My dad's Outlook 6.0 will not send or receive email. When you open the program it immediately goes online and the sending mail icon appears in the lower right corner but is not doing anything. It's just hung up. Also all his email messages have disappeared and the screen does not look like your normal email 'homepage'. His account settings are all correct and his address book is intact. Could a virus cause this?1 person needs an answerI do too

I doubt it was a virus. Probably corrupt folders due to bloating.What does the main page look like? Check to Work Offline. You can do his in Internet Explorer or just unplug your modem. Open OE and open the Outbox. Any messages there? Delete them.Close OE and reboot. Reconnect the modem if unplugged and open OE and let us know what is happening now.Bruce HagenMS-MVP Oct. 1, 2004 ~ Sept. 30, 2010Imperial Beach, CA

Everything on the main page is oversized and almost amateurish looking. All the folders are totally empty. If 'corrupt folders due to bloating' means there are too many messages, then no that is not the problem. Dad deletes all messages as soon as they are read, however I'm not sure if the deleted folder is emptied upon exiting. But I will try your suggestion tomorrow and let you know the results. BTW - dad's 80 :)

No space is ever recovered until you compact your folders. Just deleting or moving is not enough. However, I don't know why everything would look over sized. Are all other programs running OK? IE for example? Try a new identity.You may have a damaged identity especially if it is the default Main Identity. File | Identity | Add New Identity. Create a new one and test it. If all is well, you can import your messages and Address Book from the old identity and delete it.Note: Do not use the word Main in the name of the new identity.How to Create and Use Identities in Outlook Expresshttp://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=209169An Outlook Express basic repair kithttp://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/community/columns/oerepair.mspx#EHH Bruce HagenMS-MVP Oct. 1, 2004 ~ Sept. 30, 2010Imperial Beach, CA

Thanks for the info Bruce....will let you know tomorrow the results.

Bruce - wanted to let you know that with your help I was able to get Dad going again with his email. Had to creat a new identity and imported his address book to the new identity and then deleted the old identity. This is the first time I've used blog or forum for help. THANKS!!!!!

You're welcome. Glad you had good results and thanks for the feedback.Bruce HagenMS-MVP Oct. 1, 2004 ~ Sept. 30, 2010Imperial Beach, CA