To reinstall Outlook Express (which rarely solves problems), see this KB
article:
How to Reinstall or Repair Outlook Express in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;q318378
Before doing a compact operation, try in Outlook Express, clicking on the
Menu, File/Work Offline (so that the compacting is not interuppted by
polling for messages) and then select File/Folders/Compact All Folders and
wait for it to complete before doing anything else. Outlook Express'
message stores are extremely fragile and prone to corruption, particularly
if you are using email scanning for viruses or spam. For more info on that,
see this article:
The Other E-Mail Threat: File Corruption in Outlook Express:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/...orruption.mspx
And lastly, there is no ability to "uncompact" since compacting only
reclaims the wasted space that has been taken up by messages you've deleted.
All databases need to be compacted on a regular basis to ensure they
function correctly and quickly. And I hope you read the info at the link I
earlier posted:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917288/
--
Jim Pickering
MVP-Outlook Express/Windows Mail
Please reply to newsgroup only so that others may be helped with your
feedback.
"BAZ" wrote in message
oups.com...
Dear Jim,
It is amazing. I recently compacted my Outlook Express folders for the
first time (I got a message and they said it would help to save space).
So... maybe Outlook is not able to read the stuff that it previously
compacted. Who knows?
Perhaps I should uncompact! Is there a way to do this?
I truly believe that something was corrupted on my computer - or else I
wouldn't have had to go through all I went through this morning during
reboot.
I just got out an old XP disc and reinstalled Outlook Express - which
did nothing.
BTW, I then tried to reinstall Microsoft WIndows and all kinds of weird
things happened - like I got Outlook 2000!?!?!?
I decided to remove those files by removing Office 2000 Premium via
Control Panel/ Add or Remove Programs (a big mistake I now realize) and
therefore lost Excel!
So I just now did another System Restore to about a week ago and all is
well except that I have just the one problem that I began with... the
inability to view my address book - even though it is there (i.e., I
can use it by identifying names of friends).
What a miserable day this has been!
Bonnie
Jim Pickering wrote:
Might want to look at this KB article and see if it's any help:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917288/
The not shut down correctly is usually the result of not compacting the
message store. When did you last compact all folders in Outlook Express?
--
Jim Pickering
MVP-Outlook Express/Windows Mail
Please reply to newsgroup only so that others may be helped with your
feedback.
"BAZ" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi friends,
I now notice that each time I shut down Outlook Express and then bring
it back up I get that message that Outlook did not shut down correctly
last time.
I am not sure when this started... probably after I did the latest
Microsoft update.
My computer is screwed (excuse the French).
But - you'd think there would be a way to repair Outlook Express
without messing up anything else!
Thanks so much for your suggestions.
BAZ (Bonnie)
BAZ wrote:
Ken... when I do what you suggest, a small window pops up with a red
circle and a white X within and an OK button.
So - no, there is no way I can look at the address book.
BAZ
Jim Pickering ... I get automatic updates. I just did the very latest
and even pulled the plug on my computer before re-booting.
No change!
HEY - the thing I did notice this morning was that I was not able to
boot my computer without going through about a half hour of disk and
free space checking. There were some corrections made. This is rare
for
me.
So - something must have gotten royally messed up!
If I must re-install something, I would like it to be a minimal
effort.
Currently, I think a re-install would be difficult because I have the
latest updates.
BAZ
Jim Pickering wrote:
When was the last time you visited the Windows Update site to
download
all
updates for your system that are marked as Critical? Since you post
via
Google, we have no way to determine the version number of Outlook
Express
you are using nor how badly outdated it may be. Care to help us
with
that,
along with the operating system you are using?
--
Jim Pickering
MVP-Outlook Express/Windows Mail
Please reply to newsgroup only so that others may be helped with
your
feedback.
"BAZ" wrote in message
ups.com...
Frank,
As I said, when I click on Addresses (part of the tool bar) to
open
the
address book, nothing is displayed.
Besides, I would guess that I have only about 20 contacts.
If you read my mail carefully, the address book does exist because
I
can use it; i.e., send someone an email using their nickname.
BAZ
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE wrote:
"BAZ" wrote in message
ups.com...
All of a sudden I see that my contact list has disappeared. The
message
displayed is: There are no contacts to display. Click on
Contacts
to
create a new contact. There is no Contacts button - only
Addresses
...
and when I clicked on that, I get nothing. I.e., there seems to
be
no
address list.
I tried to re-import the address book and got an OK but nothing
had
changed.
I decided to go to some old saved email and right-clicked and
selected
"Add sender to address book." The response I got was: The
contact
is
already in your address book.
What gives?
I can send mail to anyone using their name (i.e., David) - but
I
just
can't see the address list.
I did a System Restore to yesterday (when all was well), but
nothing
changed.
It's almost as though my address book is not readable by
Outlook
Express. Believe me, it is THERE!
Thanks for any help. I really hope it is not necessary to
reinstall
Internet Explorer!
BAZ
If you open the Address Book are the contacts there?
If the Address Book has more than 999 contacts the contact pane
will
be
blank.
--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM
Reply in newsgroup
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary
security,
deserve
neither liberty or security"