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One of my folders will not display

Discussion in 'Microsoft Mail (Outlook / OE / Windows Mail)' started by Peter987, 2007/03/17.

  1. 2007/03/17
    Peter987

    Peter987 Inactive Thread Starter

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    I am using Windows XP and Outlook Express.

    I have about 40 folders in Outlook Express. All was working well yesterdy.
    But today, when I look at the folder list down the side of the screen when I'm using Outlook Express, one of my folders is not displaying.

    I have used Start>Search and checked that the 'missing' folder is still on my PC (and is not coded as hidden).

    It is. I found the folder (along with all the other folders that display correctly) when I looked in:

    C:\Documents and Settings\Peter\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{8D32DF8B-D3B8-4783-A0C5-FE37E2FC8659}\Microsoft

    I hope somebody can help! What do you suggest I should do in order to make the 'missing' folder appear again in the Folder List on Outlook Express?

    - Peter
     
    Peter987,
    #1
  2. 2007/03/17
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Peter

    There is a strong possibility that the folder in question is corrupt - Outlook Express behaves strangely when folders or the total size of emails gets too large. Various figures are quoted up to 2 Gb, but I prefer to keep my individual folder sizes below 10 Mb.

    The only suggestion I can offer is to make a backup copy of that folder and use a program such as DBXtract to recover those emails that are recoverable. When done delete the original .dbx file from the location you posted - with OE closed, then open OE and recreate the folder - it will be empty of course.
     
    PeteC,
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  4. 2007/03/17
    Peter987

    Peter987 Inactive Thread Starter

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    PeterC

    You may well be right in saying that it is the folder sizes or the total size of my e-mails that is causing the problems.

    That sounds like bad news!

    1.

    I had a problem recently when the 'sent' file appeared to be corrupt, so I moved all the 'sent' items into other folders, then created a new 'sent file.

    The total size of my e-mails is now about 2.5Gb. The two largest files are about 1.2Gb 0.9Gb and 0.3Gb. The file that is not displaying is about 7Kb.

    I have also had a few e-mails arrive yesterday with what appeared to be incorrect 'sent' dates, including a couple of dates in 2000. This may be part of the same corrupt problem.

    It sounds as if I should try to reduce the overall size of my e-mails as soon as possible. I don't want to lose any, and I frequently refer to the old e-mails. Is there some way that I can retain them (or archive them) so that I will be able to still search and view them? I don't need to be on line when I do that.

    2.

    You mentioned trying to recover the e-mails from the missing file by using a program such as DBXtract. I've never used such a program before, but I'll follow the DBXtract link in your message and give it a try. I hope it will be straightforward. If you have any advice for a new user of such a program, please let me know.

    It might be a good idea if I first await your comments on 1. above becaus I feel I should try to reduce the overall size of my e-mails somehow as soon as possible and prevent anything becoming any more corrupt.

    Thanks:

    - Peter
     
    Peter987,
    #3
  5. 2007/03/17
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Here is some background info on corruption in Outlook Express ...

    The Other E-Mail Threat: File Corruption in Outlook Express

    It is a simple matter to backup and recover Outlook Express data ....

    How to back up and recover Outlook Express data

    but this will not serve your purpose of wishing to archive past emails in a readily readable state as all the above does is backup the .dbx files. I would do it anyway - before following the method outlined below.

    You can backup your emails in a readily accessible state by the following method....

    Create on your hard drive a folder and call it, say, Email

    Within that folder create subfolders which correspond to those in OE

    Open OE and open one of your custom folders

    Select one or all of the emails in that folder and drag them to the appropriate folder in the Email folder you created. The messages will be copied there as .eml files, which, when double clicked, will open up in OE.

    Unfortunately it is not possible to drag the folders from OE, only their contents.

    Once you are satisfied that the emails have been copied to the new folder the contents, all or part, of the OE folder may be deleted.

    When you have completed the exercise close OE and navigate to the OE store folder location
    Code:
    C:\Documents and Settings\Peter\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{8D32DF8B-D3B8-4783-A0C5-FE37E2FC8659}\Microsoft
    and delete Deleted Items.dbx file. This often does not clear itself when the Deleted Items folder is emptied in OE. The folder will be recreated the next time OE is opened.

    I have not had cause to use DBXtract for many moons, but, as I recall it is very straightforward to use.
     
    PeteC,
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  6. 2007/03/17
    Peter987

    Peter987 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Hi PeterC:

    1.

    That looks like really helpful advice, both in the links that you sent and in your own message. I've read everything and now I'm beginning to try it. I'll let you know how I get on.

    2.

    I have begun to follow the advice:

    - I started by creating the new 'email' folder on my hard drive as you suggested, with sub-folders under it.

    - I copied the contents of one of my OE folders (about 5,000 messages = 300Mb) into it.

    - I then tried opening some of the files, and they opened as you said they would in Outlook Express (very quickly in fact!)

    - However so far as I can see, I will be able to sort this sub-folder by date of message, or by name (i.e.what was the title of the message). But I don't think I'll be able to sort the message in this sub-folder by 'from' or 'to' (as I would normally have had them sorted when viewing them through OE).

    - Similarly, I have not found a way to search the messages in this sub-folder using the name of the sender/receiver to see what messages might have been recieved from them or sent to them.

    Am I missing something obvious? I may still decide to transfer most of my messages from OE into the new sub-folders in my e-mail folder nevertheless, in order to avoid any further corruption, but unless I can find a way to sort or search the sub-folders by the name of the sender / receiver it could be very difficult for me to locate specific messages.

    Perhaps I should try also installing the Google Desktop Index. Do you think that would be the best way for me to go?

    Thank for your comments.

    - Peter
     
    Peter987,
    #5
  7. 2007/03/18
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    No - you are transferring the individual email files to a folder - the header information in the emails will only be revealed when opened in OE.

    The only way round that I see is long winded and that is to make subfolders with the sender's name, sort the emails in OE by 'From' and copy them across in batches from one sender to the appropriate folder and so on.

    The Find command in OE is specific to the OE store folders and will not look elsewhere - I tried it :)

    I have no experience of Google Desktop Index, but I would suspect that it would not be helpful - as I noted above the email header information is only revealed in OE.

    Edit .....

    The great thing about this BBS is that problems generate research and we all learn something - I may have found a solution to your problem.

    I copied the contents of my Inbox to a folder on one of my drives and then used FileLocatorPro to search for *.eml files in that folder containing a specific word from an email address - maryclark - my sister whose email address is maryclark**@*******.com - all emails from here were found. I then looked for emails which contained the name Craig - again all were found.

    So this may be the solution you are looking for - we all learn something here :)

    You could try the Windows search engine - I don't use it preferring a more powerful engine.

    AgentRansack is the free version of FileLocatorPro and may do the job too - long time since I last used that. OTH the Google Desktop Index may indeed do the job if it has the ability to search for text in files.

    Second Edit ....

    Windows search engine also found the two examples I tried above, but far too slowly and far less user friendly - try AgentRansack.

    Keep us posted!
     
    PeteC,
    #6
  8. 2007/03/18
    Peter987

    Peter987 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Hi PeterC:

    Thanks for your reply.

    1.

    Your comments are helpful (again) and will encourage me to keep going. I'll let you know how I get on with the Google Desktop search. I've heard that it takes a little time to gather the data from the PC initially, but once that has been done it begins to give very quick responses and is much better than the windows search engine.

    Even if Google does not look in the 'to' or 'from' fields in the e-mails, it may well find the person's name in most cases by just searching the text of the e-mail for that name.

    If Google search works well I will have benefited from what started as a possible serious Outlook Express problem.

    2.

    Good news. The 'missing folder' that vanished from the folder list has appeared again today, complete with its contents. I don't know how that happened!

    It appeared as a sub-folder within the 'input' folder. It wasn't there yesterday. I checked all the folders listed and none of them had sub-folders and I looked in my folder:
    C:\Documents and Settings\Peter\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{8D32DF8B-D3B8-4783-A0C5-FE37E2FC8659}\Microsoft
    and found the 'missing folder' there, but on the same level as the input folder and other folders, not beneath the 'input' folder.

    Still, as I've got the 'missing folder' back, I'll not spend any more time trying to work out how that happened. I've now created a 'new folder' with a new name in the same position as the 'missing folder' used to be. I have moved the e-mails from 'missing folder' into 'new folder' and have deleted 'missing folder' in case there was any corruption in it.


    I'll send you another e-mail within the next couple of days, I hope, to let you know how I get on.

    - Peter
     
    Peter987,
    #7
  9. 2007/03/21
    Peter987

    Peter987 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Hi Peter C (and others!)

    PROGRESS:

    1. I've set up folders on my desktop for e-mails and am transferring my e-mails into them.
    2. I've begun to delete many of the old e-mails in my Outlook Express folders, in the hope that the total size of my e-mails in Outlook Express will come down to well under 2 Gb - but it's a long job!
    3. I hope to install the Google Desktop Search soon.

    I'VE JUST HAD ANOTHER IDEA! IS IT LIKELY TO WORK? See below.

    Is it possible to have 2 copies of Outlook Express on my PC at the same time?

    If 'yes':

    - Could I transfer most of my old e-mails into a copy that I would call Outlook_Express_Old. I would not use this copy for sending or receiving e-mails. I would only use it occasionally (possibly only when working off-line) in order to retrieve and read old e-mails.

    - I believe that there is some way of importing e-mails into Outlook Express, so I might be able to import most of my old e-mails either directly from my current copy of Outlook Express into Outlook_Express_Old, or perhaps I could copy them from a back-up copy of the C:\Documents and Settings\Peter\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{8D32DF8B-D3B8-4783-A0C5-FE37E2FC8659}\Microsoft file that I saved recently.

    - After ensuring that all the appropriate e-mails were in Outlok_Express_Old, I would remove them from my current copy of Outlook Express, and so make the folders in that copy very much smaller.

    - Peter
     
    Peter987,
    #8
  10. 2007/03/21
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    No :) OE is not an independent program, it is integrated with IE and even if it were not the answer remains the same.

    You could install a copy of Outlook though if you have access to it.
     
    PeteC,
    #9
  11. 2007/03/21
    Peter987

    Peter987 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thanks PeterC

    I already have Outllook on my PC as well as Outlook Express, though I've never used Outlook.

    Are you suggesting that I might be able to import a lot of my old e-mails into Outlook, then remove them from Outlook Express? If so, that sounds good. i.e. it would presumably give me a way of searching to find any historic e-mails that I need from time to time. I would hold these on Outlook.

    You mentioned earlier that Outlook Express had a reputation for behaving badly when the total size of e-mails was more than a certain lever, perhaps 2Gb.

    Do you know if Outlook also behaves oddly above a certain level of e-mails?

    Perhaps I could hold about 1.5Gb of my old e-mails in Outlook and about 1Gb of my more recent e-mails in Outlook Express. Do you think that would be likely to work better than what I have now, i.e. about 2.5Gb in Outlook Express?

    - Peter
     
    Peter987,
    #10

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