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Resolved Question

Outlook Express not responding in Xp

Jul 12, 2012 12:20AM PDT

Suddenly a couple of days ago, my OE stopped responding. I went on to Verizon Web Mail to check mail, but still can't get anything on OE to open. I've been checking the forums but haven't been able to figure out a solution. Any suggestions? I did find this file DBXC:\Documents and Settings\myname\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{4E3254D7-522A-412A-9296-3F4767B3A2CB}\Microsoft\Outlook Express, but don't know what I can or should do with it. Talked to Microsoft and they wanted $99 to fix it! I don't want to lose all my saved mailbox items.
Running Dell XPS400 SP2. IE is running just fine. Thanks for any help. Peggy

Discussion is locked

peggylenox has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer
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Clarification Request
SP2? Sounds out of date.
Jul 12, 2012 8:33AM PDT

But it does bring up a good question. Why did Microsoft think everyday users would or could keep these OSes up to date?

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Ooops!
Jul 12, 2012 1:11PM PDT

It's SP3! I;ve tried several things, like trying to change all the Outlook Express from "read only" which I read might solve my problem. It didn't. I don't mind changing to another program but don't want to lose all my mail files. Help appreciated. Peggy

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With all due respect...
Jul 12, 2012 1:40PM PDT

Outlook Express is an old an outdated puppy. Your best bet is to move on to a better more efficient solution. My suggestion would be to move on to Thunderbird. If you are wedded to Microsoft solutions try Windows Live Mail. It's all up to you. Staying with your current situation doesn't look good.

FYI, Before you make a move, download all email from your ISP online server dashboard.

Best Answer

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IF you've had mailboxes for OE then search "My Computer" for
Jul 13, 2012 12:05AM PDT

the file name Folders.dbx. Where it resides is the OE mailbox folder -- this being the same location if OE was open, clicking on the tool bar and selecting Tools, Options, Maintenance, Store Folder. In addition, you might want to find and save a copy of your address book to a safe place besides the mailboxes -- it is in a different location. Simply search for *.wab and when the file is found disregard the ".wab" file name ending with a Tildie.

1. The article [Q295965] states that when OE is started the default mail folders or personal subfolders may be missing and can be caused if the "Folders.dbx" file (the Indexer) is damaged or corrupted. To resolve this issue, simply delete this file for the impacted identity.

CAVEAT: The Folders.dbx file also keeps track of Active News Group Subscriptions which are lost when this file is deleted -- you have to set things up again. This does not happen however when using the "Import" method. So, if you don't use these subscriptions simply move on and ignore the warning.

Note: The Folders.dbx file in the Store root categorizes and maintains the default mail Store display when opening OE. When a .DBX file is copied to or over existing files in a mail Store, in lieu of using the Import method, the Folders.dbx file would not of course know anything about this new file since it was never in it's index initially and therefore would not display the file information. It is also possible that OE would not even display the default mail folder to which a .DBX file is copied and all you might see subsequently is a blank box. To re-sync the mail folders when files are copied or moved to the OE mail boxes, the Folders.dbx file must be deleted before starting OE which on the next start OE regenerates a new master index and displays their entire content.

2. Additional reading concerning the "Folders.dbx" file:

a. "OLEXP: Error Message If the Folders.dbx File Is Missing or Damaged (Q233264)."

b. "How OE stores files on your hard disk."

3. Access the link "An Outlook Express basic repair kit" and perform all the instructions listed if nothing else seems to fix the issue.

4. Use the method(s) explained in the M$ article "How to reinstall or repair Internet Explorer in Windows Vista and Windows XP" for the particular version of Windows/browser. Be sure to use the instructions noted for the System File Checker.

NOTE: If you should decide to perform an "in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP" understand that all the installed Window's updates will require reinstallation -- note that I do not mean Service Packs.

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mailboxes
Jul 13, 2012 2:38AM PDT

I've found the files with all my mailboxes in them. I don't want to lose them and don't quite know what to do. Do I copy the whole file to a new folder? On this cmputer or to an external hard drive? THen what? If I understand it, when I restart OE, it will form new files. Then can I return these? I'm not wedded to OE but don't want to lose my mail files. Don't use news groups, so that's not a problem, I had read that a file might have been changed to "read only". i checked and some were and I changed them, but it didn't help.

I'll keep trying and if anyone can answer the above questions, I'll be most grategul1 Peggy

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Yippee!!
Jul 13, 2012 3:21AM PDT

As recommended on one of the links above, I changed the extension of the dbx folder to old, restarted and all is well!! All my mailboxes are there.

Thanks so much for the help.

Peggy

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A new wrinkle
Jul 25, 2012 2:14AM PDT

Hi: My mailboxes are still in place, but added to them are about ten folders marked "SEARCH FOLDER" I really don't know what that means. Also, some go way back to 2009.

ALso, I had cleared a very large deleted folder, many came back and it's currently up to 14,000 going back to 2010. I had cleared away thousand from both the computer and the server.

Anyone have any idea why this happened?

My virus check is up to date.

Thanks, Peggy

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That's a stock feature in Outlook.
Jul 25, 2012 3:27AM PDT