Kindler, gentler compacting policy?
 

On my 100th closing of OE, it now says "Outlook Express can compact your
messages to save disk space - Ok, Cancel" - what a pleasant surprise to have
the option to CANCEL this instead of the old behavior that forced an
agonizingly long compaction upon me just when I need to shut the laptop off
and leave work, get on a plane, etc. Does anyone know if this Cancel
option was added with a recent patch or something?

-- Paul

Kindler, gentler compacting policy?
 

Cancel has always been an option with XP/SP2. The latest patch only removed
the Do not show me this again option.

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

Compacting your folders periodically is a must to keep OE functioning well
and at some point, you may lose all your saved messages if you don't. When
you delete messages, they are only marked for deletion and the space they
had used, remains until you compact, or the space is eventually overwritten.
See:
www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#2

With SP2, automatic background compacting was removed due to problems it
caused. Now you will get a prompt to compact after 100 OE closings, which
you should do and don't touch anything until it has finished. See this for
more information:
http://www.insideoe.com/files/maintain.htm#compact

To keep things running smooth, and for faster compacting:

Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually become
corrupt and you may lose mail. 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 this is a very good option:

Steve Cochran has added a button in his new version of OE Tool that will not
only Compact All Folders, but at the same time, resets the "Compact Check
Count" to zero whenever you compact manually. You will see the prompt again
if you do not compact before 100 closings.

http://www.oehelp.com/OETool/

You should still check: Work Offline before you compact.

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~

"Paul" wrote in message
...
On my 100th closing of OE, it now says "Outlook Express can compact your
messages to save disk space - Ok, Cancel" - what a pleasant surprise to
have the option to CANCEL this instead of the old behavior that forced an
agonizingly long compaction upon me just when I need to shut the laptop
off and leave work, get on a plane, etc. Does anyone know if this
Cancel option was added with a recent patch or something?

-- Paul

Kindler, gentler compacting policy?
 

"Bruce Hagen" wrote in message
...
Cancel has always been an option with XP/SP2. The latest patch only
removed the Do not show me this again option.

Thanks, I've had SP2 for a while and I guess I never noticed the cancel
option. Thanks for the pointer to OETools which in turn led me to the
discovery of the "Compact Check Count" registry key - resetting that to zero
is the solution I've been looking for lo these many years.

-- Paul

Kindler, gentler compacting policy?
 

You're welcome. I understand that the prompt may come up at a bad time now
and then, but if you reset the registry, which if perfectly fine, please
remember to compact at some future time to avoid losing your saved messages.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"Paul" wrote in message
...
"Bruce Hagen" wrote in message
...
Cancel has always been an option with XP/SP2. The latest patch only
removed the Do not show me this again option.

Thanks, I've had SP2 for a while and I guess I never noticed the cancel
option. Thanks for the pointer to OETools which in turn led me to the
discovery of the "Compact Check Count" registry key - resetting that to
zero is the solution I've been looking for lo these many years.

-- Paul

Kindler, gentler compacting policy?
 

"Paul" wrote in message
...
"Bruce Hagen" wrote in message
...
Cancel has always been an option with XP/SP2. The latest patch only
removed the Do not show me this again option.

Thanks, I've had SP2 for a while and I guess I never noticed the
cancel option. Thanks for the pointer to OETools which in turn led me
to the discovery of the "Compact Check Count" registry key - resetting
that to zero is the solution I've been looking for lo these many
years.


Unless you want to save a .reg file and repeatedly have to deploy it to
reset the counter, all you've done is delay the inevitable. You reset
the count but the count will start incrementing again so eventually you
will get the prompt again. You could schedule a silent deploy of the
..reg file (use the /s switch) in Task Scheduler but then you are
repeatedly having a process change your registry. I don't get nuisanced
with the per-100 prompt because I end up doing a manual compact far
before then (i.e., I do it often enough that I never see that prompt).
I prefer not to have OE slow down because the message stores are getting
huge with lots of delete-marked items that I can't see anymore, anyway.

--
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Kindler, gentler compacting policy?
 

Unless you want to save a .reg file and repeatedly have to deploy it to
reset the counter, all you've done is delay the inevitable.

Understood. I do my own manual archiving every 6 months, clearing Inbox,
Deleted Items, and Sent Items, to avoid the dreaded 2GB DBX bug.

Kindler, gentler compacting policy?
 

Not good enough! The 2GB bug usually happens long before you reach 1GB.

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~

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Unless you want to save a .reg file and repeatedly have to deploy it to
reset the counter, all you've done is delay the inevitable.

Understood. I do my own manual archiving every 6 months, clearing Inbox,
Deleted Items, and Sent Items, to avoid the dreaded 2GB DBX bug.

Kindler, gentler compacting policy?
 

If you are doing a manual compact and the counter is resetting, then you are
using OETool to compact, because OE does not reset the counter when you
compact using File | Folder | Compact all.

One doesn't need a reg file to open up the registry and change the counter
back to zero.

cheers,

steve

"Vanguard" wrote in message
...
"Paul" wrote in message
...
"Bruce Hagen" wrote in message
...
Cancel has always been an option with XP/SP2. The latest patch only
removed the Do not show me this again option.

Thanks, I've had SP2 for a while and I guess I never noticed the cancel
option. Thanks for the pointer to OETools which in turn led me to the
discovery of the "Compact Check Count" registry key - resetting that to
zero is the solution I've been looking for lo these many years.


Unless you want to save a .reg file and repeatedly have to deploy it to
reset the counter, all you've done is delay the inevitable. You reset the
count but the count will start incrementing again so eventually you will
get the prompt again. You could schedule a silent deploy of the .reg file
(use the /s switch) in Task Scheduler but then you are repeatedly having a
process change your registry. I don't get nuisanced with the per-100
prompt because I end up doing a manual compact far before then (i.e., I do
it often enough that I never see that prompt). I prefer not to have OE
slow down because the message stores are getting huge with lots of
delete-marked items that I can't see anymore, anyway.

--
__________________________________________________
Post replies to the newsgroup. Share with others.
For e-mail: Remove "NIX" and add "#VN" to Subject.
__________________________________________________