Why does OE insist on compacting folders when I close it?:
http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/why.htm#compact

Compacting your folders periodically is a must to keep OE functioning well
and at some point, you may lose all your saved messages if you don't. When
you delete messages, they are only marked for deletion and the space they
had used, remains until you compact, or the space is eventually overwritten.

See:
www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#2

With SP2, automatic background compacting was removed due to problems it
caused. Now you will get a prompt to compact after 100 OE closings, which
you should do and don't touch anything until it has finished. See this for
more information:
http://www.insideoe.com/files/maintain.htm#compact

If you are fully patched, you will also now see a copy of your dbx files
being copied to the Recycle Bin as BAK files. Should something go awry when
compacting, the messages can easily be restored from this backup.

For more info, see the information outlined in red he
www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#2

To keep things running smooth, and for faster compacting:

Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually become
corrupt and you may lose mail. 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.

And backup often.

Backup and Resto

http://www.insideoutlookexpress.com/backup/

http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx

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

"RankAmateur2" wrote in message
...
Thank you for the wealth of information, Bruce!
Keep in mind I am a novice at computers and I'll probably have some
follow-up questions after I give your recommendations a try.
One question I already have is in regards to compacting folders--namely,
what is compacting a folder??!!

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

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

If that doesn't do it:

Do the following for the Outbox, and if the problem persists, repeat for
Sent Items after you move any messages you wish to save to a local folder
you create.

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 {Outbox.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}.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"RankAmateur2" wrote in message
...
An error message is never generated. It just keeps telling me "Your
SMTP
server has not responded in 60 seconds. Would you like to wait another
60
seconds for
the server to respond" over and over again, while the outgoing messages
remain stuck in the Outbox.

"Gerry Cornell" wrote:

When you Send and Receive in the Window that appears is an Error tab.
To see it you need to have selected Details by clicking on the Detail
button. What does the Error Reoport say? Copy and paste a copy in a
further message here. You may need to click on the tiny "icon" in
bottom right of the Window to pin the window to stop it closing before
you have got the Error details.

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



RankAmateur2 wrote:
I can't send e-mail attachments of any kind/size and only the
occasional sent e-mail actually makes it to its destination. Most
ougoing mail gets stuck in the Outbox then after a minute a pop up
window says: "Your SMTP server has not responded in 60 seconds.
Would
you like to wait another 60 seconds for the server to respond." If I
click "Yes" this same message comes back up. Incoming messages are
received. I have Windows XP. I think that I have Outlook Express
version 6, but I'm not totally sure (I just inherited this
computer),
nor do I know how to find that out using the computer. I contacted
my
ISP and they said everything checked out on their end, and we double
checked the settings on my computer. They said it has to be the
Outlook Express program. Any ideas? When you send and recive