Re: [PCWorks] need help with compacting
- From: "Clint Hamilton-PCWorks Admin-OrpheusComputing.com & ComputersCustomBuilt.com" <PCWorks@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "PCWorks@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <pcworks@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2008 04:44:30 -0600
I'm still not clear on when exactly this happened. You said
when "leaving my computer this morning", but the compact
folders message only shows when you close OE. So was this an
OE message that showed up when closing OE, or a system wide
message when you shut down the PC? If it was when you shut
down the PC, I've never seen that before and don't know what to
tell you.
If it was the OE message; first, always say NO to that. Ever
since XP SP2 M$ has destroyed OE with that compacting. It's
done a different way and it can and WILL delete entire folders.
They refuse to fix it. NOTHING can be running nor can you be
doing anything while it's compacting, or you run the risk of
losing all of your emails! Win98 and basic XP compacted in a
way that could be trusted. I have lost thousands of emails in
the past thanks to this. My entire Inbox folder has gotten
either deleted or corrupted where it could not be recovered.
XP automatically compacts folders when a pre-determined amount
of times OE is closed is reached. This is when you see the
prompt asking to compact folders. This number can be changed
in the registry, but it still does not give you control over
it. So what I did was create my own registry change in the
form of a registry file that I can click (import) whenever I
want:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
#skip one line#
#all one
line#[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{7E7F942B-72EE-410D-8267-3D1A1C7B3467}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook
Express\5.0]
#last line and no space above it#"Compact Check
Count"=dword:00000065
That's going to wrap and be hard to read in an email, so I
added the #comments#. Just copy/paste all of that into
Notepad, and remove #all of this#. Better yet, I uploaded the
text file here
http://www.orpheuscomputing.com/tests/compact.txt and that's
the way it should appear. Copy/paste that into Notepad and
save it, then change the extension from .txt to .reg . In
order to do that, file extensions will have to be visible. So
open any folder and go to Tools > Folder Options > View, then
uncheck the box "Hide extensions for known file types". Then
you'll see the .txt extension and you can then change it to
.reg , and you can name it anything you want. Don't forget to
go back to Folder Options to hide the extensions again.
Save the file anywhere you want in a permanent location, then
create a shortcut to it like maybe on the Quick Launch toolbar
(where I have mine). Just right click the file and drag it
where ever you want, then "Create shortcut".
That "dword:00000065" isn't really important, a number has to
be there, and it can be 100 or 200, whatever. That's just how
many times OE can be closed before it shows the compact prompt.
But the line 7E7F942B-72EE-410D-8267-3D1A1C7B3467 MIGHT
have to be changed on yours. Just open the registry and go to
that key location as shown in the file, and if your number
there is different just copy/paste it into the reg file you
created.
Now you can click the shortcut whenever you want, and after
clicking it to "import" it to the registry you'll get the
prompt the next time you CLOSE OE. Wait several seconds,
shut down any AV software especially, and anything else that's
running or open. THEN and ONLY then click the "OK" to
compact folders. This will most likely prevent anything like
this from happening again.
Now as for recovering the lost emails, that depends on the
Inbox.dbx file. Do a search for *.dbx to find the store
location for your dbx files. Then see how many inbox.dbx files
you have. Hopefully you have two, with one having a slightly
different name. If you have only the one, right click it and
open it in Notepad and see if any of the lost emails are shown
in its text (and be SURE not to modify the file in any way!)
If the lost emails are in it, and the text isn't enough, there
are some dbx recovery programs out there that may work to
recover the emails, (which could also possibly recover the 2nd
inbox.dbx file if you have one). We can cover that in another
post.
-Clint
God Bless
Clint Hamilton, Owner
http://www.OrpheusComputing.com
http://www.ComputersCustomBuilt.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ann Parker"
I use Windows XP and Outlook Express. Thanks for responding,
Clint.
Obviously I hit something I shouldn't have and deleted my
emails without
knowing it. So, when I compact a folder, it stays where it is
and it isn't
put in a separate folder with other compacted folders. Right.
This
happened about a week ago and my lost emails have not appeared
yet, so I
guess it was a mistake caused by me. Thanks again. Ann Parker
> What OS is this Ann? When exactly did this happen? I've
> never
> heard of such a thing system-wide, only for OE. And then
> it's
> only for compacting folders. (Hope you'll be getting better
> soon).
> -Clint
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ann Parker"
>
>
> Hi, As I was leaving my computer this morning, a message
> saying
> that I
> could save a lot of space if I let the computer compact the
> things I have
> saved. I clicked on ok, and left my computer.
>
> At that time, I had about 15 emails that I had not opened.
> Later, when I
> opened my Inbox, all of those 15 were gone. Have I lost them
> forever, or
> are the compacted things hidden somewhere? Thanks in
> advance.
>
> Ann Parker (81-year-old grandmother who has been a member of
> your list for
> several years, but haven't asked you for any help recently as
> a
> few weeks
> ago I woke up completely blind in my right eye. Thus I can't
> use the
> computer as much now as I once could. However, I am seeing
> three eye
> doctors and hoping that one will have a solution to my eye
> problem.)
> Thanks, Ann
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