You're welcome.

Glad it is working now. BTY, as well as not needing e-mail scanning, two
anti-virus programs, as well as two firewalls, can cause a conflict. Stick
with just one for each.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"bobster" wrote in message
...
Thanks, Bruce,

It appears that my inbox was in fact corrupted. I followed your suggested
procedure and it is now OK, at least so far. I had previously let it
balloon to as many as 1000 messages and for a while, was running both the
ZA
and the CA myEtrust AV email "protections". I now have shut them off and
intend to keep my inbox below 100 messages.

================================================== ==========================
====
"Bruce Hagen" wrote in message
...
The Inbox is probably corrupt due to bloating. Move all messages you want
to
save to a local folder you create. Then:

Tools | Options | Maintenance | Store Folder will reveal the location of
your Outlook Express files. Press the Tab key to highlight the folder
location, then Ctrl+C. Close OE, then Start | Run | Ctrl+V will put the
location in the box - Click OK and you'll see the OE files. Otherwise,
write
the location down and navigate to it in Windows Explorer.

In WinXP, Win2K & Win2K3, the OE user files (DBX and WAB) are by default
marked as hidden. To view these files in Windows Explorer, you must
enable
Show Hidden Files and Folders under Start | Control Panel | Folder
Options
Icon | View, or in Windows Explorer | Tools | Folder Options | View.

With OE closed, find the DBX file for the folder in question {Inbox.dbx}
and
delete it. A new one will be created automatically when you open OE.

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.

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

"bobster" wrote in message
...
Running W98se,
PII, 300 MHz
320 meg memory
IE6
OE6
CA MyeTrust AV (email off)
ZA (email off)
AdAware 1.06
SpywareBlaster
Host file

After a boot up and several hours of web surfing and emailing, the
messages
in my OE6 inbox disappear -- it goes blank. All other functions --
sent
items, deleted items, news groups, etc operate normally. Using the
refresh
function does not solve the problem nor does a re-start of OE6.

A re-boot causes the inbox missing messages to return and everything
works
normally for a few hours, then the inbox blanking re-occurs, requiring
another re-boot to get the messages back.

This problem just started recently after many years of reliable
operation
of
IE6

Any suggestions?

TIA