Lost messages in a Netscape Mail 7.0 subfolder

Cesar Maciel · 2nd February 2007

Hi everybody! Yesterday I was composing a message on Netscape Mail 7.0 when the program suddenly started "updating" one of its subfolders. In a matter of seconds the number of unread messages within this subfolder almost doubled, without any reason for that. When I checked out the subfolder, I realized that all my messages between December 2005 and January 2007 were missing! For some strange reason the number of unread messages seems to have doubled, while a whole year worth of messages simply disappeared (only in that specific subfolder - the other folders are OK). Does anyone know if this is some kind of bug? Is there any way to recover the missing messages?

By the way, my OS is Windows XP SP-1 and I've been using Netscape 7.0 since 2002. Although I already had some minor problems with this program, this is the first time that I lose so many messages in such a mysterious and selective way. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

**Westside** · 2nd February 2007

I have never heard of the cause of your problem, but the effect is not unknown. Please refer to thetop part of this link, referring to WinXP . Close Netscape. Go to your mail account in Windows Explorer.. You will see pairs of files. One with no extention, and a matching one with the .msf extention. Delete the .msf file corresponding to your subfolder. The file with no extention contains your mail, while that with the .msf extention is the header file, which can get corrupted.
Make sure that you don't have any file of sizes approaching 1 GB. Also, make sure that all folders are compacted.

Cesar Maciel · 3rd February 2007

It worked!! Thanks a lot, Westside!

By the way, why shouldn't the folders be bigger than 1 Gb? Does it cause folder/file corruption?

**Ramona** · 3rd February 2007

Cesar,

I know that Westside will answer you in due time. In the meantime let me refer you to this Solutions page, which will give you some tips on maintaining your browser, including mail & newsgroups:
Preventive Browser Maintenance.

The Inbox is not intended for archiving mail, and you're risking losing all your messages if allowed to grow to a size larger than Westside recommended. You might also be interested in archiving your Mail to CD, which will allow you to read, edit, and answer the archived messages: Archive & Access Mail on CD.

**Westside** · 3rd February 2007

Whatever Ramona said is correct. Why keep all e-mail in one folder, when it can be stored in a number of smaller folders. I placed the limit at 1GB, but I heard of problems with smaller Inbox files. I don't know the reason, except that problems do occur with large files. Probably the .msf, the header files may tend to be corrupted if too large.

Cesar Maciel · 5th February 2007

Ramona and Westside, thank you very much for the precious tips! My Inbox has around 1 Gb, but, since it's divided into many subfolders, I never thought this could be a problem. Now I know it can!

**Westside** · 5th February 2007

There should be no problem as long as the subfolders are not huge. I edon't know what is the limit, but the subfolders should stay the way they are, since they are not actively receiving any new mail. I have six folders of the Inbox, which I would say are subfolders, and I compact all of them, especially after deleting any mail.
But, I save very little mail, so I don't have practical experience in situations like yours.