Compacting in Tools | Options | Maintenance only compacts Newsgroups.

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.

Now check the message store dbx files.

Some general OE advice:

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.

In Tools | Options | Maintenance: Uncheck Compact messages in background and
leave it unchecked. {N/A if running XP/SP2}.

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.

Clear the Temporary Internet Files often. In IE | Tools | Internet Options |
Delete Files button. And check the box to Delete Offline content.

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~

"Dan" wrote in message
...
Yes. I have specified my own folder for the message store, so I know
exactly
where it is. Even though my Deleted Items folder is empty, the DBX file is
30
MB or bigger.

Every time I choose Compact from the Maintenance tab in Options, it
finishes
very quickly (one second or less), as though it's not really doing
anything.
It has always made me wonder whether Compacting really works. I would have
thought that it should reduce the file size down to a minimum after
deleting
all the messages in a folder.

Dan

"PA Bear" wrote:

Are you examining DBX files in the correct OE store
(http://www.insideoe.com/files/store.htm#storemain)?
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE, Shell/User, Security), Aumha.org VSOP, DTS-L.org

Dan wrote:
Even after I compact folders and messages in OE, it seems that the file
size of my DBX files is still as large as before. Is there a way to get
the file size to shrink?

Dan