Outlook Express corrupted?

I am Grannylee who spends a lot of time reading my emails on Outlook Express. On Mar 16, suddenly all messages in inbox disappeared, I could not receive new emails; connection to my printer disappeared. Today, I spent over 4 hours on the telephone with support of att.yahoo; the final conclusion was that Outlook Express was corrupt. This is the error message that I receive when I attempt to receive email:
" " "An unknown error has occurred. Account: 'pop.att.yahoo.com', Server: 'pop.att.yahoo.com', Protocol: POP3, Port: 995, Secure(SSL): Yes, Error Number: 0x800C0133" " "
How do I find and solve the problem???? I have a custom built computer with Windows 2000 Pro; MS Office XP; MS Outlook & Internet Explorer/Outlook Express 6

 

No guarantee but this may work:
Go to Start > Search and type FOLDERS.DBX (for clarity only), Right click on the file > Rename and type FOLDERS.OLD, click OK. If it’s "˜read only’, go to Properties and uncheck it.

Now restart Outlook Express and a new folders.dbx file will be recreated automatically.

 

Thank You, BurrWalnut - I attempted the suggestion, however, the file could not be found. Grannylee

 

It's a hidden folder, so include that in the search.

 

Followed your instructions exactly. Worked perfectly. One problem.
I have now lost ALL my folders. Are they gone forever or can I retreve them.
Please help if you can.
Thanks,
J T

 

Did you have the same corruption as the original poster?

Have you searched for inbox.dbx or inbox.bak, they will be hidden files?

 

Not exactly.
I could not receive emails but I could send.
I could not delete anything on my email account using several differant methods.

I have not searched for either file yet.
What would I do when I find them??
Thanks,
JT

 

What does "˜could not delete anything’ mean?

If neither of them are present, you have lost all your incoming mail!

 

Nothing would delete using the delete button nor by right clicking/delete nor by using edit/delete nor by using shift/delete.
Nothing worked..
Just checked C:\---- and under - A91D0D90-524A-46F6-9349-ODB2---ALL THAT IS THERE IS Drafts.dbx; Folders.dbx; Offline.dbx; Outbox.dbx; Sent Items.dbx

There is a inbox.dbx under---BOEC260E-9CED-4103-B298-300EC AND
under---DFF16927-88E6-4EAA-AO97-460B7

I could find no inbox.bak anywhere.

Anything else?

Thanks again,
JT

 

I’m finding it very difficult to get any information out of you, e.g. I still don’t know if you have been trying to delete messages, accounts or contacts.

Anyway, I‘m not going to pursue it. This is all I can offer you:
1. You need to find, and make a note of the location of, the largest INBOX.DBX and SENT ITEMS.DBX (capitals for clarity only) as these are probably the historical ones you want. The dates of these will also give you a clue as to whether they are the correct ones.
2. Once found, make sure Outlook Express is closed and in Explorer navigate to the Store Folder (probably C:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\long name\Microsoft\Outlook Express) and copy the two mail boxes you identified in 1 above, to it. Note: Any mail in these two boxes will be overwritten.

 

O.e.

Sorry, I didn't mean to be difficult. The answer is messages, I could not delete any messages. I could not download any messages to my O.E.account either. I had to go to my web account to read and delete them. Sorry again.
Will try what you suggested shortly.
Thanks again,
JT

 

I have read all of the posts that appear in Outlook Express corrupted? and have attempted to do all that BurrWalnut suggested without any success. I am sure I do not understand all of the steps. When doing the search, how or where do you specify 'show hidden files'? grannylee

 

Start/Search/All files and folders, type in what you are looking for in the first box Click on More advanced Options and the first 3 should have a check in them, then click Search.

 

Thank you, MrBill

I found inbox.dbx, now what do I do? I attempted to open it with Word and note pad so no avail. What is the next step to recovering inbox and repairing Outlook Express? grannylee

 

If you delete the inbox, it will be rebuilt the next time you open OE up. Is there anything in there that you need or are you like me and it is mostly just junk and jokes from friends?
Do you have an XP CD? If so, do the following. You may or may not need it. Probably will.
1. Click Start, click Run type sfc /scannow, and then press ENTER. (note the space between sfc and the /)
2. Follow the prompts throughout the System File Checker process.
3. Restart the computer when System File Checker process is complete.

 

This thread is really confusing. Grannylee started it and then somebody else jumped in and did not have the same problem. They should have started a different thread with their exact problem.

 

outlook express

MrBill;
I attempted your suggestion and this is the message that popped up: Files that are required to run Windows 2000 SP4 have been replaced by unrecognized versions. To maintain system stability, windows must restore the original version. Please insert Service Pak 4 CD.
I do not have a CD, as I downloaded the upgrade and installed from Internet. Do you think I can just reinstall from my download folder and acomplish the action. (I think I might give it a try)
As for the other poster to this thread - his problem is very similar. Even though messages cannot be downloaded, I can compose or copy and paste emails from site on browser. Pictures are not be received by those I send to, but the messages are received. Grannylee

 

Try this first.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265

Then this if the above doesn't work.
The System File Checker tool gives an administrator the ability to scan all of the protected files to verify their versions. The System File Checker tool also checks and repopulates the %SystemRoot%\System32\Dllcache folder. If the Dllcache folder becomes damaged or unusable, you can use either the sfc /scanonce or sfc /scanboot command to repair the contents of the folder.
This is done from Start/Run and type in what is in RED first or copy and paste it. Notice the space after sfc and before /. Make sure it is that way when you type it in.
Do you have the windows 2K Disc? You may or may not need it.