I've been getting a pop-up asking me if I want to compact messages in Outlook Express to free up disc space. It's very annoying and very frequent. I wouldn't know how to go about getting it to go away. Am I able to get rid of it and, if so, how?1 person needs an answerI do too

Easiest way is to just click YES. It may be the result of too many messages being stored in your OE folders.RosiePlease post back to this thread with results or if you need more assistance. Dell OptiPlex GX260, 2.40 GHZ, Pentium 4, 80G HD, WindowsXP Pro (SP3), IE8, AVG, Spybot S&D, SpywareBlaster 4.2, OnlineArmor 4.0, MalwareBytes'

Let it compact and don't touch anything until it's done. This is a necessity to keep the dbx file system running smoothly.However, if you see the prompt again long before 100 closings of OE, then you have another issue which we can address, so please post back if that is the issue.Why does OE insist on compacting folders when I close it?:http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/why.htm#compact About File Corruption:http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/community/columns/filecorruption.mspx Compacting your folders periodically is a must to keep OE functioning well and at some point, you may lose all your saved messages if you don't. When you delete, or move messages, the space they had used remains until you compact. ***Never touch anything until the compacting is finished.*** See:www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#2 With SP2, automatic background compacting was removed due to problems it caused. Now you will get a prompt to compact after 100 OE closings, which you should do, and don't touch anything until it has finished. If you compact manually, at your convenience, this will also set the counter back to zero. See this for more information:http://www.insideoe.com/files/maintain.htm#compact If you are fully patched, you will also now see a copy of your dbx files being copied to the Recycle Bin as BAK files. Should something go awry when compacting, the messages can easily be restored from this backup. A manual compact will also reset the counter in the registry back to zero now. For more info, see the information outlined in red here:www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#2 To keep things running smooth, and for faster compacting: Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually become corrupt and you may lose mail. Create your own user defined folders for storing mail and move your mail to them. Empty Deleted Items folder regularly. Keep user created folders under 300MB, and Default folders as empty as is feasible. And backup often. Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB Freeware)http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx Bruce Hagen MS-MVP [Mail]

Rosie: I will do that but can you tell me what 'compacting messages' actuaqlly means? How do I reopen them? Where do they go? Am I in danger of losing them? I went into OE help to try and get a definition bu th the onloy thing they have there is instructions on how to do it.Thanks,Steve

All those questions were answered in my reply.-- Bruce Hagen MS-MVP [Mail] Imperial Beach, CA Bruce Hagen MS-MVP [Mail]

But what if you don't use Outlook Express? I use Outlook 2007 and continue to get this pop up.

"AEMJ" wrote in message news:22117011-2d67-44de-952e-3b27f39f97b1... But what if you don't use Outlook Express? I use Outlook 2007 and continue to get this pop up. ____________________________________ Is Windows Search installed on this machine?Bruce Hagen ~ MS-MVP [Mail]

I just started getting the exact same issue. I don't use Express, but do use Outlook 2007. And yes, I do have Windows Search installed. Is there a problem then, or is this normal?

"blavictoire" wrote in message news:Email removed for privacy...I just started getting the exact same issue. I don't use Express, but do use Outlook 2007. And yes, I do have Windows Search installed. Is there a problem then, or is this normal?In the case of Windows Search, you have to tell it to stop indexing OE.Windows Search. Set Desktop Search Options:http://www.microsoft.com/australia/windows/desktopsearch/search/options.mspxIn the Windows Control Panel | Indexing Options | Modify. Clear the check box for Outlook Express.If you see the prompt again, you may have to let it compact once to clear the counter in the registry. It will cause no harm.Bruce Hagen ~ MS-MVP [Mail]