Sudden OE6 Compaction Problems

Dori, why did you reply to *my* post if you were addressing the OP?

On Aug 12, 11:21*am, "Dori A Schmetterling" wrote:
New Hope User

I am well aware of all the warnings here but my Inbox contains about 1.5 GB
I like to have everything in one place. *I don't worry about it very much as
I do backups at least once a day. *(Plus many of the messages are just
reminders as the 'originals' have been saved as text files elsewhere.)
snip

To send an e-mail directly replace "spam" with "busyditch"
---

"PA Bear [MS MVP]" wrote:

BTW: my Sent.dbx file is around 1GB (going back
to 2003) which I know is above the recommended level, but the size was
apparently not the issue or was it?

It most certainly was! *See below...
snip

To keep the line of the thread and to follow your caveats, i.e. my comments
followed yours, bearing in mind yours, but wanting more to address the OP's
post which preceded yours.

If that makes sense...

DAS

To send an e-mail directly replace "spam" with "schmetterling"
---
"PA Bear [MS-MVP]" wrote in message
...
Dori, why did you reply to *my* post if you were addressing the OP?

On Aug 12, 11:21 am, "Dori A Schmetterling" wrote:
New Hope User

I am well aware of all the warnings here but my Inbox contains about 1.5
GB
I like to have everything in one place. I don't worry about it very much
as
I do backups at least once a day. (Plus many of the messages are just
reminders as the 'originals' have been saved as text files elsewhere.)
snip

To send an e-mail directly replace "spam" with "busyditch"
---

"PA Bear [MS MVP]" wrote:

BTW: my Sent.dbx file is around 1GB (going back
to 2003) which I know is above the recommended level, but the size was
apparently not the issue or was it?

It most certainly was! See below...
snip

So, does that mean I should stop telling people to not let a dbx file get to
2 GB? G

--
Ron Sommer

"Steve Cochran" wrote in message
...
Actually I have quite a number of people who buy DBXtract because their
dbx files have gotten to the 2 gigabyte level. Unfortunately it takes
DBXtract a week to extract from such a file (DBXpress is much faster).
G

steve

"Ron Sommer" wrote in message
...
When the file reaches 2 GB, OE will not be able to access it. You will
not be able to get any messages out of the file. Yes, your backup will
have most of your messages. You will not get the message that made the
size exceed 2 GB. The chances of a dbx file reaching the 2 GB limit are
almost nonexistent. The file will become corrupted long before it
reaches that size.
--
Ron Sommer
MVP-Mail

"Dori A Schmetterling" wrote in message
...
New Hope User

I am well aware of all the warnings here but my Inbox contains about 1.5
GB I like to have everything in one place. I don't worry about it very
much as I do backups at least once a day. (Plus many of the messages
are just reminders as the 'originals' have been saved as text files
elsewhere.)

To compact the Inbox I move most of the message into several temporary
folders, compact the rump Inbox and the temporary folders (though I am
not sure there is any point) and then move the messages back into the
Inbox. Might remove a worthwhile 200 MB or more... (A Compact All
works.)

Because this takes a while I do it rarely, and manually compact the
other folders individually more frequently. They are much smaller. If I
am not mistaken only a full 'Compact All' process includes the
Pop3uidl.dbx, which should be compacted also.

The side problem that arises after compaction is that my backup software
sees the compacted folders as 'new' and so backs the whole folders up
instead of just doing incremental backups. So on those occasions I run
my backups at night, which is usually enough time. (My backup is online
over the internet to a remote server. I can continue working during
backup but some things may slow down.)

FWIW

DAS

To send an e-mail directly replace "spam" with "schmetterling"
---
"PA Bear [MS MVP]" wrote in message
...
BTW: my Sent.dbx file is around 1GB (going back
to 2003) which I know is above the recommended level, but the size was
apparently not the issue or was it?

It most certainly was! See below...

General OE Caveats:

- Do NOT use Inbox or Sent Items to archive messages. Move the
messages to local folders you've created for this purpose.

- Empty Deleted Items folder daily.

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

- Do not cancel Automatic Compacting, should it occur, and do not
attempt to close OE via Task Manager or shutdown your machine if
Automatic Compacting is taking place.

- 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
www.banthecheck.com


New Hope User wrote:
I ran the compaction several more times while paying close attention
to what
file was being processed and found that the process would "hang" on my
Sent.dbx file.

In the process of substituting my *.dbx files from a full-system
backup I
had taken last week, I attempted copying my original (offending) *.dbx
files
over to another location in case I needed them and the copy failed
stating
that Sent.dbx had an I/O error and could not continue. I was able to
substitute my entire store folder from the backup I had taken. Upon
re-opening OE6, everything was back in place. I manually performed a
compaction, which ran to completion without the "folder busy" message
from
before.

I am assuming then that the I/O error on the original Sent.dbx file
was the
problem. I did run a CheckDisk to see if the I/O error related to my
C:
drive generally, but the results came back negative. So I am back in
business, somewhat learier than before.

Since I routinely do full-system backups, would this be considered
enough
prevention going forward? BTW: my Sent.dbx file is around 1GB (going
back
to 2003) which I know is above the recommended level, but the size was
apparently not the issue or was it?

That depends on where you do your drinking...

Ron Sommer wrote:
So, does that mean I should stop telling people to not let a dbx file get
to
2 GB? G


"Steve Cochran" wrote in message
...
Actually I have quite a number of people who buy DBXtract because their
dbx files have gotten to the 2 gigabyte level. Unfortunately it takes
DBXtract a week to extract from such a file (DBXpress is much faster).
G

steve

"Ron Sommer" wrote in message
...
When the file reaches 2 GB, OE will not be able to access it. You will
not be able to get any messages out of the file. Yes, your backup will
have most of your messages. You will not get the message that made the
size exceed 2 GB. The chances of a dbx file reaching the 2 GB limit are
almost nonexistent. The file will become corrupted long before it
reaches that size.
--
Ron Sommer
MVP-Mail

"Dori A Schmetterling" wrote in message
...
New Hope User

I am well aware of all the warnings here but my Inbox contains about
1.5
GB I like to have everything in one place. I don't worry about it very
much as I do backups at least once a day. (Plus many of the messages
are just reminders as the 'originals' have been saved as text files
elsewhere.)

To compact the Inbox I move most of the message into several temporary
folders, compact the rump Inbox and the temporary folders (though I am
not sure there is any point) and then move the messages back into the
Inbox. Might remove a worthwhile 200 MB or more... (A Compact All
works.)

Because this takes a while I do it rarely, and manually compact the
other folders individually more frequently. They are much smaller. If
I
am not mistaken only a full 'Compact All' process includes the
Pop3uidl.dbx, which should be compacted also.

The side problem that arises after compaction is that my backup
software
sees the compacted folders as 'new' and so backs the whole folders up
instead of just doing incremental backups. So on those occasions I run
my backups at night, which is usually enough time. (My backup is
online
over the internet to a remote server. I can continue working during
backup but some things may slow down.)

FWIW

DAS

To send an e-mail directly replace "spam" with "schmetterling"
---
"PA Bear [MS MVP]" wrote in message
...
BTW: my Sent.dbx file is around 1GB (going back
to 2003) which I know is above the recommended level, but the size
was
apparently not the issue or was it?

It most certainly was! See below...

General OE Caveats:

- Do NOT use Inbox or Sent Items to archive messages. Move the
messages to local folders you've created for this purpose.

- Empty Deleted Items folder daily.

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

- Do not cancel Automatic Compacting, should it occur, and do not
attempt to close OE via Task Manager or shutdown your machine if
Automatic Compacting is taking place.

- 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
www.banthecheck.com


New Hope User wrote:
I ran the compaction several more times while paying close attention
to what
file was being processed and found that the process would "hang" on
my
Sent.dbx file.

In the process of substituting my *.dbx files from a full-system
backup I
had taken last week, I attempted copying my original (offending)
*.dbx
files
over to another location in case I needed them and the copy failed
stating
that Sent.dbx had an I/O error and could not continue. I was able to
substitute my entire store folder from the backup I had taken. Upon
re-opening OE6, everything was back in place. I manually performed a
compaction, which ran to completion without the "folder busy" message
from
before.

I am assuming then that the I/O error on the original Sent.dbx file
was the
problem. I did run a CheckDisk to see if the I/O error related to my
C:
drive generally, but the results came back negative. So I am back in
business, somewhat learier than before.

Since I routinely do full-system backups, would this be considered
enough
prevention going forward? BTW: my Sent.dbx file is around 1GB (going
back
to 2003) which I know is above the recommended level, but the size
was
apparently not the issue or was it?

"PA Bear [MS MVP]" wrote in message

That depends on where you do your drinking...

Ron Sommer wrote:
So, does that mean I should stop telling people to not let a dbx
file get to
2 GB? G


"Steve Cochran" wrote in message
...
Actually I have quite a number of people who buy DBXtract because
their dbx files have gotten to the 2 gigabyte level. Unfortunately
it takes DBXtract a week to extract from such a file (DBXpress is
much faster). G

steve

"Ron Sommer" wrote in message
...
When the file reaches 2 GB, OE will not be able to access it. You
will not be able to get any messages out of the file. Yes, your
backup will have most of your messages. You will not get the
message that made the size exceed 2 GB. The chances of a dbx file
reaching the 2 GB limit are almost nonexistent. The file will
become corrupted long before it reaches that size.
--
Ron Sommer
MVP-Mail

"Dori A Schmetterling" wrote in message
...
New Hope User

I am well aware of all the warnings here but my Inbox contains
about 1.5
GB I like to have everything in one place. I don't worry about
it very much as I do backups at least once a day. (Plus many of
the messages are just reminders as the 'originals' have been
saved as text files elsewhere.)

To compact the Inbox I move most of the message into several
temporary folders, compact the rump Inbox and the temporary
folders (though I am not sure there is any point) and then move
the messages back into the Inbox. Might remove a worthwhile 200
MB or more... (A Compact All works.)

Because this takes a while I do it rarely, and manually compact
the other folders individually more frequently. They are much
smaller. If I
am not mistaken only a full 'Compact All' process includes the
Pop3uidl.dbx, which should be compacted also.

The side problem that arises after compaction is that my backup
software
sees the compacted folders as 'new' and so backs the whole
folders up instead of just doing incremental backups. So on
those occasions I run my backups at night, which is usually
enough time. (My backup is online
over the internet to a remote server. I can continue working
during backup but some things may slow down.)

FWIW

DAS

To send an e-mail directly replace "spam" with "schmetterling"
---
"PA Bear [MS MVP]" wrote in message
...
BTW: my Sent.dbx file is around 1GB (going back
to 2003) which I know is above the recommended level, but the
size was
apparently not the issue or was it?

It most certainly was! See below...

General OE Caveats:

- Do NOT use Inbox or Sent Items to archive messages. Move the
messages to local folders you've created for this purpose.

- Empty Deleted Items folder daily.

- Frequently perform a manual compact of all OE folders while
"working offline". More at
http://www.insideoe.com/files/maintain.htm - Do not cancel
Automatic Compacting, should it occur, and do not
attempt to close OE via Task Manager or shutdown your machine if
Automatic Compacting is taking place.

- 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
www.banthecheck.com


New Hope User wrote:
I ran the compaction several more times while paying close
attention to what
file was being processed and found that the process would
"hang" on my
Sent.dbx file.

In the process of substituting my *.dbx files from a full-system
backup I
had taken last week, I attempted copying my original (offending)
*.dbx
files
over to another location in case I needed them and the copy
failed stating
that Sent.dbx had an I/O error and could not continue. I was
able to substitute my entire store folder from the backup I had
taken. Upon re-opening OE6, everything was back in place. I
manually performed a compaction, which ran to completion
without the "folder busy" message from
before.

I am assuming then that the I/O error on the original Sent.dbx
file was the
problem. I did run a CheckDisk to see if the I/O error related
to my C:
drive generally, but the results came back negative. So I am
back in business, somewhat learier than before.

Since I routinely do full-system backups, would this be
considered enough
prevention going forward? BTW: my Sent.dbx file is around 1GB
(going back
to 2003) which I know is above the recommended level, but the
size was
apparently not the issue or was it?

I don't know the internal details, but others here have posted them in
the past. Anyway, it depends on more than just the size of the .dbx.
Somehow it's also tied to the number of messages in that 2 Gig and
someting else I can't recall right now.
That's apparently why OE automatically stops and offers to compact
everything every 100 closes of OE unless you do it yourself before that
point.
Apparently one sure fire way to get it to happen and damage things
eventually, regardless of size or number of mails, etc., is to go do
something else with another program while the compacting is still going
on.
I've never experienced it myself, but since MS made changes in SP3
for it, and the apparently accurate documentation provided here from
other posters, I do believe it/them.
Whatever the root causes are, it's pretty p-poor programming on the
part of MS program coders, but what's new about that? g

HTH,

Twayne`

Well, it would help my income. VBG

steve

"Ron Sommer" wrote in message
...
So, does that mean I should stop telling people to not let a dbx file get
to 2 GB? G

--
Ron Sommer

"Steve Cochran" wrote in message
...
Actually I have quite a number of people who buy DBXtract because their
dbx files have gotten to the 2 gigabyte level. Unfortunately it takes
DBXtract a week to extract from such a file (DBXpress is much faster).
G

steve

"Ron Sommer" wrote in message
...
When the file reaches 2 GB, OE will not be able to access it. You will
not be able to get any messages out of the file. Yes, your backup will
have most of your messages. You will not get the message that made the
size exceed 2 GB. The chances of a dbx file reaching the 2 GB limit are
almost nonexistent. The file will become corrupted long before it
reaches that size.
--
Ron Sommer
MVP-Mail

"Dori A Schmetterling" wrote in message
...
New Hope User

I am well aware of all the warnings here but my Inbox contains about
1.5 GB I like to have everything in one place. I don't worry about it
very much as I do backups at least once a day. (Plus many of the
messages are just reminders as the 'originals' have been saved as text
files elsewhere.)

To compact the Inbox I move most of the message into several temporary
folders, compact the rump Inbox and the temporary folders (though I am
not sure there is any point) and then move the messages back into the
Inbox. Might remove a worthwhile 200 MB or more... (A Compact All
works.)

Because this takes a while I do it rarely, and manually compact the
other folders individually more frequently. They are much smaller. If
I am not mistaken only a full 'Compact All' process includes the
Pop3uidl.dbx, which should be compacted also.

The side problem that arises after compaction is that my backup
software sees the compacted folders as 'new' and so backs the whole
folders up instead of just doing incremental backups. So on those
occasions I run my backups at night, which is usually enough time. (My
backup is online over the internet to a remote server. I can continue
working during backup but some things may slow down.)

FWIW

DAS

To send an e-mail directly replace "spam" with "schmetterling"
---
"PA Bear [MS MVP]" wrote in message
...
BTW: my Sent.dbx file is around 1GB (going back
to 2003) which I know is above the recommended level, but the size
was
apparently not the issue or was it?

It most certainly was! See below...

General OE Caveats:

- Do NOT use Inbox or Sent Items to archive messages. Move the
messages to local folders you've created for this purpose.

- Empty Deleted Items folder daily.

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

- Do not cancel Automatic Compacting, should it occur, and do not
attempt to close OE via Task Manager or shutdown your machine if
Automatic Compacting is taking place.

- 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
www.banthecheck.com


New Hope User wrote:
I ran the compaction several more times while paying close attention
to what
file was being processed and found that the process would "hang" on
my
Sent.dbx file.

In the process of substituting my *.dbx files from a full-system
backup I
had taken last week, I attempted copying my original (offending)
*.dbx files
over to another location in case I needed them and the copy failed
stating
that Sent.dbx had an I/O error and could not continue. I was able to
substitute my entire store folder from the backup I had taken. Upon
re-opening OE6, everything was back in place. I manually performed a
compaction, which ran to completion without the "folder busy" message
from
before.

I am assuming then that the I/O error on the original Sent.dbx file
was the
problem. I did run a CheckDisk to see if the I/O error related to my
C:
drive generally, but the results came back negative. So I am back in
business, somewhat learier than before.

Since I routinely do full-system backups, would this be considered
enough
prevention going forward? BTW: my Sent.dbx file is around 1GB (going
back
to 2003) which I know is above the recommended level, but the size
was
apparently not the issue or was it?