Netscape 7.0 Inbox Problem

Today while downloading several messages, I noticed that several of the new ones did not display anything in the message body. Soon, I noticeed that most of my messages in my Inbox were no longer accessable. I can see that they are there but I can't delete or view any of the contents. I tried to save one of the problem messages and I get a message "Unable to save the message. Please check your file name and try again later." This has onnly affected my Inbox and none of the other folders. I have tried rebooting, and forwarding the messages which are recieved with nothing in them. I scanned for viruses etc with negative results. Any new incoming messages can be read normally. Please help.

 

Welcome to the Forum, RJ3301!

RJ3301,

Can you read the messages when you open the Inbox file on your HD? Close Netscape, and then navigate to your mail account folder located here:

Windows 2000/Windows XP
C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\profilename\*.slt\Mail\pop.yourisp.net

NOTE: These files are hidden by default.
To see hidden files:
1. On the Tools menu in Windows Explorer, click Folder Options
2. Click the View tab
3. Under Hidden files and folders, click Show hidden files and folders
4. Disable "Hide File Extensions for Known Files. "
5. Click OK.

Windows 95/98/ME
C:\Windows\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\profilename\*.slt\Mail\pop.isp.net

If you can read your messages in the Inbox file, with no MSF extension, then your Mail is intact. Try this workaround first:

With Netscape and Quick Launch closed:
Delete the Inbox.msf file only. The Inbox file, with no extension, contains the Mail.

Start Netscape and see if your messages are now viewable.

Do you have a large Inbox, i.e., how many MB contained in the Inbox file?

Ramona

 

Ramona,
Thank you very much for your reply. I had approximalteyl 2900 messages in my inbox folder. I opened it in wordpad and found a few headers and a ton of jibberish. I deleted the .msf file and upon opening my inbox only had 31 messages in it. I tried to restore the same msf file but it did not bring back any of the messages. My inbox file still reads as having 42mb inside but it only displays the 31 messages.

 

RJ,

Do you have more than one Mail Account?

 

There are two profiles for mail accounts. One is mine, the other my wife's.

 

A large Inbox, and few messages means that a lot of messages were deleted, and the Inbox was, probably, never compacted, leaving the deleting message still attached to the Inbox.
My question is, did you really have 2900 messages? The size is easily explained.
I used to receive messages with nothing in the body, and those were abortive spam. You can always look at View|Message source to see if there is really nothing in the message or not. Have you tried to send yourself a message? If you enter, at least, a minimal message, you should know where you stand.
So, unless you were able to read the invisible message, in the past, and can't now, I suggest that you clean up what appears to be a mess.

 

I really had that many. I always deleted spam messages and being a member of a dozen of so list servs I was always behind on moving messages I wanted into various other folders. Any tips on what I need or can do would be appreciated.

 

I think that you have tried everything. You differ from what I do, in having, apparently, your mail in only one location. My primary account is set up in four programs related to Netscape, and also Outlook Express. The probability that one of these accounts is affected the same as another is next to zero, and, I always have OE as a wild card.
To me more than the fact some e-mails have no body, the most important thing is find out what they are like in a "tie-breaker" location. Even in your case you must be able to access your mail at your ISP website. Now you will know what the mail is like. Of course, since your concern appears to be about older mail, you may not see on your Webmail any more than you do now.

 

Might this be a good time to upgarde to TB? Is Netscape 7.0 still a viable email program or is it risky to continue to use? If I tried to convert over and lost the info in my other folders, now that would truely be a disaster. I def will not let my Inbox grow to such size again but it would be nice to try to recover some of the old mail but it seems like it is gone for good. Once I deleted that MSFfile is when everything was gone.

 

RJ,

Deleting the MSF file didn't have anything to do with losing your Mail. In fact, if nothing else was wrong, it would have aided in recovering the Mail. The MSF is an index file which contains the header information. The MSF is rebuilt on reopening the Mail & Newsgroups, and usually lends to a smoother running Mail client.

As Westside stated, if you can't read the blank messages in the View | Message Source option, then nothing is there. If you have done a thorough search of your HD, and have no backup, then your Mail is gone.

I would definitely upgrade to Firefox and Thunderbird. They are both due a new Release in the near future, so you might wish to wait for that, as they will be a minor security upgrade. Watch this Forum as the update will be posted.

In the meantime, get into the habit of backing up your Profile frequently, especially if you receive that amount of mail. Also, I would suggest organizing the Mail in subfolders, as the Inbox is not intended for archiving. Take a look as this guideline for Preventive Browser Maintenance.

Ramona