Thanks for you response Bruce. I've carried out most of your recommendations.
I used OSQuickBackup then drastically pruned my 'Sent Items' (now 234
messages, 20Mb) and 'Read Mail' (now 268 messages, 35Mb). All the remaining
folders are empty. I then compacted all folders. None of this made any
difference to the time.

I then tried turning off the email scanning in my A-V but this didn't seem
to work either. However, as a last resort I turned my A-V scanning off
completely and this did work.

I'm using Avast 4.7 free version and in the control panel all boxes for
Outlook/Exchange and Internet Mail doesn't work. I can't see what else has
any bearing on email so I'm stumped.

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

Did you compact after moving the messages?

General precautions for Outlook Express:

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.

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. For more, see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3

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

And backup often.

Backup & Resto
http://www.insideoe.com/backup/

This is a great two click program:

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB)
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA


"Galloping Hairpin" wrote in
message ...
The first time I try to open a message after the System has booted it
takes
17 seconds with lots of disk activity. Once that message has opened all
subsequent ones in the session open immediately.

I'm sure this time has got gradually longer ever since XP was first
installed. I thought it might be due to the accumulation of messages in my
Sent Mail and Read Mail folders so I cleared them out (after making backup
copies elsewhere) but this has had no effect whatsoever.

Can anyone throw any light on this problem?

You refer to "Read Mail, Outlook/Exchange and Internet Mail". What is
Internet Mail? Are you suing Outlook Or Outlook Express? This group is for
Outlook Express only.

Reinstall AVG and choose Custom Mode. Uncheck E-mail Scanning when you see
that option. For some reason, just unchecking it in the security center
causes a conflict with the Windows Security Center.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA


"Galloping Hairpin" wrote in
message ...
Thanks for you response Bruce. I've carried out most of your
recommendations.
I used OSQuickBackup then drastically pruned my 'Sent Items' (now 234
messages, 20Mb) and 'Read Mail' (now 268 messages, 35Mb). All the
remaining
folders are empty. I then compacted all folders. None of this made any
difference to the time.

I then tried turning off the email scanning in my A-V but this didn't seem
to work either. However, as a last resort I turned my A-V scanning off
completely and this did work.

I'm using Avast 4.7 free version and in the control panel all boxes for
Outlook/Exchange and Internet Mail doesn't work. I can't see what else has
any bearing on email so I'm stumped.

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

Did you compact after moving the messages?

General precautions for Outlook Express:

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.

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. For more, see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3

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

And backup often.

Backup & Resto
http://www.insideoe.com/backup/

This is a great two click program:

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB)
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA


"Galloping Hairpin" wrote in
message ...
The first time I try to open a message after the System has booted it
takes
17 seconds with lots of disk activity. Once that message has opened all
subsequent ones in the session open immediately.

I'm sure this time has got gradually longer ever since XP was first
installed. I thought it might be due to the accumulation of messages in
my
Sent Mail and Read Mail folders so I cleared them out (after making
backup
copies elsewhere) but this has had no effect whatsoever.

Can anyone throw any light on this problem?

Hi Bruce,

In the Avast control centre there is a resident provider called Internet
Mail. It 's dialog has tabs for Inbound mail (POP protocol), outbound mail
(SMTP protocol), inbound mail (IMAP protocol), News (NNTP protocol) and some
others which are not relevant. The ones mentioned here each have checkboxes
to enable/disable scanning.

There is another resident provider called Outlook/Exchange. This has, among
others, a tab for Scanner, with checkboxes for scanning inbound, outbound
and archived messages and message bodies and a tab for Outbound mail with a
checkbox for scanning attachments.

I really don't understand the distinction beteeen these two providers but
anyway I first tried unchecking all the boxes in all the above tabs. That had
no effect. I then tried terminating both providers which also had no effect.

So it seems that my only recourse is to do as you suggest and reinstall
Avast without the email protection. However I note that in the OEHelp link
you provided there is a post from Frank Saunders which mentions keeping virus
definitions up to date with LiveUpdate. I currently have all Microsoft
automatic updating disabled so does that leave my email system vulnerable
without the Avast scanners?

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/...orruption.mspx


"Galloping Hairpin" wrote in
message ...
| Hi Bruce,
|
| In the Avast control centre there is a resident provider called Internet
| Mail. It 's dialog has tabs for Inbound mail (POP protocol), outbound mail
| (SMTP protocol), inbound mail (IMAP protocol), News (NNTP protocol) and
some
| others which are not relevant. The ones mentioned here each have
checkboxes
| to enable/disable scanning.
|
| There is another resident provider called Outlook/Exchange. This has,
among
| others, a tab for Scanner, with checkboxes for scanning inbound, outbound
| and archived messages and message bodies and a tab for Outbound mail with
a
| checkbox for scanning attachments.
|
| I really don't understand the distinction beteeen these two providers but
| anyway I first tried unchecking all the boxes in all the above tabs. That
had
| no effect. I then tried terminating both providers which also had no
effect.
|
| So it seems that my only recourse is to do as you suggest and reinstall
| Avast without the email protection. However I note that in the OEHelp link
| you provided there is a post from Frank Saunders which mentions keeping
virus
| definitions up to date with LiveUpdate. I currently have all Microsoft
| automatic updating disabled so does that leave my email system vulnerable
| without the Avast scanners?
|

Sorry about that. You said Avast, but my brain saw AVG. w You want
Internet Mail turned off. I use Avast myself and suggest installing it this
way.

In the case of Avast, choose Custom Installation and under Resident
Protection, uncheck: Internet Mail and Outlook/Exchange.

Avast:
http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html

But what about this Read Mail folder? Outlook Express doesn't have such a
folder unless you create it.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA



"Galloping Hairpin" wrote in
message ...
Hi Bruce,

In the Avast control centre there is a resident provider called Internet
Mail. It 's dialog has tabs for Inbound mail (POP protocol), outbound mail
(SMTP protocol), inbound mail (IMAP protocol), News (NNTP protocol) and
some
others which are not relevant. The ones mentioned here each have
checkboxes
to enable/disable scanning.

There is another resident provider called Outlook/Exchange. This has,
among
others, a tab for Scanner, with checkboxes for scanning inbound, outbound
and archived messages and message bodies and a tab for Outbound mail with
a
checkbox for scanning attachments.

I really don't understand the distinction beteeen these two providers but
anyway I first tried unchecking all the boxes in all the above tabs. That
had
no effect. I then tried terminating both providers which also had no
effect.

So it seems that my only recourse is to do as you suggest and reinstall
Avast without the email protection. However I note that in the OEHelp link
you provided there is a post from Frank Saunders which mentions keeping
virus
definitions up to date with LiveUpdate. I currently have all Microsoft
automatic updating disabled so does that leave my email system vulnerable
without the Avast scanners?

Oh sorry, yes, 'Read Mail is a folder I created to which I move all messages
which don't end up in 'Deleted Items'. I also have a SPAM folder and have
created a message rule which dumps all mail there which my ISP's server has
marked SPAM in the subject line.

May I draw your attention to my last paragraph regarding LiveUpdate? I
prefer not to have any Microsoft components automatically updated. Maybe I'm
paranoid but I have an instinctive distrust of Microsoft which is why I use
third-party antivirus and firewall software. So if I scrap Avast's email
protection am I vulnerable?

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

But what about this Read Mail folder? Outlook Express doesn't have such a
folder unless you create it.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA

I /believe/ LiveUpdate and Auto-Protect refer to a Norton program.

As far as Windows Updates, I would stay current with at the very least the
critical ones. I prefer to download them on my own as well so I can turn off
my anti-virus when downloading and installing. Preferred for downloading
anything to insure a clean install.

And are you save without e-mail scanning? Probably more so that with it.

Turning off e-mail scanning is safe. See:

Viral Irony: The Most Common Cause of Corruption.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/...ion.mspx#EOAAC

And:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3

And this is from Symantec, but applies to all anti-virus programs.

From:
http://snipurl.com/bmf6

Is my computer still protected against viruses if I disable Email Scanning?

Disabling Email Scanning does not leave you unprotected against viruses that
are distributed as email attachments. Norton AntiVirus Auto-Protect scans
incoming files as they are saved to your hard drive, including email and
email attachments. Email Scanning is just another layer on top of this. To
make sure that Auto-Protect is providing the maximum protection, keep
Auto-Protect enabled and run LiveUpdate regularly to ensure that you have
the most recent virus definitions.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA


"Galloping Hairpin" wrote in
message ...
Oh sorry, yes, 'Read Mail is a folder I created to which I move all
messages
which don't end up in 'Deleted Items'. I also have a SPAM folder and have
created a message rule which dumps all mail there which my ISP's server
has
marked SPAM in the subject line.

May I draw your attention to my last paragraph regarding LiveUpdate? I
prefer not to have any Microsoft components automatically updated. Maybe
I'm
paranoid but I have an instinctive distrust of Microsoft which is why I
use
third-party antivirus and firewall software. So if I scrap Avast's email
protection am I vulnerable?

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

But what about this Read Mail folder? Outlook Express doesn't have such a
folder unless you create it.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA

Bruce,

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

I /believe/ LiveUpdate and Auto-Protect refer to a Norton program.

Well, I don't have any Symantec/Norton utilities installed.

I have been conducting some further tests and I am, quite frankly, baffled.
I have found that if I terminate the Avast Standard Shield resident provider
the delay in opening the first message drops to 5 seconds which is exactly
the same as if I stop all on-access protection. Note that I now have the
Internet Mail and Outlook/Exchange providers permanently terminated.

The Avast icon in the Systray rotates once when I select the message but
doesn't move during the 21 seconds (timed with a stopwatch) of disk activity.
The Standard Shield doesn't report any files scanned and it's process,
ashServ.exe, has zero CPU activity. The only processes which show any CPU
activity during the disk activity are explorer.exe (briefly) and msimn.exe
(continuously, varying between 02% and 08%).

So, everything suggests that it's not Avast that's causing the problem and
yet if I disable it the problem appears to go away.