[Throoper]

Good morning Bob,

In the shot you posted, it only has one WAB. It's that open book icon.
When you put the copy in, did you get asked to replace the existing file?

Yes, the right click and add sender is very strange.
Two things for you to look at.
Open the C:\Documents and Settings\Robert Tracy\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book folder, that's where the Robert Tracy.old file is, and see if there is a wab file in there now in addition to the .OLD file.
Other thing, at the top of OE, click View>Layout. Place a check next to Contacts and OK.
Does the Contacts bar with names and/or addresses show up on the left side of OE?

You can try SeaMonkey and run it alongside your existing programs. Just don't set it as the Default.
If you have both OE and the SeaMonkey mail set to leave messages on the server, the messages should download into both.
As long as disk space isn't a concern (it would double the new mail).

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Morning Tom,

When you put the copy in, did you get asked to replace the existing file?

Yes. And did so.

Open the C:\Documents and Settings\Robert Tracy\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book folder, that's where the Robert Tracy.old file is, and see if there is a wab file in there now in addition to the .OLD file.

No, only the .OLD file.

Does the Contacts bar with names and/or addresses show up on the left side of OE?

Contacts bar shows but "There are no contacts to display".

I'm curious about something:

When I close OE I most often get this: "Outlook Express has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience". And Send Error Report/Don't Send.

Also there are two identities: Main Identity and Robert Tracy. I'm now at Main Identity, where it's at least funtioning. But I'm positive that it has always before been Robert Tracy. I tried to switch identities to Robert Tracy and it asked me to create an account. I clicked out of there and that froze my PC. I unfrozed it with Ctrl>Alt>Delete.

Bob

[Robert Tracy]

Morning Tom,

When you put the copy in, did you get asked to replace the existing file?

Yes. And did so.

Open the C:\Documents and Settings\Robert Tracy\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book folder, that's where the Robert Tracy.old file is, and see if there is a wab file in there now in addition to the .OLD file.

No, only the .OLD file.

Does the Contacts bar with names and/or addresses show up on the left side of OE?

Contacts bar shows but "There are no contacts to display".

I'm curious about something:

When I close OE I most often get this: "Outlook Express has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience". And Send Error Report/Don't Send.

Also there are two identities: Main Identity and Robert Tracy. I'm now at Main Identity, where it's at least funtioning. But I'm positive that it has always before been Robert Tracy. I tried to switch identities to Robert Tracy and it asked me to create an account. I clicked out of there and that froze my PC. I unfrozed it with Ctrl>Alt>Delete.

Bob

[Throoper]

Also there are two identities: Main Identity and Robert Tracy. I'm now at Main Identity, where it's at least funtioning. But I'm positive that it has always before been Robert Tracy. I tried to switch identities to Robert Tracy and it asked me to create an account. I clicked out of there and that froze my PC. I unfrozed it with Ctrl>Alt>Delete.

Bob

I think the missing piece of the puzzle may have appeared.
This was going to be the next thing anyway, and now I think it might not be as much of a stretch as I thought.
Create a New Identity.
In OE, click File>Identities>Add new identity.
Type a name for it and switch to it when asked.
Cancel out of setting up an account and also any Imports.
Click Tools>Accounts>Mail tab.
Click Import on the Mail tab. Just follow all the prompts.
The IAF file you saved is what you will browse to and Import.
When the Account is set up, click the Send Receive button on OE to download the mail thats on the server.
Send yourself a message to be sure the Send is set up correctly.
See if you have an Address book for this Identity.

Tom

[Robert Tracy]

When I type into Add new identity "Robert Tracy" (without quotes) it warns me: "Identity name is already in use. Choose another."

Don't know if this matters, but in my Original Email Properties under the General tab>Mail Account I have "Original Email" (again without quotes). Would that do as well as anything I might type into Add new identity? I did earlier try to switch identites to Robert Tracy but there's nothing there except the generic inbox etc., all empty.

Please advise.

Edited by Robert Tracy, 04 September 2008 - 09:52 AM.

[Throoper]

Doesn't matter what you name it. You can change it later if you want. You can name it Bob.
I'm guessing that the Robert Tracy Identity developed huge problems and crashed. That could be the source of all the problems you've had since. At least, let's hope so.

Just so you know, the name of an Identity is only for your info so you know what Identity you are in and can tell OE what one you want. It's strictly a reference item.

Edited by Throoper, 04 September 2008 - 10:10 AM.

[Robert Tracy]

I'm wondering if one way to go is File>Manage Identities I could simply click "Robert Tracy" and then Remove. Then, going back, when asked to "Add new identity" I could actually add "Robert Tracy".

If this is off the wall, I'll just go with Bob as you suggest.

[Throoper]

That would work. Before you remove Robert Tracy, if you don't mind and you can switch to it, check the Address book. I'm dying of curiosity to see if it's there and opens.

[Robert Tracy]

Switching to Robert Tracy I get: "The Address Book failed to load. Outlook Express is incorrectly configured, please re-install." And "Unable to open the Address Book. The Address Book may not be installed properly."

Plus it's frozen my computer again.

I'm sorry. It only froze OE. I was able to simply go down and exit from OE.

So if I'm going to add a new identity, for insurance should I first go to File>Export>Messages?

And should I in any case remove Robert Tracy from Identities?

And should I make a new IAF file since things have come in since I did that? And please pardon me; I forget how to create an IAF file. Talk about senility!

Edited by Robert Tracy, 04 September 2008 - 11:29 AM.

[Throoper]

Switching to Robert Tracy I get: "The Address Book failed to load. Outlook Express is incorrectly configured, please re-install." And "Unable to open the Address Book. The Address Book may not be installed properly."

Sounds familiar somehow, doesn't it.

So if I'm going to add a new identity, for insurance should I first go to File>Export>Messages?

And should I in any case remove Robert Tracy from Identities?

You already did that when you copied all the DBX files.
I would say to leave it until you get a new Identity set up and make sure it works.
Then you can remove it and rename the New Identity.

This is just to clarify the naming of Identities. It really doesn't matter what the name is, only you see it.
It's the Account name that gets displayed on outgoing mail. The Account and the Identity are two separate things. You can have multiple Accounts set up in a single Identity.

[Robert Tracy]

Create a New Identity.
In OE, click File>Identities>Add new identity.
Type a name for it and switch to it when asked.
Cancel out of setting up an account and also any Imports.
Click Tools>Accounts>Mail tab.
Click Import on the Mail tab. Just follow all the prompts.
The IAF file you saved is what you will browse to and Import.
When the Account is set up, click the Send Receive button on OE to download the mail thats on the server.
Send yourself a message to be sure the Send is set up correctly.
See if you have an Address book for this Identity.

This is just not working.

Cancel out of setting up an account and also any Imports.

I don't understand this. No matter what I do I get that message that "sorry that OE has to shut down, etc."

I'll try again....

[Throoper]

Does it let you create an Identity and switch to it?
The problem occurs when you get asked to set up the account?

[Robert Tracy]

Type a name for it and switch to it when asked.

This is when OE sends me the error message "sorry that OE has to shut down, etc."

[Throoper]

Okay, so basically OE won't let you create a New Identity.
The Robert Tracy Identity is empty (like a newly created Identity) but doesn't work.
The Main Identity works fine now but no Address book.

Hmmm!!! Maybe we should quit while we're ahead for the moment.
This is looking like far more than a repair. I'm not sure that a reinstall would even be worth the risk and effort, as Microsoft has pretty much bailed on OE and offers virtually no installation files or support.

If the Seamonkey Internet suite is too much (just want a mail program without all the other stuff) what would you think of Thunderbird, which is what I've changed over to due to the termination of support for OE from Microsoft. Just a thought.

[Robert Tracy]

Thank you Tom.

I was ready to suggest something similar to your

Maybe we should quit while we're ahead for the moment.

If the Seamonkey Internet suite is too much (just want a mail program without all the other stuff) what would you think of Thunderbird

Yes, I just want a basic email program. Will look into Thunderbird.

After I figure it out, I'll give you a report here.

One more question for today: I've got IE as my default. Shouldn't I change that to Firefox as my default browser?

Meanwhile, a huge thanks to you for staying with me on this.

Sincerely,

Bob

[Throoper]

Browsers are a matter of preference. If you like IE, keep it as the default.
Oh, you don't need to have Firefox if you have Thunderbird. They are totally separate programs. If you want to have Firefox to try or as a backup for IE, that's fine. You can have as many browsers (and e-mail programs for that matter) as you want. Just set the one you like best as the Default. The others can still be used by clicking their program icons, they just won't come up automatically when you click links.

One note on setting up Thunderbird. Don't Download messages until you've set up the account and gone into the Server Settings and checked the "Leave a copy of messages on the server". Otherwise the server will get cleared and you won't be able to also download them into OE if you want.

Sorry I couldn't help get OE fixed better, but I really think it's diminishing returns now.
You can't reinstall the Address book without also reinstalling OE, which comes as a package with IE6 which won't install over IE7 so that has to be rolled back to IE6, plus you don't have an install disc for a source of installation files, and I have no idea of what SP3 will tell you you can't do. Whew!!!!
Your Mac looks better and better, doesn't it?

Keep in touch,
Regards,
Tom