Bruce, according to MS OE URL, and the MS techs on the phone
the latest v. of IE doesn't compact emails in the background,
That's the reason we're having to go to all of this trouble to delete/
compress/empty Recycle Bin of the backed up emails (from Compression
action).
I've talked to tens of people who tell me they ignore MS, and are still
doing "it" the old way, w/o any problems. They're either lucky, or will end
up like
I did.

But this takes a mess of my time, now. I am thinking of change email
clients.


"Bruce Hagen" wrote in message
...
Many people create a separate identity for the sole purpose of archiving.
Create the identity and import the folders you want. Create several
folders and to avoid file corruption in any identity:

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.insideoutlookexpress.com/backup/
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"mcp6453" wrote in message
...
I am familiar with several methods for backing up OE, but I am not
familiar with a reasonable method of archiving old messages...and the dbx
files are growing very large. How should I archive?