Outlook Express wants to compres my mail

  • Thread starter Thread starter Wim C. Timmer
  • Start date Start date
W

Wim C. Timmer

Every 2 or 3 minutes Outlook Express opens a window to tell
me that
compressing e-mail results in more space on my harddisc.
I know that.
I know where I can start compressing, but how can I switch
off compressing?
Or how can I switch off that annoying message?
 
Wim said:
Every 2 or 3 minutes Outlook Express opens a window to tell
me that compressing e-mail results in more space on my
harddisc.

I know that.

I know where I can start compressing, but how can I switch
off compressing?

Or how can I switch off that annoying message?
Click to expand...

You cannot.

If you could, you would (at some point) lose data *if* you utilize Outlook
Express (and you must - or you wouldn't be asking this question.)

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/community/columns/filecorruption.mspx

Now is a great time to point you to one of the easiest ways to find
information on problems you may be having and solutions others have found:

Search using Google!
http://www.google.com/
(How-to: http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/basics.html )

For example - did you perform a Google search before asking this question?

Using your words:
compress "Outlook Express" switch off
http://www.google.com/search?q=compress+"Outlook+Express"+switch+off

Essentially - however - the answer remains the same.

You don't and you wouldn't wantr to.

Compress (in Outlook Express) every so often and feel confident your data is
better off for it.
 
Wim

Outlook Express normally generates that message after you have opened and
closed Outlook Express 100 times. It will continue to press for you to allow
it to happen until you allow it to happen. The worst thing you can do is
interupt the process once it has started as that leads to folder corruption
and loss of messages.

The best solution is to incorporate it into your routine house keeping
procedure. Set out below is the way to manually compact before you have
opened and closed Outlook Express 100 times.

In Outlook Express place the cursor on Local Folders and select File,
Work Offline followed by File, Folder, Compact All. Do not attempt to
interupt or stop the process until it has completed. Close Outlook
Express when it has completed. This will stop the problem for a while
until you have closed Outlook Express 100 times.

After compacting check your Outlook Express folders are as they should
be. Then select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk
CleanUp to Empty your Recycle Bin and Remove Temporary Internet Files.
Also select Start, All Programs, accessories, System Tools, Disk
CleanUp, More Options, System Restore and remove all but the latest
System Restore point. Run Disk Defragmenter.


--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
[Crossposted to OE General]

You can't turn it off and you don't want to.

Why does OE insist on compacting folders when I close it?:
http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/why.htm#compact

About File Corruption:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/community/columns/filecorruption.mspx

Compacting your folders periodically is a must to keep OE functioning well
and at some point, you may lose all your saved messages if you don't. When
you delete, or move messages, the space they had used remains until you
compact.

***Never touch anything until the compacting is finished.***

See:
www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#2

With SP2, automatic background compacting was removed due to problems it
caused. Now you will get a prompt to compact after 100 OE closings, which
you should do, and don't touch anything until it has finished. If you
compact manually, at your convenience, this will also set the counter back
to zero. See this for more information:
http://www.insideoe.com/files/maintain.htm#compact

If you are fully patched, you will also now see a copy of your dbx files
being copied to the Recycle Bin as BAK files. Should something go awry when
compacting, the messages can easily be restored from this backup. A manual
compact will also reset the counter in the registry back to zero now.

For more info, see the information outlined in red here:
www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#2

To keep things running smooth, and for faster compacting:

Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually become
corrupt and you may lose mail. 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.

And backup often.

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB Freeware)
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
 
On rare occasions OE compression results in corrupted
email folders (.dbx files). So I would suggest the following.

I use a simple utility to backup my OE folders/messages
prior to compacting them. This way if the compress process
should fail you will have a complete set of good .dbx files
to recover from.

A simple utility named SyncToy to backup your messages:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...36-98e0-4ee9-a7c5-98d0592d8c52&displaylang=en

Just create a new folder on your hard drive and configure
SyncToy to backup (Left to Right with Right being the new
folder you created). Choose SyncToy's "Contribute" option
to perform the backup.

The current/default location of your Outlook Express files are:
C:\Documents and Settings\YouAccountName\Local Settings\Application
Data\Identities\{XXX-XXX-XXX-XXX-XX.......}\Microsoft\Outlook Express

Just remember to run a SyncToy backup prior to compacting!
 
JS

Using SyncToy the way you are doesn't that merely duplicate what OE does
when it places a bak file in the Recycle Bin?


--


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Yes and no, the compacting process is performed
one folder at a time until all your mail and newsgroup
folders have been compacted.

If during this process if OE should hiccup I would expect
that one or more .dbx files would be missing from the
Recycle Bin. By checking the time stamp of the .dbx files
in the Recycle Bin, the file with the most recent time stamp
would be the one that either caused OE to fail or was
the one currently being compacted when the problem occurred.
 
JS

OE creates the bak file before starting to compact the existing file.

--


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
That basically what I said.

The most recent .dbx file in the Recycle Bin would
be the folder currently being compacted. Sorry if
I my previous post was confusing or unclear.

If you about half way through the compacting process
for say 20 OE folders when the problem occurs
then 10 .dbx files will be in the Recycle Bin and
#11 through #20 will not.
 
Js

But the originals #11 through #20 will still be in their original place and
uncorrupted! You replace the single corrupted folder with the one in the
Recycle Bin.

--


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
That's true, but #11 may be corrupted and possibly the
cause of the problem. But how many people know like
you mentioned how to track down the problem and restore
the files from the recycle bin.
 
Back
Top