1: No. Not a normal shutdown.

2: No. As I said, if the problem was due to disruption of the compacting
process, the messages are not in the dbx files anymore. That is why you need
DBXpress because it is the only tool that can bypass the dbx files and read
directly from the hard drive. At this point, the size of the files are
irrelevant.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"donna" wrote in message
...
1. Will shutting down the computer impact my ability to retrieve the
messages
from the HDD or use DBExpress?

2. Can you tell from any info in the dbx file in the root folder - size of
file etc. if the program will be more likely to succeed than not?

Thanks.

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

If the messages were lost during the compacting process, then this is the
only tool that can retrieve the since it reads directly from the HDD and
doesn't rely on the dbx files where your messages no longer reside.

You can try this freeware, but it most likely won't work if you are
explaining the problem correctly.

http://www.insideoe.com/resources/tools.htm#macallan
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"donna" wrote in message
...
Actually, I already saw your message below from before but if the
messages
are all there in the dbx file, isn't there another way to restore them
to
OE6
without having to purchase DBExpress??? Is there something I can try?

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

The patch will help in the future, (see Recovery Tools first link),
but
not
this time.

The two most common reasons for what you describe is disruption of the
compacting process, (never touch anything until it's finished), and
bloated
folders. More on that below.

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

Why Mail Disappears:
http://www.insideoe.com/problems/bugs.htm#mailgone

About File Corruption:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/...orruption.mspx

Recovery tools:

If you are using a fully patched version of XP/SP2, see:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918069/en-us

If not:

DBXpress run in Extract From Disk Mode is the best, (probably only),
chance
to recover messages:
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

And see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#4

A general warning if you don't want to lose your messages in the
futu

Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually become
corrupted. 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~

"donna" wrote in message
...
All my messages from my Sent and Drafts folders were deleted - I
believe I
may have interrupted the compacting process although don't remember
doing
it.
Doing a search, I have found the folders in Documents & Settings and
they
are
a pretty good size so I think the message are there.

1. Can I get some specific instructions on how to restore all the
contents
of these two folders back into the folders of the same name in OE6.

2. Also if I have 1-2 brand new messages in these folders in OE6
now,
do I
need to remove them first?

3. Lastly, will the recent patch for XPSP2 regarding this eliminate
this
problem in the future?