Boris wrote in message
. ..
"Bruce Hagen" wrote in
:

Top posting is fine with me. Replies inline.

Boris wrote in message
. ..
"Bruce Hagen" wrote in
:

Thanks for the reply. I've nested my comments, below. (Sorry about
the top posting here.)

For second hand info, you posted better than most. There are a few
things that may be involved here.

If both computers are using the same e-mail address, on both
machines:
Yes, same email address.

Tools | Accounts | Mail | Properties | Advanced - Check: Leave a
copy of messages on the server.
Current condition on both machines.

Very important. On one machine only, check to Delete messages after
X days to assure the server does not get clogged up.
OK. Why on one machine? And any preference? Both are used equally
as much.


It may not make a difference in your case, but it is only needed on
one machine. Your mail server only has to / wants to be told once.


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
Turn off email scanning on both outbound and inbound? Will do. I
understand. The A/V will proctect them should they download a virus
laden email.


Yes. Incoming and outgoing. This was a program originally devised by
Symantec to boost sales by making the user feel more secure.

Turning off e-mail scanning is safe. See:

Viral Irony: The Most Common Cause of Corruption.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/...ecorruption.ms
px#EOAAC

And this is from Symantec, but applies to all anti-virus programs.

From:
http://snipurl.com/bmf6

Is my computer still protected against viruses if I disable Email
Scanning?

Disabling Email Scanning does not leave you unprotected against
viruses that are distributed as email attachments. Norton AntiVirus
Auto-Protect scans incoming files as they are saved to your hard
drive, including email and email attachments. Email Scanning is just
another layer on top of this. To make sure that Auto-Protect is
providing the maximum protection, keep Auto-Protect enabled and run
LiveUpdate regularly to ensure that you have the most recent virus
definitions.



McAfee and Norton both cause havoc with Outlook Express. I would get
rid of it completely and get AVG *Free*.
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5
or:
http://www.grisoft.com/doc/40/lng/ww

When prompted, choose Custom Installation and *uncheck* e-mail
scanning when you see the option.
I assume you mean on any A/V application I choose to use.


Yes. E-mail scanning is moot for any program. For some programs, just
unchecking it in the Security Center isn't enough. Remenants of it
remain and it sometimes becomes checked again by itself. BTW, I have
used AVG Free for quite some time and have never had a problem. Avast,
also free, and NOD32, not free also work well with OE, but I don't
have any first hand knowledge of those programs.




Norton, and McAfee, products are not Outlook Express friendly, and I
don't know of any OE-MVP that would recommend using them.

And also very important is the condition of the folders, especially
the Inbox.

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.
You mean create my own folders within OE, or outside of OE?

Empty Deleted Items folder regularly. Keep
user created folders under 100MB, and Default folders as empty as is
feasible.
That's my general practice, but I think the in-laws may be huge.

After you are done, follow up by compacting your folders manually
while working *offline* and do it often.
My general practice, too, but will advise in-laws.

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.

And backup often.

Backup & Resto
http://www.insideoutlookexpress.com/backup/
Have used to migrate OE.

This is a great two click program:

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB)
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
Will check it out.

I will probably go over to their house tomorrow and apply your
suggestions. I'll report back.

Thanks again.



Good luck, Boris. I am pretty confident that one or more of the things
I have listed will correct the problem. Don't forget cleaning out the
default folders and compacting.

Before going over to my in-laws to look at their problem, I logged into
(from my home) their sbc webmail and saw there were 3,218 messages in
their inbox. Wheh!!! It had never been emptied since I set up their new
laptop/wireless network on December 28,2006. I had left instructions on
how to delete their webmail every so often, but...

I called them and told them what I saw, and walked them through deleting
them all. We changed the page view to the max, that is 200 messages per
page, and went through 200 deletions at a time.

Once that was done, I started making the other suggestions we've written
about, and offered to come over and implement them, but I could tell this
first revelation (3,218 messages) was baffling to them, so I backed off
and said we'd do some more housekeeping another day (maybe the weekend).

Because they are so considerate of others, they hate to tell me when they
have pc problems because they know I'll take the time to fix them, and
they hate to ask for help. I've been over there at least 15 times since
the new year, either for pc help or for family get togethers, and they
never mentioned this problem. I only heard about it because my son was
visiting and they told him, who in turn told me.

It's one step at a time, but that's fine.

Thanks again.



You're welcome. If Leave a copy on the server is checked, then Delete after
X days must be checked, or the server will get clogged up and stop
downloading.

I have people close by that have constant problems. I urge them to call when
they have /one/ problem and not wait until it escalates to many problems.

Hope you get it worked out.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
~IB-CA~