I have been using Outlook Express for a few years now, but recently the program has been acting up. Whenever i click a link from an email, the browser will take forever to load and it will freeze up Outlook Express.

Are there other options for email software?

I use Outlook Express to send and receive emails from 2 different accounts, maybe 20 emails or so a day tops. I also have a large address book.

Thanks for your help.

 

It's probably time to reindex the OE database. Sometimes it can get a bit unstable when the database files are large. If you can tell me what OS you are using, I can help you fix OE.

G

 

XP, thank you.l

 

Okay, please read carefully so as not to lose all your emails. If there is something you don't understand, post back and we'll sort it out. I'd suggest printing out these instructions.

Make sure OE is not open and do the following:

1. Go to Control Panel\Folder Options ,click the View tab and Set the View settings to the following:
A. Select "Show hidden files and folders"
B. Uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types"
C. Uncheck "Hide protected operating system files" (Say yes to the warning)
D. Click Ok.

2. Open Windows Explorer.

3. Create a new folder in C:\ called "OE Backup"

4. Navigate to: C:\Documents and Settings\"Your User Name"\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{Big Long Number}\Microsoft\Outlook Express

5. Make a a note of all the files in there. Make sure they end with the ".dbx" extension. If they don't or if the folder isn't there, post back and we'll proceed with something else. There will be one file that ends with a ".log", and that's ok.

6. Copy the contents of the Original OE folder to OE Backup

7. After copying, delete the entire contents of the original OE folder but leave the folder there. I know this is scary, but you just copied the contents to another folder, right?

8. Open OE. Don't panic. It won't look right as all of your folders will be gone but we're going to fix that in the next few steps.

9. Click File\Import\Messages

10. Select Outlook Express 6, click Next.

11. Select Import mail from an OE6 store directory, click Ok.

12. Click the Browse button and navigate to C:\OE Backup, click Ok once you highlight the folder, then click Next.

13. Make sure All folders is selected and click Next.

14. Watch in amazement as all of your folders and messages magically reappear.

16. Close\Re-Open OE and see if this fixes the slow response time.


Post back when you're done or if you have questions.

G

 

Thank you very much, your instructions were flawless and the process went very smooth.

However, it did not solve my problem. Still very slow loading time for links.

 

Hmmmm. I hafta leave for work. In the meantime, give me more info about your system:

1. What browser are you using?

2. What Antivirus are you using?

3. How much memory do you have?

4. How big is the HDD?

5. Have you cleaned out your Temp folders recently? There are basically 2 Temp folder locations to check. Your Profile\Local Settings\Temp and Windows\Temp Empty those folders and see if that helps. Also, clean out your Temporary Internet Files folder if you use IE and see if that helps as well.

6. When was the last time you defragmented your HDD?

I'll be back later to check in.

Peace.
G

 

I've been using Eudora v6, and really like it. I'll never go back to OE. The build in spam filter works very well, and it is easy to move messages to the junk folder when the program misses one. I do check my junk folder every so often for messages that should not have been filtered. It happens to me about twice a month that it filters a personal message. You can also adjust the spam filter to your liking.

 

1. Mozilla FireFox
2. ZoneAlarm Firewall
3. 1.11 GB RAM
4. 40GB, 11.1 GB free
5. No, will do that now. (done, didnt help)
6. Defragmented?

 

I've used Eudora since 1993 and have never used anything else unless forced into it for work email.


But... I think that Galen (Dr. Z) has a better approach right now - working through RTD's issues on his present system. Moving to a new email app can be painful, 'specially if you want to keep all of your old email.

While I'm (we're?) dying to jump in here, I think we should stand clear and let Dr. Z have at it.

 

After reindexing the OE database, clearing the temporary internet files, and clearing the "cftmon.exe" file from startup and a restart of the system, OE is running much better and loading Mozilla links much faster. I will report back later.

 

Kewl!

I'll wait to hear from you before giving you anything else to do.

G

 

I realized I never answered your defragment question. Defragging is a useful thing to do on your system about once a month or so. The utility to defragment your HDD is located in: Start\All Programs\Accessories\System Tools\Disk Defragmenter

Run it an then select your hard drive in the right-hand pane. Then click on Defragment. The process will take anywhere from 5 minutes to several hours depending on the size of the HDD, the file system type (NTFS vs FAT32), the amount of data on it, the amount of fragmented files, the speed of the HDD and CPU, available memory and how many programs are running in the background.

Fragmentation is what happens when files are not placed contiguously on the HDD. They are "broken up" into several pieces and spread out across the HDD platters. So, when those files are read, it takes several more platter rotations to fully find all the parts and subsequently load them into memory. All of this, as you can imagine, slows down the system and can make simple things like launching a link take forever.

Hope this helps.

Peace.
G

 

By the way, thanks for staying the hell out of my way.

 

OK, back to square one. OE is screwing up again. im going to try you on AIM.

OE keeps freezing up. the other programs are running fine, OE keeps on freezing.