Outlook Express - much problems

March 6, 2002 | zcat

[Hot Tabasco]

My system: Dell Dimension 8100 with windows ME which I have since upgraded to 2000

I cannot utilize Outlook Express. Everything is read-only, if I attempt to forward, reply or even open, I get the following message: msimn.exe has generated errors and will be closed by windows. You will need to restart the programs.

Couple weeks ago had a major break down, lost files, computer wasnt working properly, and while on phone to Dell support, system died. Dell sent me a new mother board which I have since installed.

Downloaded IE 6.0, and have since uninstalled it and loaded 5.5. Still same problem.

Followed instructions at Dell, changed the properties, , ensured that the .DBX files are not read only and still have problemn.

My last plan of action is to now remove everything from my hard drive and reinstall Windows ME. Is this the right thing to do?

[Hot Tabasco]

Any suggestions?

[theophilusscribe]

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[ChadGore]

Re: Any suggestions?

Linux: The ultimate windows service pack.

[Palladin]

DO NOT use Outlook Express. It has more bugs than Bill Clinton's mattress.

I suggest you use Netscape for your browser, and Eudora for your email program.

[TomServo]

Linux: The ultimate windows service pack.

You're right. Linux should have no problem reading your outlook express files.

[The KG9 Kid]

"... windows ME which I have since upgraded to 2000"

I would suspect that the problem lies in your upgrade. When installing Win2000, never choose to upgrade an existing Win9x/Me environment -- always choose to do a CLEAN INSTALL.

The blow-up in MSIMN.EXE is commonly reproducible in upgraded systems.

[TomServo]

Linux: The ultimate windows service pack.

Correction: You're right. Linux should have no problem reading your the outlook express files.

[snippy_about_it]

Eurdora email by Qualcomm

[OK]

Ditto on not upgrading Me. Reformat the hard drive and reinstall XP with NTFS format.

[Hot Tabasco]

Do I just download the eudora and that's it?

[beaubazzoo]

Yes, or if you switch to Netscape, it includes an email client. Very easy to switch from surfing to reading email and back again.

[snippy_about_it]

Yep, click on the download and it will explain, with ads (not too offensive)for free, without ads for one time 39 bucks or Eudora lite.

Also here is a question and answer site that covers Outlook Express

[Sen Jack S. Fogbound]

I would strongly suggest doing a clean install. I have attempted several upgrades of various kind and have had problems with them.

I use Outlook Express 6.0 and never had any problems with it.

Wipe your disk clean and use new partition and format, then do clean install full version. You won't be sorry!

[Francohio]

The senator is on the money. Make sure you have all the latest MS upgrades downloaded as well. Then with your server's help desk, make sure all your OE settings are on the money. Sometimes the old program won't "let go" of the ports, or picks up the wrong server name, or a wrong username. (Don't ask me, ask Bill Gates.) Also, disable your virus protection during the install.

Take two iMACs and call in the morning.

[Redcloak]

Several other posters have already given you some good advise. Don't use Outlook Express. Use Outlook if you have it. Or use some other mail reader. OE does some unplesant things like running scripts in the preview window. (Outlook disables them.) This is a big security flaw.

Win2K is a good operating system, but a clean install is a good idea. ME was a kluge. Simply upgrading will drag any goofy settings you have into Win2K.

[LasVegasMac]

Linux: The ultimate windows service pack. You're right. Linux should have no problem reading your outlook express files.

LOL.

If this person can't get Windows to act right do you really expect them to be able to make the Penguin work?

From experience - agree with post #6 - never upgrade, wipe and install.

LVM

[SamAdams76]

I used Outlook and would never consider using Outlook Express. Like Microsoft Works, it is a cheap imitation of the original (Microsoft Office).

[mdittmar]

Have a Dell 8100,windows me,I.E. 5.5,Outlook Express.

Everything works perfect.

I would go to add remove programs,remove Outlook Express and reload it,but thats just me.

[CometBaby]

A clean install should be a last resort. It's a huge job to reinstall everything you need and get it all set up the way you had it. If you just reinstall Outlook Express over the top of the one on there, it will probably fix any files that are corrupted.

If you decide to do a clean install, bump up to XP. I absolutely love it. It is the most stable operating system I have ever used.

Don't listen to all these linux enthusiasts. If linux is so wonderful, why isn't everyone using it? BECAUSE .. it is not user friendly. If you are not a puter geek, I advise you to steer clear of a straight linux system.

I use Outlook Express, and have for 8 years. I run numerous identities on it, utilizing all of it's features to the max .. and it has been stable.

Upgrade to XP if you do a clean install.

[Mannaggia l'America]

Couple weeks ago had a major break down, lost files, computer wasnt working properly, and while on phone to Dell support, system died. Dell sent me a new mother board which I have since installed.

I wouldn't necessarily blame Outlook Express for your problems - if you lost files, replacing a motherboard is not going to get the lost files back. If you lost a vital Windows file, one that doesn't come with IE, no matter what you install and re-install (besides the OS itself) is going to fix it.

Outlook Express has its issues, but if you have all of the latest updates to it, plus install Norton Anti-Virus with e-mail protection enabled and keep up with virus updates, plus don't open attachments if you don't know exactly what they are, you generally won't get bit. I never have - I get thousands of e-mails every year for my business and I've received viruses (caught by Norton), but using the previously mentioned policies, I have yet to get infected.

I've been using Outlook 2000 for quite a while, and I recently have had need to use a computer that does not have MS Office and I cannot use Outlook Express on it because it is used for another e-mail server. So I've been looking at third pary e-mail clients.

When you actually look at other e-mail clients, Outlook Express and Outlook don't look so bad.

I've tried Eudora - works OK, but chokes trying to import my Outlook 2000 mail archives (consisting of several thousand messages). It also occupies over 24MB of RAM - why so bloated? Outlook 2000, which as many or more features than Eudora only occupies a little over 8MB of my RAM. The system I need to use this on has a relatively limited amount of RAM.

I tried Allegro Mail, which looked OK, but had the same bloat - sucks up 24MB of RAM.

I tried Netscape 6.2 Mail, which blew up importing my Outlook mail until I split it up into smaller archives. It works for a while, but has some bugs in it. If I am connected to a LAN, then dial into another LAN with dial-up networking, when Netscape Mail can't connect to the mail server, it starts gobbling up all available RAM (I can watch it do it in Task Manager) until you kill the process. It also doesn't visually notify you that you have new mail - if you are not around to hear the sound it makes when new mail arrives, you have to keep opening the window to see if there is any mail.

Pegasus can't import Outlook mail - I need my mail history.

PocoMail looks nice - I haven't tried it yet, but it can't import Outlook mail either.

So people can complain about Outlook Express and Outlook, but IMHO, when you actually try to use the alternatives, Outlook ain't so bad.

[old blue beemer]

agreed

[sysadmin in previous life]

[Cable225]

Aren't you glad you asked a simple question only to get bomabarded with such helpful ideas as -
Use Linux, it's grrrrrrreat!
and
Buy a Mac
and
why waste your time with Windows?

It's always the same. Somebody asks a simple question, and the morons come out to play.

If you don't have a lot of data to back up, go with a clean install of 2000. W2K is every bit the OS XP is, probably better in some respects, and you already have it, as opposed to the $200.00 you'll need to shell out for XP Professional.

[tomkat]

#s 19-22 = good advice

aloha...

[2111USMC]

I strongly agree!

I've been running W2K with OE for almost a year now. NO CRASHES!

My experience is that W2K is an excellent OS.

[TomServo]

If this person can't get Windows to act right do you really expect them to be able to make the Penguin work?

I'm glad someone got my sarcasm. Seriously. Backup-Format-Reinstall. Better yet - ghost to CD. Even better - Ghost to server via DHCP.

[Hot Tabasco]

Well, as stupid as this is going to sound, OE was not in my list of programs, so i put in disks, and clicked and stuff and it is now back functional. Seriously, I have no idea what I did nor do I think I could ever duplicate it again but whatever i did my Outlook Express is working again. This computer has really been acting bizzare for the past several weeks.

Anyway, not going to look a blind horse in the mouth..... (that statement makes as much sense as what I did to my computer)

thanks to all for your words of advice.

[Hot Tabasco]

You mention Norton, on my backup disk I had tried to reinstall it 2 weeks ago but it would not install for reasons unknown. Now when I try to reinstall from the backup disk, it is no longer on that disk. ????? Like I said, weird things happening here.

[AdA$tra]

FDisk it and rebuild it from scratch. Do a CLEAN install of W2000 or XP Pro. Do not install all the "goodies" that came with your Dell. They run much better without all Demos, Freebies and "Learn you Dell" programs. Sometimes you can get lucky with "dirty" upgrades or even "tweaking" a machine back to health. In the long run you will be glad you started over with a clean install wihtout a bunch of garbage that starts automatically whether you use it or not.

[cidrasm]

When you went from WinME to Win2K, did you do a clean install (format the HD and start from scratch)?

[JSteff]

Microsoft has it's problems but OE is a fine email program... if you are not a computer cripple who needs to use a MAC,:-) . Even then the MACites will still recommend using eudora or pegasus, or some other off beat program that does not have near the knowledge base, usability, or support by other software manufacturers as does OE. The problem you are having is usually from diferent versions of IE and OE. Also because one or more folders are set Read Only so select all of them and toggle the Read Only on and then off. You said this was not the problem but try it first anyway. Assuming it is not read on.

Do a complete uninstall of OE from the Add/Remove progams in Control panel. It does not matter whether you want to use IE6.x or IE 5.x or whatever, what is important is that you use the same version of OE. You can keep your old .dbx files which contain your old mail. Save them to a new directory on your hard disk.

Now, do the reinstall of whatever IE you want and/or then get OE from Microsoft using the [Windows] update in IE (it is under [Tools] menu. This will take you to Microsoft and should automatically get you the right version. DO NOT elect to get the newest version of IE or you are in for a long download. Okay? Good.

Now that you have installed IE and OE, have done a shut down and restart, go to the directory you put the old dbx files in. See what the names are and then go to OE and create the exact same names for folders. Now back in explorer move the old folderes into the place where the new ones are. This should probably be in Windows/Application Data/Identities/Microsoft/Outlook Express. You will know if you have it right if if ask you to confirm the replacement.

-Or-

After getting the new one and created the same folders go to File/Import/Messages and click it. Select the version of OE that the folders came from. Follow the prompts until you get to the "Import from OEx" window and put a dot in the "Import from OEx store directory" that matches your old OE version and click okay.

In either case go to Files/Folder/Compact All Folders. This utility contains some rudimentary repair functions that will possibly correct any problems with the folders. (Good idea to use every week or so anyway.) Either way should do it and you will need to shut down and you should shut down and restart OE. You should be fine.

You also can get a utility for directly turning the dbx files on your computer into text files. It is HERE and only get the free DBXtract. Be sure to follow all directions carefully thought they are mostly common sense stuff.

Yes Microsoft products $uck in alot of ways, and I hate their business practices, but they are relatively easy to fix and the other amazing email programs have their own sets of completely unfixable, non recoverable problems.

[JSteff]

Note to my post: I did not try this on a Win 2k machine but it should be relatively the same.

[JSteff]

UPDATE!!! I read that there are issues with installing and uninstalling OE on WIN2K. Go here to the MSKB article about it. Article (Q263837)

This might be part of the problems you are having. Hope this helps.