The Inbox.dbx should have done the second part, not Folders.dbx. But if
you're happy, we're happy.

For the future:

Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually become
corrupted. 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.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~


<glin@intellibridge.com> wrote in message
news:1135663542.191633.160240@g47g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> Thank you folks for your helpful suggestions. In brief I did two
> things:
>
> 1) went into Norton Antivirus and turned off Email Scanning. This step
> restored the flow of email into my inbox, adding several hundred ones
> that it had blocked. however, the cursor still froze on the problematic
> photo-filled email. then I closed outlook express and
>
> 2) did a search for all files INCLUDING hidden ones and deleted all
> folders.dbx. there were 4 of them. once i had done this, i was able to
> jump into outlook express and delete all the emails in there. I was
> fine with losing all the stored email in order to have a working
> outlook again.
>

Down, boy, down!

Ron Sommer wrote:
> Did you miss "long deleted through webmail access" ?
>
> "Bruce Hagen" <Nospam@mymail.invalid> wrote in message
> news:OoXPqvoCGHA.984@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> > It is probably a large message.
> >
> > The first thing to do is to turn off e-mail scanning in your anti-virus
> > program, and leave it off. It is a redundant part of your A/V, so you
> > will still be protected.
> >
> > Next: create a message rule.
> >
> > Where the message size is more than size
> > Delete it from the server
> > Click on Size and select 50KB. OK | Apply Now | Select the new rule |
> > Apply Now.
> >
> > You might want to save the rule for future use, but uncheck it so it
> > isn't active.
> >
> > If still no joy, move all messages out of your Inbox that you wish to
> > save to a local folder you create. Then:
> >
> > Tools | Options | Maintenance | Store folder will reveal the location of
> > your Outlook Express files. Press the Tab key to highlight the folder
> > location, then Ctrl+C. Close OE, then Start | Run | Ctrl+V will put the
> > location in the box - Click OK and you'll see the OE files. Otherwise,
> > write the location down and navigate to it in Windows Explorer.
> >
> > In WindowsXP, 2K & 3K, the OE user files (DBX and WAB) are by default
> > marked as hidden. To view these files in Explorer, you must enable Show
> > Hidden Files and Folders under Start | Control Panel | Folder Options |
> > View.
> >
> > With OE closed, find the DBX file for the folder in question {Inbox.dbx}
> > and delete it. A new one will be created automatically when you open
> > OE. 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}.
> > --
> > Bruce Hagen
> > MS MVP - Outlook Express
> > ~IB-CA~
> >
> > <glin@intellibridge.com> wrote in message
> > news:1135647283.388886.99720@f14g2000cwb.googlegro ups.com...
> > > this is a dell windows xp home computer.
> > >
> > > There are two messages that, even though long deleted through webmail
> > > access, remain boldfaced and supposedly unread. The cursor stays stuck
> > > on 1 of them and the Outlook Express freezes as soon as 1 tries to do
> > > ANYTHING. the scroll at the bottom says Outlook is trying to receive
> > > messages.
> > >
> > > What should I do? reinstall outlook? find a file and rename it?
> > > Thanks.