How do I get outlook express to stop compacting?

[brainsmile]

Every time I close down it wants to compact my stuff. Should I just transfer all my old emails to outlook and then delete what's in express?

[zero2dash]

According to what some people are saying here (http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress/browse_thread/thread/7054816d69fce304/7f93de72a4337d9a%237f93de72a4337d9a), OE nags you to compact messages after you open + close OE 100 times.

Why don't you want to compact them? Apparently it's something that is recommended otherwise your .dbx file can become corrupt and you could lose all your emails.


If you turn off the message, it will compact after 100 closings of
OE without you knowing.

You can reset the counter to 0, (zero).

Go to: Start>Run>Regedit>OK and find this key.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{GUID for
Identity}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0. In the right
hand pane and find *Compact Check Count* and set the value to 0,
(zero). This will reset the prompt, and you won't see it again for
another 100 closings.

However, if you do not compact your folders from time to time, you
stand a good chance of your .dbx files becoming corrupt and very
possibly lose your messages.

Or: Steve Cochran has added a button in his new version of OE Tool (http://www.oehelp.com/OETool/)
that will not only Compact All Folders, but at the same time,
resets the "Compact Check Count" to zero whenever you compact
manually. You will see the prompt again if you do not compact
before 100 closings.

Apparently there's no way to turn off the compacting feature in OE...I don't remember if you can turn it off in Outlook either (I use Outlook 2003 myself). I usually just let it do its thing when it asks me... :shrug: