Inbox contents simply vanished
 

In OE 6, Windows 98, the entire contents of the Inbox just vanished after
restarting computer. There were about 4 weeks of e-mail in there.

Other folders do not seem to be affected.

I looked in the Outlook Express folder on my hard drive, and the Inbox file
at this address:

C:\WINDOWS\Application
Data\Identities\{9226D728-E116-11DA-8D61-00045A5FABE0}\Microsoft\Outlook
Express

was down to something like 130 KB, containing just a lot of unreadable code.

I normally move Inbox contents to other folders regularly to keep Inbox from
getting too large.

I've never seen anything like this. The contents of a huge file simply
vanishing.

Inbox contents simply vanished
 

Are there any .dbx files in c:\recycled?

Inbox contents simply vanished
 

C:\Recyled is completely empty.

I use Norton Protected Recyle Bin, and it is also completely empty, which is
odd, because it's been a while since I emptied it.



"Fan924" wrote in message
...
Are there any .dbx files in c:\recycled?

Inbox contents simply vanished
 

Outlook Express can lose folders. Sort you Outlook Express folder by
date. All the file dates should be the same. Any old dates on a .dbx
file is a email folder that it lost track of.

Inbox contents simply vanished
 

Do a search on: inbox.dbx If found, note the location as it may have
gotten moved

--
Regards

Ron Badour
MS MVP 1997 - 2008


"Larry" wrote in message
...
In OE 6, Windows 98, the entire contents of the Inbox just vanished after
restarting computer. There were about 4 weeks of e-mail in there.

Other folders do not seem to be affected.

I looked in the Outlook Express folder on my hard drive, and the Inbox
file
at this address:

C:\WINDOWS\Application
Data\Identities\{9226D728-E116-11DA-8D61-00045A5FABE0}\Microsoft\Outlook
Express

was down to something like 130 KB, containing just a lot of unreadable
code.

I normally move Inbox contents to other folders regularly to keep Inbox
from
getting too large.

I've never seen anything like this. The contents of a huge file simply
vanishing.

Inbox contents simply vanished
 

The folders are all dated today except for a bunch of "Search folder.dbx"
which are very small and cleanup.log which is very amall.


"Fan924" wrote in message
...
Outlook Express can lose folders. Sort you Outlook Express folder by
date. All the file dates should be the same. Any old dates on a .dbx
file is a email folder that it lost track of.

Inbox contents simply vanished
 

There are two inbox.dbx in the present OE folder, they are both very tiny, a
couple of hundred kb. There is one other inbox.dbx in another folder. That
inbox.dbx is of large size around 100 mb, but that's the OE folder of the
previous Identity that I haven't actively used for a couple of years. (I
created the present Identity on the suggestion of a tech support person who
said my main identity had become corrupted.) The old identity is located
he

C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook Express

It's just gone. The inbox with four weeks of e-mail is gone.

Larry



"Ron Badour" wrote in message
...
Do a search on: inbox.dbx If found, note the location as it may have
gotten moved

--
Regards

Ron Badour
MS MVP 1997 - 2008


"Larry" wrote in message
...
In OE 6, Windows 98, the entire contents of the Inbox just vanished
after
restarting computer. There were about 4 weeks of e-mail in there.

Other folders do not seem to be affected.

I looked in the Outlook Express folder on my hard drive, and the Inbox
file
at this address:

C:\WINDOWS\Application
Data\Identities\{9226D728-E116-11DA-8D61-00045A5FABE0}\Microsoft\Outlook
Express

was down to something like 130 KB, containing just a lot of unreadable
code.

I normally move Inbox contents to other folders regularly to keep Inbox
from
getting too large.

I've never seen anything like this. The contents of a huge file simply
vanishing.

Inbox contents simply vanished
 

While in the Inbox, View | Current View. Is Show All Messages checked and
nothing else?

If that is the case, and the Inbox.dbx file is empty, (130KB is essentially
empty), In Tools | Options | Maintenance, is: Compact messages in background
checked? If so, OE was probably compacting the message store when you shut
OE down, causing the loss of messages. (Why this option was removed with
XP?SP2).

Should this be the case, DBXpress run in Extract From Disk Mode has the best
chance to recover messages:
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx


General precautions for Outlook Express:

Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually become
corrupt. Create your own user defined folders for storing mail and move your
mail to them. Empty Deleted Items folder regularly. Keep user created
folders under 100MB, and Default folders as empty as is feasible.

After you are done, follow up by compacting your folders manually while
working *offline* and do it often.

Click on Outlook Express at the top of the folder tree so no folders are
open. Then: File | Work Offline (or double click Working Online in the
Status Bar). File | Folder | Compact all folders. Don't touch anything until
the compacting is completed.

Turn off e-mail scanning in your anti-virus program. It is a redundant layer
of protection that eats up CPUs and causes a multitude of problems such as
time-outs and account setting changes. Your up-to-date A/V program will
continue to protect you sufficiently. For more, see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3

In Tools | Options | Maintenance: Uncheck Compact messages in background and
leave it unchecked. {N/A if running XP/SP2}.

And backup often.

Backup & Resto
http://www.insideoe.com/backup/

This is a great two click program:

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB)
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA


"Larry" wrote in message
...
In OE 6, Windows 98, the entire contents of the Inbox just vanished after
restarting computer. There were about 4 weeks of e-mail in there.

Other folders do not seem to be affected.

I looked in the Outlook Express folder on my hard drive, and the Inbox
file
at this address:

C:\WINDOWS\Application
Data\Identities\{9226D728-E116-11DA-8D61-00045A5FABE0}\Microsoft\Outlook
Express

was down to something like 130 KB, containing just a lot of unreadable
code.

I normally move Inbox contents to other folders regularly to keep Inbox
from
getting too large.

I've never seen anything like this. The contents of a huge file simply
vanishing.

Inbox contents simply vanished
 

Yes, Show All Messages is checked and nothing else is checked.

The way this happened was: my computer froze last night and I restarted it
by pressing the external restart button on the tower, which I regularly do
when the computer freezes, which happens fairly frequently (Win 98!). But
there was no compacting of OE going on at the time.

And yes, I regularly follow all those steps for OE maintenance. I allow up
to a month of messages in Inbox and Sent box, keeping older messages in my
own custom folders.

But it's still a mystery how this happened. I have never had a saved file
on the hard drive simply become empty. Could it indicate a hard drive
failure?

Larry




"Bruce Hagen" wrote in message
...
While in the Inbox, View | Current View. Is Show All Messages checked and
nothing else?

If that is the case, and the Inbox.dbx file is empty, (130KB is
essentially
empty), In Tools | Options | Maintenance, is: Compact messages in
background
checked? If so, OE was probably compacting the message store when you shut
OE down, causing the loss of messages. (Why this option was removed with
XP?SP2).

Should this be the case, DBXpress run in Extract From Disk Mode has the
best
chance to recover messages:
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx


General precautions for Outlook Express:

Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually become
corrupt. Create your own user defined folders for storing mail and move
your
mail to them. Empty Deleted Items folder regularly. Keep user created
folders under 100MB, and Default folders as empty as is feasible.

After you are done, follow up by compacting your folders manually while
working *offline* and do it often.

Click on Outlook Express at the top of the folder tree so no folders are
open. Then: File | Work Offline (or double click Working Online in the
Status Bar). File | Folder | Compact all folders. Don't touch anything
until
the compacting is completed.

Turn off e-mail scanning in your anti-virus program. It is a redundant
layer
of protection that eats up CPUs and causes a multitude of problems such as
time-outs and account setting changes. Your up-to-date A/V program will
continue to protect you sufficiently. For more, see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3

In Tools | Options | Maintenance: Uncheck Compact messages in background
and
leave it unchecked. {N/A if running XP/SP2}.

And backup often.

Backup & Resto
http://www.insideoe.com/backup/

This is a great two click program:

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB)
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA


"Larry" wrote in message
...
In OE 6, Windows 98, the entire contents of the Inbox just vanished
after
restarting computer. There were about 4 weeks of e-mail in there.

Other folders do not seem to be affected.

I looked in the Outlook Express folder on my hard drive, and the Inbox
file
at this address:

C:\WINDOWS\Application
Data\Identities\{9226D728-E116-11DA-8D61-00045A5FABE0}\Microsoft\Outlook
Express

was down to something like 130 KB, containing just a lot of unreadable
code.

I normally move Inbox contents to other folders regularly to keep Inbox
from
getting too large.

I've never seen anything like this. The contents of a huge file simply
vanishing.

Inbox contents simply vanished
 

If background compacting was not checked, how often do you compact manually?
Moving or deleting messages does not retrieve wasted space until you
compact.

Bloated folders and interrupting compacting are the two most common reasons
for losing messages, but other things can cause it as well, such as e-mail
scanning.

Bottom line is that you should backup OE daily if you value your messages.

At this point, the reason is moot. If you are sure background compacting was
not involved, then any of these programs may retrieve your messages.

Macallan Outlook Express Extraction:
http://www.insideoe.com/resources/tools.htm#macallan

DBXtract:
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtract/Default.aspx

DBXpress: {much faster for large files}
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA


"Larry" wrote in message
...
Yes, Show All Messages is checked and nothing else is checked.

The way this happened was: my computer froze last night and I restarted
it
by pressing the external restart button on the tower, which I regularly do
when the computer freezes, which happens fairly frequently (Win 98!). But
there was no compacting of OE going on at the time.

And yes, I regularly follow all those steps for OE maintenance. I allow
up
to a month of messages in Inbox and Sent box, keeping older messages in my
own custom folders.

But it's still a mystery how this happened. I have never had a saved file
on the hard drive simply become empty. Could it indicate a hard drive
failure?

Larry




"Bruce Hagen" wrote in message
...
While in the Inbox, View | Current View. Is Show All Messages checked and
nothing else?

If that is the case, and the Inbox.dbx file is empty, (130KB is
essentially
empty), In Tools | Options | Maintenance, is: Compact messages in
background
checked? If so, OE was probably compacting the message store when you
shut
OE down, causing the loss of messages. (Why this option was removed with
XP?SP2).

Should this be the case, DBXpress run in Extract From Disk Mode has the
best
chance to recover messages:
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx


General precautions for Outlook Express:

Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually become
corrupt. Create your own user defined folders for storing mail and move
your
mail to them. Empty Deleted Items folder regularly. Keep user created
folders under 100MB, and Default folders as empty as is feasible.

After you are done, follow up by compacting your folders manually while
working *offline* and do it often.

Click on Outlook Express at the top of the folder tree so no folders are
open. Then: File | Work Offline (or double click Working Online in the
Status Bar). File | Folder | Compact all folders. Don't touch anything
until
the compacting is completed.

Turn off e-mail scanning in your anti-virus program. It is a redundant
layer
of protection that eats up CPUs and causes a multitude of problems such
as
time-outs and account setting changes. Your up-to-date A/V program will
continue to protect you sufficiently. For more, see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3

In Tools | Options | Maintenance: Uncheck Compact messages in background
and
leave it unchecked. {N/A if running XP/SP2}.

And backup often.

Backup & Resto
http://www.insideoe.com/backup/

This is a great two click program:

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB)
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA


"Larry" wrote in message
...
In OE 6, Windows 98, the entire contents of the Inbox just vanished
after
restarting computer. There were about 4 weeks of e-mail in there.

Other folders do not seem to be affected.

I looked in the Outlook Express folder on my hard drive, and the Inbox
file
at this address:

C:\WINDOWS\Application
Data\Identities\{9226D728-E116-11DA-8D61-00045A5FABE0}\Microsoft\Outlook
Express

was down to something like 130 KB, containing just a lot of unreadable
code.

I normally move Inbox contents to other folders regularly to keep Inbox
from
getting too large.

I've never seen anything like this. The contents of a huge file simply
vanishing.