Sporadically don't receive e-mail in Netscape 7.1

Sometimes, when I want to open the e-mail, it doesn't open - the inbox folder is blank (even though I know there are messages there) and it looks like it's trying to receive new messages, but they're not getting through (the hourglass appears but nothing happens). If I go to other e-mail folders, they all show the messages I previously stored there.

If I then close Netscape, and open it again, and go to e-mail again, everything seems fine - my inbox is normal, and new messages are received.

This phenomenon started a couple of months ago. At first, it seemed to happen about once a week, but lately it's been happening almost every day. Does anyone know what the problem is? I just have the feeling that it's going to start happening more and more often.

 

xelaw,

Here are two workarounds which may fix your problem. Try them one at a time:

Close Netscape and Quick Launch
Open Windows Explorer and navigate to your Mail Account folder
<path>/Application Data/Mozilla/Profiles/profilename/xxxxxxxx.slt/Mail/mail.accountname.net
Delete the Inbox MSF file. Don't delete the file without the MSF extension, as it contains your mail.
Now open Netscape, and see if your Inbox is working as it should.

If the above didn't work:
Close Netscape and Quick Launch
Rename the Inbox file with no MSF extension, e.g., BadInbox. Netscape will recreate the Inbox when reopened. If the newly created Inbox works as it should then you can move the mail from the renamed Inbox into the newly created Inbox.

Do you have a large inbox, i.e., several MB? If so, transfer some of that Mail into an archive folder(s). The Inbox is not intended for archiving mail, and you risk losing mail if you allow the size to become too large.

Let us know if you continue to have problems.

Ramona

 

Ramona, thanks for your quick reply. I know I can always count on you.

As I said in my post, the problem is sporadic (but its frequency is increasing), so it doesn't occur every time, and this morning, things were OK (I received the notice of your reply).

I try to keep the inbox limited, and either delete messages or transfer them to other folders. The mesages that remain in my inbox are those that still requirereplies, or are there to remind me of something.

I will try your first fix later today, but I probably won't tell you that it worked until about a week passes without seeing the problem.

 

Ramona, I tried your fixes, and I haven't seen the problem since then. Thanks.

However, I noticed something interesting. I noticed that my inbox file was about 3 MB, which was surprising, since I try to keep my inbox sparse. Then I realized that I hadn't done any folder compacting for a while, probably not since I installed Netscape 7.1. After I compacted, it was less than 100 KB. Is it possible that my problem was because of an overly large inbox file? In any case, I'm now compacting folders regularly.

 

Hi Xelaw,

I would say that either the MSF file, or the Inbox itself was corrupt. However, compacting always helps, and should be done frequently.

Glad that you're able to receive your mail regularly now.

Ramona