Oyster55
asked on
Cannot delete messages in Outlook Express
I have a new PC with Windows XP and Outlook Express with all MS updates completed. I was sending large emails containing pictures to test what the limit my ISP puts on my email sizes. (It seems pretty huge, beyond 30MB even...) Anyway, when I went to try delete the Sent messages (because they are wasting space), my PC does nothing (no error, no popup warning, nothing) and the messages are still there. I CAN delete older messages that are small in size, but none of the newer messages. Just weird. Anyway, does anyone have a suggestion what to try? I can send and receive email just fine, but cannot delete email from any of the 30 or so folders I have.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Oyster55:--Thanks for telling us what you did.
"OE message files get flakey when they get too large. The exact number cannot be determined precisely, but it is less than 2GB."
And compacting is usually the better way to clear the deleted items.dbx file. But if deleting it worked for you, that is good news.
Contrary to how the items in the other .dbx files work, the items in the deleted items.dbx file actually remain, even when you think you have gotten rid of them. Compacting is the way to delete those items.
"OE message files get flakey when they get too large. The exact number cannot be determined precisely, but it is less than 2GB."
And compacting is usually the better way to clear the deleted items.dbx file. But if deleting it worked for you, that is good news.
Contrary to how the items in the other .dbx files work, the items in the deleted items.dbx file actually remain, even when you think you have gotten rid of them. Compacting is the way to delete those items.
ASKER
But the REAL solution had nothing to do with file corruption, and make total sense:
I could not delete any files because the 'Deleted Items' folder was maxed out at 2GB!
When I deleted the 'Deleted Items,dbx' file and re-started Outlook Express, I was then able to
delete files from any folder to my hearts content!
Thanks again.
==========================