Outlook express gone corrupt "there was an error opening this message"

[bohdancapek]

Hi,
I am repairing a winxp pc on which Outlook express has gone corrupted. When i first try to open an email it complains that it can't find a .DBX file???? Which has nothing to do with OE and after this on every attempt to open an email or address book it says "there was an error opening this message".

Tried to create a new identity but as soon as I do this OE shuts down and won't open until reboot. Can still receive emails.
Tried XP repair but when finished it wanted to activate windows before letting me login which I clicked OK to however all I get is a blank desktop background. So went back and reloaded backup image which I created before started repairs and ran sfc /scannow which did not solve the problem. I am trying to avoid a complete reinstall.

Any ideas please?

Thanks

[vinceroger69]

Re: Outlook express gone corrupt "there was an error opening this message"

http://download.cnet.com/DBX-Viewer-...-75996568.html

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: Outlook express gone corrupt "there was an error opening this message"

that is a software problem with OE and nothing to do with the os. reinstalling windows will NOT fix the problem.

this software problem with OE is a missing or corrupted .DBX file which is a database file that OE uses to store/save all the email for a specific identity. u can find the .DBX files store folder in documents and settings\user name\local settings\application data\identities\{12345-6789-ABCD-EFGH}\microsoft\outlook express. the folder is hidden so make sure u enable show hidden and system files in windows explorer folder options.

did the user accidentally delete those dbx files by accident? those files store all the emails. dont del them! u might also want to check for a failing hard drive that could have caused the file/folder to become corrupted. also, how many emails does the user have in his inbox, sent items, drafts etc.? if he had a ton of emails, its possible the database file became too big and OE cant handle it anymore so it throws up all sorts of errors.

[nstevens]

Re: Outlook express gone corrupt "there was an error opening this message"

http://download.cnet.com/DBX-Viewer-...-75996568.html

Before trying a third party tool, start with the basics. You could have run system restore and return from the last time it was working fine. Or you could also try creating a new admin user or do a clean boot first on the original user. Also, the previous comment from ChaosLegionnaire is possible. An important file could have been deleted or corrupted which is critical.

[Uranium-235]

Re: Outlook express gone corrupt "there was an error opening this message"

here is a tip. If this is your personal email (instead of like a clients or another users)...I suggest you try thunderbird. Import stuff from OE, if you're on imap your messages should stay. I've used thunderbird for over 5 years with ZERO problems

[kaboom]

Re: Outlook express gone corrupt "there was an error opening this message"

here is a tip. If this is your personal email (instead of like a clients or another users)...I suggest you try thunderbird. Import stuff from OE, if you're on imap your messages should stay. I've used thunderbird for over 5 years with ZERO problems

Which only works if OE works; tbird is dependent on M$ during the initial import...