Outlook Express continues to download the same messages from my ISP server

As noted in the Windows XP forum, one of my computers is down with a Windows XP problem. So I attempted to move to another computer. I moved all my .dbx files to the other computer, set up a new version of Outlook Express on it, and prepared to get some work done again.

But now the new version of Outlook Express will not stop downloading all the email that is kept on my ISP server. I let it do that once, and it spent four hours downloading all 7,000+ messages. Then I deleted them all, since I have them archived in another folder.

Then I tried to send a new email I had just drafted. Outlook Express took that as an invitation to again start downloading all 7,000+ messages again.

Any way to get Outlook Express to realize that it has already downloaded these messages?

Thanks.

 

Until you finish downloading them from the server I don't think so. Go directly to your ISP and use their web mail feature and delete them from there. Then you should be OK. Who is your ISP? Usually if you go to Google and type in ISP name (cox web mail or who ever you use) you can log in that way.

 

Thank you for the suggestions. One thing I did not mention was that I wanted to leave the messages on the server. That has been a good backup, now that my ISP (SBC Yahoo) now gives me 2 GB of storage.

So while deleting the messages on the server may have solved the problem, I did not want to take that option. Turns out that after two days of downloading 7,000+ messages three times, Outlook Express apparently decided it has had enough. Without me doing anything, it has stopped downloading the old messages, and now just downloads the new. The problem has solved itself.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

 

Well that's embarrassing. I just deleted all 7,000+ from my ISP. I had the "Leave all messages on server" box checked, but also the "delete messages when deleted from Deleted Items box" box.

As mentioned, I had three copies of the messages that downloaded. When Outlook Express finally stopped downloading them, I deleted them all, but left them in the Deleted Items box. Thinking then that I could safely delete them, I did so. When I did that, they also vanished from the server.

Real smart, eh? Oh well, live and learn.