"sekharr" <sekharr@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:3C92AB85-19BC-4241-8AE1-DADFDC65334F@microsoft.com
> Hi: I'm a newbie, need some help. Using OE6 running on Wn98SE, I do
> compact folders periodically. Today I tried do so, but OE crashed
> with following error message:MSIMN caused an invalid page fault in
> module DIRECTDB.DLL at 017f:01af6b9b.".
> Assuming that folders.dbx was corrupted, I tried the following:
> (1) Went "offline"
> (2) Used "find" to locate folders.dbx (there wre 3, maybe one for
> each identity) renamed them to "folder_old.dbx"
> Tried this twice, crashes every time. However OE is still functioning
> normally. Can anybody suggest a way to restore compacting? Thanks in
> advance. sekharr

That error message means one or more *.dbx files is damaged. We can rule out
folders.dbx as the culprit since renaming it didn't affect the error. Try
compacting again, but drag the compacting window up to the corner. That way,
when the error window appears you will still be able to see which folder
stopped the compaction. It is that folder's dbx file which is too damaged for
OE to compact.

Once you determine the problem folder, try moving all messages from that folder
into a new empty folder, close OE, delete the damaged dbx, then re-open and
compact all folders again.

--
Tom Koch, MVP for IE/Outlook Express
http://tomserdam.com
http://insideoe.com
http://iusevista.com
Awareness is free.

Or else just set up a new Identity and then turn off background compaction
for that ID and then import everything from the old one.

steve

"Tom Koch" <please-post2newsgroup-only@insideoe.com> wrote in message
news:ekbuGGkBGHA.1288@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> "sekharr" <sekharr@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:3C92AB85-19BC-4241-8AE1-DADFDC65334F@microsoft.com
>> Hi: I'm a newbie, need some help. Using OE6 running on Wn98SE, I do
>> compact folders periodically. Today I tried do so, but OE crashed
>> with following error message:MSIMN caused an invalid page fault in
>> module DIRECTDB.DLL at 017f:01af6b9b.".
>> Assuming that folders.dbx was corrupted, I tried the following:
>> (1) Went "offline"
>> (2) Used "find" to locate folders.dbx (there wre 3, maybe one for
>> each identity) renamed them to "folder_old.dbx"
>> Tried this twice, crashes every time. However OE is still functioning
>> normally. Can anybody suggest a way to restore compacting? Thanks in
>> advance. sekharr
>
> That error message means one or more *.dbx files is damaged. We can rule
> out folders.dbx as the culprit since renaming it didn't affect the error.
> Try compacting again, but drag the compacting window up to the corner.
> That way, when the error window appears you will still be able to see
> which folder stopped the compaction. It is that folder's dbx file which is
> too damaged for OE to compact.
>
> Once you determine the problem folder, try moving all messages from that
> folder into a new empty folder, close OE, delete the damaged dbx, then
> re-open and compact all folders again.
>
> --
> Tom Koch, MVP for IE/Outlook Express
> http://tomserdam.com
> http://insideoe.com
> http://iusevista.com
> Awareness is free.
>
>

The background compaction value in the registry is non-functional in SP2.
The Compact Check Count is the value that gets incremented with each OE
closing.

What I do now is first click on the backup button in OETool and when that's
done, then I use the compact all button.

The basic issue is how you have described it. 1. Performance needs
compaction. 2. Compaction needs to occur to help prevent folder
corruption, as the larger the folders, the more likely that they are to
become corrupted in OE.

The database from OE5 that OE6 also uses was not designed for huge amounts
of data. They never tested its scalability, and when you deal with hundreds
of megabytes in folders and in the entire store, then it breaks down. So
one needs to minimize folder size and backup frequently.

steve

"pwrichcreek" <pwrichcreek@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2EE20E29-94B3-47F9-955B-657F3412AD70@microsoft.com...
> After reading your reply, I decided to close and re-open OE and look at
> the
> registry keys again to see if I could spot anything that changed.
> Ironically,
> I GOT THE COMPACTION MESSAGE!!! I responded CANCEL to it (don't compact)
> and
> DID NOT check the "Dont show me this again" box.
>
> Then I looked at the registry key
> "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{GUID}\Software\Micr osoft\OutlookExpress\5.0\Don't
> Show Dialogs". Again, I did not see anything that looked like it had
> anything
> to do with the prompting message and nothing else had changed from before
> I
> closed OE. However, I went up one level to the 5.0 folder and found two
> very
> interesting entries: Background Compaction with a value of 00000001(1),
> and
> Compact Check Count with a value of 00000065(101).
>
> I continued to open and close OE and inspect the Registry Entries and saw
> the counter increase and eventually, when I clicked the "Dont Show me this
> again" box, saw the entry that you referred to previously. It's called
> Don't
> Show Compaction Message or something like that in the Registry. I deleted
> it, so I should see the compaction message if the counter ever reaches 100
> again (it's now sitting at 1 after the compaction). I think I'll set it
> 100
> to make sure the message will actually still display, then I can set it
> back
> to 0.
>
> As for the Background Compaction entry, I imagine it is an artifact of
> pre-sp2 OE and has no impact in the current OE environment.
>
> Thanks for your patience and for helping me understand this. I will
> definitely start using OEtool for compacting. Regularly.
>
> Phil
>
> "Bruce Hagen" wrote:
>
>> <Reply Inline>
>>
>> "pwrichcreek" <pwrichcreek@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:05445F35-28A2-40B6-8E3D-E2D4B3D3CDD0@microsoft.com...
>> > Sorry, I was (and am) apparently totally confused about the current
>> > implementation.
>> >
>> > I'm still confused about what happens after the 100th time OE closes.
>> > The
>> > insideoe article you point me to says in part "OE now waits until you
>> > open
>> > and close the program 100 times. After that 100th time OE begins to
>> > compact..." This sounds to me as if it's going to compact whether I
>> > think
>> > it's a good time to do that or not. Your message says "...Now you will
>> > get
>> > a
>> > prompt to compact after 100 OE closings, which you should do." Which is
>> > it?
>> > Do I get the opportunity to say "NO, I don;t want to compact at this
>> > time",
>> > or does OE go ahead and do it without giving me an option to say NO?
>> > I'm
>> > not
>> > trying to split hairs, but I think this is the crux of the issue for
>> > me.
>> > On
>> > the one hand, I can't control whether compaction happens at
>> > more-or-less
>> > random times (the 100th open/close); on the other hand, I can just say
>> > NO
>> > whenever asked, if it's not a good time to compact. I do not recall
>> > ever
>> > being prompted to go/nogo compaction and that's why it seems plausible
>> > to
>> > me
>> > that it's going to go ahead and compact the 100th time, whether I want
>> > it
>> > to
>> > or not, without my ever realizing it.
>>
>>
>> The article is a bit confusing. Unless you have made a change, with
>> XP/SP2,
>> after 100 closings you will be prompted to compact. You can say no, but
>> you
>> will keep seeing that prompt every time you close OE until you do
>> compact.
>> It will not compact without you knowing unless you chose to not show the
>> prompt again.
>>
>>
>> >
>> > If I can expect that OE will be compacting at some time, without my
>> > realizing it, then I would like to be able to run something
>> > more-or-less
>> > automatically to keep that from happening, hence my question about a
>> > program
>> > for resetting the counter to zero at OE startup.
>>
>>
>> You can reset the counter to zero whenever you want, via the Register.
>> But
>> failure to compact periodically will result in a slowdown of OE and a
>> good
>> chance of loseing messages forever.
>>
>>
>> >
>> > I'm also not totally secure in what is being said about the need for
>> > compaction. Seems there are two schools of thought: 1) you need to
>> > compact
>> > often because it improves performance and conserves disk space; 2) you
>> > need
>> > to compact often because OE has certain limitations which will cause
>> > messages, even entire folders, to be lost if you don't compact often
>> > enough.
>> > I now have a feeling that both are true, but I had been working under
>> > the
>> > impression that the only real downside to not compacting was #1
>> > (performance
>> > and disk space). Taking a performance and disk space hit to avoid
>> > losing
>> > messages after an automatic compaction had been terminated before
>> > completion
>> > seemed like a no-brainer.
>>
>>
>> In addition to my last above remark, when you delete messages, and empty
>> the
>> Deleted Items folder, the dbx file size does not decrease until you
>> compact.
>> The dbx files have size limitations which is why compaction is necessary.
>>
>>
>> >
>> > Regarding "Replace the Compact Prompt:" -- I don't see anything in my
>> > Registry that sounds like it has anything to do with the Compact Prompt
>> > for
>> > any of the three userids that I have defined. I see "HTML Plain
>> > warning,
>> > Send
>> > Mail Warning, Saved in Saved Items". So I guess I'll see the prompt
>> > after
>> > the
>> > next 100th open/close of OE.
>>
>>
>> This is how you can reset the counter to zero, (0). But if you change the
>> number to 100, you will see the compact prompt after opening and closing
>> OE,
>> (unless you did choose Do Not Show Me This Again). Whatever you do, Once
>> compacting has started, Do Not touch anything until it has finished.
>>
>> I still believe that OETool (Freeware) is the best thing you can do,
>> because
>> you compact when you want, and it is the only program that will reset the
>> counter to zero when you're done.
>>
>> Feel free to post back if you need more clarification.
>> --
>> Bruce Hagen
>> MS MVP - Outlook Express
>> ~IB-CA~
>>
>>
>> >
>> > Thank you very much for your help. I apologize for being so dense.
>> >
>> > Phil
>> >
>> >
>> > "Bruce Hagen" wrote:
>> >
>> >> 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.
>> >>
>> >> 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. 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/
>> >>
>> >> It is still advised to check Work Offline before you compact.
>> >>
>> >> If the folders are being compacted automatically, you must have
>> >> checked
>> >> Do
>> >> not show me this again for the prompt to compact after 100 closings of
>> >> OE.
>> >> The first thing you have to do is put the prompt back, because
>> >> removing
>> >> it
>> >> doesn't stop compacting, you just don't know it is happening now and
>> >> if
>> >> you
>> >> do something such as turning off the computer while compacting is in
>> >> progress, you will wipe out messages.
>> >>
>> >> Replace the Compact Prompt:
>> >>
>> >> Go to: Start>Run>Regedit>Enter and follow this path:
>> >>
>> >> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{GUID}\Software\Micro soft\Outlook
>> >> Express\5.0\Don't Show Dialogs.
>> >>
>> >> In the right pane right click on the appropriate entry and choose
>> >> Delete.
>> >>
>> >> 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.
>> >>
>> >> 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. 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/
>> >>
>> >> It is still advised to check Work Offline before you compact.
>> >>
>> >> Please read:
>> >>
>> >> Why Mail Disappears:
>> >> http://www.insideoe.com/problems/bugs.htm#mailgone
>> >>
>> >> About File Corruption:
>> >> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/...orruption.mspx
>> >> --
>> >> Bruce Hagen
>> >> MS MVP - Outlook Express
>> >> ~IB-CA~
>> >>
>> >> "pwrichcreek" <pwrichcreek@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> >> news:80F94A1E-210E-4B6F-94BC-E995DAF0A339@microsoft.com...
>> >> > I've read quite a few of the threads that discuss compaction and it
>> >> > seems
>> >> > to
>> >> > me the bottom line is that compaction can be hazardous to the
>> >> > health
>> >> > of
>> >> > your
>> >> > OE folders. Suppose that you had complete control over compacting;
>> >> > what
>> >> > is
>> >> > the worst that could happen if you almost NEVER compacted?
>> >> >
>> >> > It seems to me that if you could reset the
>> >> > howManyTimesHasOEBeenClosed
>> >> > counter to zero, each time you started OE, automatic compaction
>> >> > would
>> >> > never
>> >> > occur. Then, when you observed whatever bad thing(s) starts to creep
>> >> > in
>> >> > due
>> >> > to not compacting, you could manually compact in a controlled
>> >> > environment,
>> >> > such as a modified SAFE mode.
>> >> >
>> >> > Is the howManyTimesHasOEBeenClosed counter kept in the Registry?
>> >> > Would
>> >> > it
>> >> > be
>> >> > difficult to write a program that could be run each time Windows
>> >> > starts
>> >> > that
>> >> > would simply reset the count to 0, or even better when OE starts up.
>> >> > I
>> >> > believe I read that OEtool resets the counter, but only after doing
>> >> > a
>> >> > manual
>> >> > compaction. What I'm suggesting is something that: does the reset
>> >> > without
>> >> > any
>> >> > manual intervention, that is, could be run at Windows (or OE)
>> >> > startup;
>> >> > and,
>> >> > does not require compacting. An alternative might be a program that
>> >> > simply
>> >> > displays the value of the counter that could run each time you start
>> >> > Windows
>> >> > (or OE). This would give you the opportunity to run a manual
>> >> > compaction
>> >> > when
>> >> > the counter started to approach the automatic trigger value (100?).
>> >> >
>> >> > TIA for your comments,
>> >> >
>> >> > Phil
>> >>
>> >>
>>
>>

Tom: Thanks a million for your advice. Actually the roor message came
immediately, as soon as the compaction command was given, so I moved all the
messages, save the last two, from "inbox" to another folder. After that the
compaction process proceeded normally. Thanks again. Just knowing that
experienced professionals are out there to help, makes life that much
easier!!

I have also turned off the "compact messages in background" option, after
seeing several psts on this issue.

Just a thouight: After reading many posts in these forums, I gather that
given the inherent fragility of the ".dbx" system, even keeping the inbox
slim, and regular compacting, would not always prevent problems with file
corruption. Is this assumption correct? If so, maybe should back up my
message store often on a CD or other media - maybe I should use IETool or
similar? Would keeping the no. of personlaities down to just one be of any
help? Or could one say that Outlook is a more robust program as compared to
Outlook Express - as far as mail is comcerned? Welcome your feedback on this.

Best wishes for a very merry Christmas & a happy and prosperous New Year.
This is a very useful forum, the conttributors deserve real praise for
their expertise and promptness.
sekharr
"Tom Koch" wrote:

> "sekharr" <sekharr@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:3C92AB85-19BC-4241-8AE1-DADFDC65334F@microsoft.com
> > Hi: I'm a newbie, need some help. Using OE6 running on Wn98SE, I do
> > compact folders periodically. Today I tried do so, but OE crashed
> > with following error message:MSIMN caused an invalid page fault in
> > module DIRECTDB.DLL at 017f:01af6b9b.".
> > Assuming that folders.dbx was corrupted, I tried the following:
> > (1) Went "offline"
> > (2) Used "find" to locate folders.dbx (there wre 3, maybe one for
> > each identity) renamed them to "folder_old.dbx"
> > Tried this twice, crashes every time. However OE is still functioning
> > normally. Can anybody suggest a way to restore compacting? Thanks in
> > advance. sekharr
>
> That error message means one or more *.dbx files is damaged. We can rule out
> folders.dbx as the culprit since renaming it didn't affect the error. Try
> compacting again, but drag the compacting window up to the corner. That way,
> when the error window appears you will still be able to see which folder
> stopped the compaction. It is that folder's dbx file which is too damaged for
> OE to compact.
>
> Once you determine the problem folder, try moving all messages from that folder
> into a new empty folder, close OE, delete the damaged dbx, then re-open and
> compact all folders again.
>
> --
> Tom Koch, MVP for IE/Outlook Express
> http://tomserdam.com
> http://insideoe.com
> http://iusevista.com
> Awareness is free.
>
>
>

"sekharr" <sekharr@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:683A0079-6471-41A1-931D-F0E8E163E2A0@microsoft.com
> Just a thouight: After reading many posts in these forums, I gather
> that given the inherent fragility of the ".dbx" system, even keeping
> the inbox slim, and regular compacting, would not always prevent
> problems with file corruption. Is this assumption correct?

Correct in theory, but practically speaking if you keep regular mainteance your
store should be fine.

> If so,
> maybe should back up my message store often on a CD or other media -
> maybe I should use IETool or similar?

You should always back up anything on your computer that you value. As for how
to back up OE, there are lots of OE-specific backup programs for sale, as well
as one freebie. See http://www.insideoe.com/backup

> Would keeping the no. of
> personlaities down to just one be of any help?

What do you mean by personalities? If you mean mail and news accounts inside a
single Identity, the more accounts you have the larger "folders.dbx" will
become, and so it might be more likely to become damaged. If you mean instead
Identities, it doesn't matter if you have one or a thousand because only one
Identity is active at any one time.

> Or could one say that
> Outlook is a more robust program as compared to Outlook Express - as
> far as mail is comcerned?

Yes, Outlook is a more robust solution that Outlook Express.

--
Tom Koch, MVP for IE/Outlook Express
http://tomserdam.com
http://insideoe.com
http://iusevista.com
Awareness is free.

Thanks again. You have been most helpful. Best wishes for the New Year.

"Tom Koch" wrote:

> "sekharr" <sekharr@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:683A0079-6471-41A1-931D-F0E8E163E2A0@microsoft.com
> > Just a thouight: After reading many posts in these forums, I gather
> > that given the inherent fragility of the ".dbx" system, even keeping
> > the inbox slim, and regular compacting, would not always prevent
> > problems with file corruption. Is this assumption correct?
>
> Correct in theory, but practically speaking if you keep regular mainteance your
> store should be fine.
>
> > If so,
> > maybe should back up my message store often on a CD or other media -
> > maybe I should use IETool or similar?
>
> You should always back up anything on your computer that you value. As for how
> to back up OE, there are lots of OE-specific backup programs for sale, as well
> as one freebie. See http://www.insideoe.com/backup
>
> > Would keeping the no. of
> > personlaities down to just one be of any help?
>
> What do you mean by personalities? If you mean mail and news accounts inside a
> single Identity, the more accounts you have the larger "folders.dbx" will
> become, and so it might be more likely to become damaged. If you mean instead
> Identities, it doesn't matter if you have one or a thousand because only one
> Identity is active at any one time.
>
> > Or could one say that
> > Outlook is a more robust program as compared to Outlook Express - as
> > far as mail is comcerned?
>
> Yes, Outlook is a more robust solution that Outlook Express.
>
> --
> Tom Koch, MVP for IE/Outlook Express
> http://tomserdam.com
> http://insideoe.com
> http://iusevista.com
> Awareness is free.
>
>
>