[mikegru]

I'm running XP, SP1, use MS Outlook Express 6 (6.00.2800.1106) and have saved messages in my Inbox from early 2005 until today. When I searched today for a past date message, I found there is a gap in the messages, and I'm missing messages from July 13, 2005 until July 10, 2006. Is there a program that will look for errors in Outlook Express and clean up the message database so that I can read the past date messages? The inbox file does list messsages July 12, 2005 and earlier, and those from July 11, 2006. The inbox.dbx file is 2GB so I would assume all the info is still there, OE just can't read it. Can you help?

Thanks - Mike

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First, try running chkdsk

start > ruin
cmd
<enter>

chkdsk /r
<enter>

If that fails, you can try a couple of things

You can download an email program like THUNDERBIRD form Mozilla or Eudora, each of which will import email messages from the MS dbx file (if possible), or even Outlook

You can also try a program like
http://www.oehelp.co...ct/Default.aspx
or dbxexpress
http://www.oehelp.co...ss/Default.aspx

These two options are pay for programs....dbxexpress is the better option and probably your best bet

[gerryf]

First, try running chkdsk

start > ruin
cmd
<enter>

chkdsk /r
<enter>

If that fails, you can try a couple of things

You can download an email program like THUNDERBIRD form Mozilla or Eudora, each of which will import email messages from the MS dbx file (if possible), or even Outlook

You can also try a program like
http://www.oehelp.co...ct/Default.aspx
or dbxexpress
http://www.oehelp.co...ss/Default.aspx

These two options are pay for programs....dbxexpress is the better option and probably your best bet

[mikegru]

Thanks - should I default to the root directory when running ckhdsk?

[mikegru]

Chkdsk will not run - error response is: "This type of file system is NTFS. Cannot Lock durrent drive. CHKDSK cannot run because the volume is in use by another process". Then asks if I want to run this upon the next startup. I restarted, but chkdsk did not seem to run.

[wannabe1]

Hi mikegru...

Did you type Y and press "Enter" at the prompt to run on the next boot?

wannabe1

[mikegru]

Yes. Upon reboot, a blue screen briefly flashed then the boot continued as it regularly does. I tried importing to Outlook, but the Inbox did not import (actually it did import about a dozen messages from December 2004) - the rest of my folders did import though. Could I try to use system restore (if it's still turned on) to try to restore settings from a few days ago?

[gerryf]

that will not do what you need it to....

I am a bit perplexed that chkddsk did not run....do you have a true Windows disk?

[mikegru]

Just tried running chkdsk again at startup, and it is running (on another machine - I'm writing from a laptop). It is very slow however - about 13% after 10 minutes. Will let you know status after it's complete. What about my comment about system restore? Might it restore the messages?

[mikegru]

OK, chkdsk finished running, and still am missing the messages. Tried the import again into Outlook, but it still only imports about 20 messages from 2004. Any other suggestions other than dbxpress?

[mikegru]

I've been reading trying to find a solutionm and came across a reference to a 2Gb problem - have you heard anything about OE not being able to read a mail folder which exceeds 2Gb in size? My inbox is a tad over 2Gb. The article I read mentions PST and OST files - what are these?

Regards,
Mike