« If you don't compact your messages regularly, you will be
back here wanting to know how to recuperate all your
messages because they will all disappear »

As appropriately recalled in several documents (or messages in
this newsgroup), messages and folders most often never get
corrupt or lost if you never compact any folder (in addition to
a few basic precautions, as: making frequent, full, and
independent backups; keeping your OE folders under 100MB each;
and never allowing NAV or other "self-inflicted-virus" to scan
your incoming or outgoing email).

Microsoft itself implicitly recognized this in
"When the Cure Kills: Compacting and Corruption"
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/...ion.mspx#EZAAC
since they admit that "background compaction" (i.e. "compact
files automatically after Outlook Express had been inactive for
some minutes") was causing corruption...

Unfortunately MS, stopping its thinking before its end, just
replaced the initial flaw with worse: compacting is now *forced
onto user* (by allotting him too few seconds to refuse) and *as
soon as OE is closed* - which in facts builds still higher
probability that the compaction will start while the PC
hibernates or shuts down, ensuring that corruption will arise.

The "fix" currently offerred in
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#2 and http://tinyurl.com/mx3r2
doesn't fix the problem at all since it just strengthens the
initial choice of
1. starting the compaction when the PC most probably will
shut down or hibernate,
2. *forcing* this against the user's will.

Paris, Fri 1 Sep 2006 19:10:40 +0200


----- Parent Message (links are clickable) -----
From: "--Alias--"
Newsgroup: news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof...tlooke xpress
Message: news://msnews.microsoft.com/OBocfEVw...TNGP03.phx.gbl
Sent: Wed 16 Aug 2006 18:29:14 +0200 (16:29:14 GMT)
Subject: Undoing compact folders

If you don't compact your messages regularly, you will be back
here wanting to know how to recuperate all your messages because
they will all disappear. Space is not the issue.

Also, if you store your messages in any of the default folders
such as Sent Items or Inbox, you will be back here wanting to
know how to recuperate all your messages because they will all
disappear.

I suggest you take a long look at these web sites and learn how
to maintain your Outlook Express properly:

http://www.insideoutlookexpress.com/

http://www.oehelp.com/

Alias


----- Parent Message (links are clickable) -----
From: "Stan"
Newsgroup: news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof...tlooke xpress
Message:
Sent: Wed 16 Aug 2006 09:21:25 -0700 (16:21:25 GMT)
Subject: Undoing compact folders

For the last few weeks, everytime I would close Outlook Express,
I would get a pop up asking me whether I wanted to compact my
Folders. Space was never an issue so I would allways click no.
Yesterday I accidently clicked yes and all the folders got
compacted. I don't want my folders compacted. How can I undo
this.