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General discussion

Windows handling of Email folders

Mar 16, 2005 11:12PM PST

XP Home and Win98

Both computers show the Outlook Express "Deleted Items" folders empty, but a search on *.dbx shows many megabytes in those folders.

1. If the Emails have been deleted, why does Windows maintain hard disk space for them?

2. Is this space flagged for reuse as are other deleted files?

3. Are these Emails recoverable?

Thanks

Discussion is locked

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Re: Outlook Express email-folders
Mar 16, 2005 11:27PM PST

1. Because you neglected to compress the OE-folders in Outlook Express (File>Compress All Folders, or File>Compress Folder)
2. No. It's the way the dbx-structure works. For Windows it's just a file, and only compressing it makes a new one, that is as small as possible (i.e. 16 kB for an empty one, I think).
3. Not in Outlook Express. Possibly in some freeware or shareware dbx-viewer. Some text should be visible with Notepad or any other simple file-editor. But attachments, being MIME-encoded, need a program to be deciphered.

Hope this helps.


Kees

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I compact all folders frequently, but
Mar 17, 2005 1:26AM PST

still the DBX files grow and grow. I, on occasion, delete the DBX folder and OE then recreates it and we start over, but this seems a strange way for a program to operate.

I was just looking for a rational reason for a program to behave this way---if the operator wants to delete Emails, then the silly program should delete the Emails---

Thanks