msimn error message and lost inbox

I'm using outlook express 6 on 98 2nd. I first got an error message " Msimn,
This program has performed an illegal yadayadayada. It would shut down OE and
I would have to bring it up again. This would happen while it was recieving
mail. I tried to clear it up with no sucess. It finally had come to it's
senses on it's own for a day then did it again. When I brought it back up it
works fine, except all of the mail in my inbox has disappeared. How do I
restore the inbox data and what is causing these problems?

Find your message store first.

Tools | Options | Maintenance | Store Folder will reveal the location of
your Outlook Express files. Write the location down and navigate to it in
Windows Explorer or, copy and paste it into Start | Run.

In WinXP, Win2K & Win2K3, the OE user files (DBX and WAB) are by default
marked as hidden. To view these files in Windows Explorer, you must enable
Show Hidden Files and Folders under Start | Control Panel | Folder Options
Icon | View, or in Windows Explorer | Tools | Folder Options | View.

With OE closed, rename the Inbox.dbx to Inboxold.dbx and drag it to the
Desktop. When you open OE you will have a new and empty Inbox.

Now, work on the crashing.

Start here.

When OE crashes or won't start:
http://www.insideoe.com/problems/errors.htm#crash

When you have OE up and running, see this about importing the Inbox.old
file. Do not try to put it back in the new Inbox.

How to restore individual dbx files:
http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx#imp1

If that shows up empty, you will need a retrieval tool.

DBXpress:
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

You may need to run it in the Extract From Disk Mode if its normal recovery
mode fails to find the lost messages.

General precautions for Outlook Express:

Do not archive mail in the Inbox or Sent Items. Create your own user defined
folders and move the messages you wish to save to them. Empty Deleted Items
folder daily. Although dbx files have a theoretical capacity of 2GB, I
recommend about a 300MB max for less chance of corruption.

Information about the maximum file size of the .dbx files that are used by
Outlook Express:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=903095

After you are done, follow up by compacting your folders manually while
working *offline* and do it often.

Click on Outlook Express at the top of the folder tree so no folders are
open. Then: File | Work Offline (or double click Working Online in the
Status Bar). File | Folder | Compact all folders. Don't touch anything until
the compacting is completed.

Turn off e-mail scanning in your anti-virus program. It is a redundant layer
of protection that eats up CPUs and causes a multitude of problems such as
time-outs and account setting changes. Your up-to-date A/V program will
continue to protect you sufficiently. For more, see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3

In Tools | Options | Maintenance: Uncheck Compact messages in background and
leave it unchecked. {N/A if running XP/SP2}.

And backup often.

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB Freeware)
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--

Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP [Mail]
Imperial Beach, CA


"punkrats" wrote in message
...
I'm using outlook express 6 on 98 2nd. I first got an error message "
Msimn,
This program has performed an illegal yadayadayada. It would shut down OE
and
I would have to bring it up again. This would happen while it was
recieving
mail. I tried to clear it up with no sucess. It finally had come to it's
senses on it's own for a day then did it again. When I brought it back up
it
works fine, except all of the mail in my inbox has disappeared. How do I
restore the inbox data and what is causing these problems?

Why it happens:

http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/probl...s.htm#mailgone
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/...orruption.mspx

Recovering the missing data: http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx (#2 and #4)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DBXpress (faster, more powerful, with even greater functionality than
DBXtract)
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Avoiding Such Corruption in Future in Win98SE:

- Don't use Inbox or Sent Items to archive messages. Move them to local
folders created for this purpose.

- Empty Deleted Items folder daily.

- Disable Background Compacting and frequently perform a manual compact of
all OE folders while "working offline". More at
http://www.insideoe.com/files/maintain.htm

- Disable email scanning by your anti-virus application. It can cause
corruption (i.e., loss of messages) and provides no additional protection:

Why you don't need your anti-virus to scan your email
http://thundercloud.net/infoave/tuto...ning/index.htm

--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Client - since 2002


punkrats wrote:
I'm using outlook express 6 on 98 2nd. I first got an error message "
Msimn,
This program has performed an illegal yadayadayada. It would shut down OE
and I would have to bring it up again. This would happen while it was
recieving mail. I tried to clear it up with no sucess. It finally had come
to it's senses on it's own for a day then did it again. When I brought it
back up it works fine, except all of the mail in my inbox has disappeared.
How do I restore the inbox data and what is causing these problems?

On Tue, 2 Jun 2009 13:20:01 -0700, punkrats wrote:

I'm using outlook express 6 on 98 2nd. I first got an error message " Msimn,
This program has performed an illegal yadayadayada. It would shut down OE and
I would have to bring it up again. This would happen while it was recieving
mail. I tried to clear it up with no sucess. It finally had come to it's
senses on it's own for a day then did it again. When I brought it back up it
works fine, except all of the mail in my inbox has disappeared. How do I
restore the inbox data and what is causing these problems?

Not sure why. Did you move the message store to a network location? Could
explain what you saw, and means that your data is likely lost for good.
Otherwise, I don't know what happened, why, or where the email went.

--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum