Outlook Express

Sorry for the delay, I just like my responses to be as thorough as possible!

I don't know where the "I guess" at the bottom of the page came from.

Gremlins

I just set up my inbox like you asked and deleted the scanning of both incoming and out outgoing e-mails in Norton. Guess what. It all seems to work now. WHY???

Outlook Express starts faster now doesn't it? It has now been freed from opening a large Inbox folder.

While I do not know the intricacies of how antivirus programs scan emails, it has been reported that this can lead to message corruption within Outlook Express.
I give you one of the statements repeated by the MVPs in the Outlook Express newsgroups:

Even the incoming email scan is not necessary. An email with a virus
attached is not a problem unless you open the attachment, at which point
your anti-virus system scan will stop it. I don't recommend any email
scanning on a client machine because of the long history of anti-virus
programs damaging Outlook Express files.
Tom Koch - MVP for Internet Explorer and Outlook Express

This error: 0x800CCC0F is referred to in this article:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=813514
Norton is listed as one of the antivirus programs that can cause this error.
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You can also increase your Server Timeouts here:
Tools > Accounts > AccountName > Properties > Advanced tab
I have mine set to at least 1 minute 30 seconds.
I also use AVG as my antivirus scanner, it also scans my emails. Though while it is doing so, I let it finish before I access any messages.
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It is also possible your Identity in Outlook Express was damaged, you could create a new Identity in Outlook Express:
File > Identities > Add New Identity > Name the Identity
Switch to the new Identity when asked, fill out your account information, Import your messages and Address Book into your new Identity, then delete the old Identity.
File > Identities > Manage Identities

At that time, you could try re-enabling email scanning with Norton, it may work for that Identity for a time, no guarantees though.
Reinstalling Norton may also clear it up for a time. Though as stated above it may lead to corruption of your message store.
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Experiment away! That is how I learn!
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If you are interested in making a backup of your messages…
Find the location of the Store Folder for Outlook Express this way:
In Outlook Express
Tools > Options > Maintenance tab
click the Store Folder button to see the path where the Identity keeps its .dbx files.
Open Windows Explorer, navigate to that directory, COPY all the .dbx files to a folder on your Desktop, either leave them there while experimenting or copy them to a CD-R or CD-RW.

If everything goes well, then you can just delete that folder, if not, you can restore those .dbx files back into the directory they came from. Outlook Express will need to be closed while doing that.

Did I leave anything out?

Left something out,

Outlook Express is probably due for some maintenance.
Close all programs.
Open Outlook Express
File > Work Offline
Click on the Local Folders folder
File > Folder > Compact All Folders
Walk away from the computer until this process is complete.
Never start this process if the possibility of a power outage is imminent such as a thunderstorm in progress.
Or use the OETool, link below, to compact your message Store.

Since you have Windows XP SP2, compact messages in the background has been disabled with Service Pack 2.
Though after the 100th closing of Outlook Express, you will be asked if you want to Compact your messages.
If you answer "NO", you will be nagged every time you close Outlook Express, until you do so, once you answer "YES", do not force Outlook Express to shut down, just walk away from the computer until the process is complete. Otherwise, you could lose your message store.

This nifty little program developed by another MVP, Steve Cochran is free and when used to Compact your messages will reset the Registry key back to zero.
http://www.oehelp.com/OETool/

Hope you find it useful!

Thanks for the responses. I just got back to this so I will go through it tonight and tomorrow and get back to you. Thanks a lot.

OK. Let us know how it goes.

I went ahead and compacted the files like you suggested but I think I will leave the rest alone unless you think I should follow one of your other suggestions. It appears to me that I may be just as well of right now as if I were to try any of the other suggestions. I think the only thing I don't have currently (unless System Suite 5 is doing it which I still haven't checked) is e-mail scanning and if the anti virus programs that I have will pick up any thing that I open by accident I should be alright now. Do you agree with this or do you have a different opinion?

Just checked. System Suite 5 does scan e-mail and it is enabled.

e-mail scanning and if the anti virus programs that I have will pick up any thing that I open by accident I should be alright now. Do you agree with this or do you have a different opinion?

It makes sense that with email scanning disabled and an up to date antivirus program running, the antivirus program would alert you when you opened the attachment, since the email scanner would have been using the same virus definitions as the antivirus program. But, one should always follow the rule, Never open an attachment without saving it to your hard drive and running a scan on it first.

I am of the stance that it is the users preference whether they want email scanning enabled or disabled.
Some users experience problems with email scanning enabled, some do not.


If one day you open Outlook Express and your messages start coming in blank again, the first thing to eliminate for a cause, would be to disable email scanning as you did earlier to see if that corrects the problem.


I also have email scanning enabled with my antivirus program AVG. I have seen where it stripped several viruses out of emails before downloading them into Outlook Express, the little buggers were locked up in the Virus Vault, pretty cool
Hopefully, with System Suite 5, you will have as good an experience as I have had with AVG.

Always keep your antivirus program updated, your protection is only as good as the last date you updated.

Remember to keep your Inbox empty!

OK. Thanks for all of your help with this and to LD. I have one last question. Am I doing something wrong with Ad-aware? It scans fine but when I tell it to delete it gets hung up for hours trying to delete something. It used to work fine so I think I know how to run it. I have tried uninstalling and re-installing and to no avail. Do you know anything about this?

After doing the below, try running Ad-Aware again. It shouldn't be hanging up. If it still hangs, try it in Safe Mode. After the Safe Mode scan, try in normal mode again. Let me know how it goes.


Good Job


Log looks good

Note: This will remove all previous Restore Points

Turn off System Restore:

On the Desktop, right-click My Computer.
Click Properties.
Click the System Restore tab.
Check Turn off System Restore.
Click Apply, and then click OK.

Restart your computer, turn it back on.

On the Desktop, right-click My Computer.
Click Properties.
Click the System Restore tab.
Remove the Check Turn off System Restore.
Click Apply, and then click OK.

Click Start> My Computer, select the Tools menu and then Folder Options, after the new window appears select the View tab…]
This time select the: Restore Defaults
Select: Apply, and click OK




If you dont have these three programs I would recommend that you get them. Spywareblaster, Spywareguard and IESPY AD. They will add 1000's of sites to your resticted zone and block some hijacks from happening. I also have a FREE FIREWALL and FREE ANTI VIRUS if you need one.

It is critical to have both a firewall and anti virus to protect your system.

Keep your system up to date and run Adaware & Spybot, once a week works, and hopefully you will be ok from here on. Both are available below.

Safe Surfing.

I'm finally back. I'm trying to remove the previous Restore Points but after clicking on properties there is no system restore tab. Am I doing something wrong? I'm right clicking on My Computer and then clicking Properties.

Try logging in as Administrator.

How do I do that?

Try it this way: Don't worry about the administrator: Click Start> All Programs.> Accessories> System Tools> System Restore> Create a Restore Point. Use today.

I got in that way but I don't have the option of clicking Apply and then OK. My options are Cancel or Next. If I click Next it wants me to name the System Restore Point. Sorry for all the questions.

If I click Next it wants me to name the System Restore Point. Sorry for all the questions.

Name it after cleanup