. It isn't a pic or vid file just a short brief
email.....
Click to expand...

1. 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:

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

3. 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.
 
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 posted here numerous times, then your
only remaining option is to install and use a different email program.
Mozilla Thunderbird is free:
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/

Gary VanderMolen
 
I'd like to thank Frank, Gary, Steve Cochran and everyone who has provided
help on ths issue. I just spent the last hour on the phone guiding my 72
year old Mother through deleting the Mail database files, and although she
did fine and it did fix the problem, this was much more complicated than it
ever should be for a piece of critical consumer software like WinMail.

For what it's worth, the WMUtil prgram doe not appear to be able to repair
the database if the "ghost" email is in the Outbox, the only solution I could
find was deleting the database (both the regular and backup copies) and
starting fresh. Sheesh..amazing that MS has not addressed this yet. Why on
earth would they remove the ability to compact the databases manually?
 
I'm glad you got it working. Its a drastic step to have to do and hopefully
a more surgical approach can be developed.

There is no rationale for some of the things MS does, so there is no point
in asking for one.

steve
 
hitparader said:
I'd like to thank Frank, Gary, Steve Cochran and everyone who has provided
help on ths issue. I just spent the last hour on the phone guiding my 72
year old Mother through deleting the Mail database files, and although she
did fine and it did fix the problem, this was much more complicated than
it
ever should be for a piece of critical consumer software like WinMail.

For what it's worth, the WMUtil prgram doe not appear to be able to repair
the database if the "ghost" email is in the Outbox, the only solution I
could
find was deleting the database (both the regular and backup copies) and
starting fresh. Sheesh..amazing that MS has not addressed this yet. Why
on
earth would they remove the ability to compact the databases manually?
Click to expand...

It is possible to compact manually, by changing the compact frequency
setting from the default 100 closings to 1, close WM, do the compaction and
then return the setting to a more reasonable 10 or so?
WM>tools>options>advanced>maintenance.
 
Please direct me to the most detailed explanation to delete and rebuild the
database. I have been stuck in this situation or three weeks now and as
someone who runs a consultancy from aq home office - I am dead in the water
in conducting business. Thanks
 
hitparader said:
For what it's worth, the WMUtil prgram doe not appear to be able to repair
the database if the "ghost" email is in the Outbox,
Click to expand...

Agreed, this is also what I experienced.
the only solution I could
find was deleting the database (both the regular and backup copies) and
starting fresh.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your feedback. This is the only way we can find out what fixes
work and which ones don't.
 
Delete both copies of WindowsMail.MSMessageStore as I described (While
WinMail is closed)

Or, also while WinMail is closed, move the entire message store to your
Documents folder.

If you do not remove Norton, McAfee or whatever security program that is
causing this it will happen again. I suggest you switch to Thunderbird.
 
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 import messages from the directory to which you moved the files
back into WinMail (see www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx#wm2wm).

steve
 
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