I'm sure this very basic question must have been asked before, but it is not showing up in the newsgroup's messages that I can currently view and I'm new to this group and Google'ing didn't help that much.

So...
Is it advisable to leave Outlook Express and use Windows Live Mail? I have intermittent file corruption problems and have become nervous about allowing OE to do a file compaction when it asks. Would hope for a better comfort level with Windows Live Mail. I am running under XP. Does Windows LM have the functionality of OE and is it more reliable?



Many thanks for any feedback. -- Sam

"Sam Bryan" <sambryan@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uluAERNbIHA.3572@xxxxxx
I'm sure this very basic question must have been asked before, but it is not
showing up in the newsgroup's messages that I can currently view and I'm new
to this group and Google'ing didn't help that much.

So...
Is it advisable to leave Outlook Express and use Windows Live Mail? I have
intermittent file corruption problems and have become nervous about allowing
OE to do a file compaction when it asks. Would hope for a better comfort
level with Windows Live Mail. I am running under XP. Does Windows LM have
the functionality of OE and is it more reliable?

Many thanks for any feedback. -- Sam



I used OE6 on a Win2000 computer and got a new dell/vista desktop about 10
weeks ago and have been using WLM on it. It's been reliable so far and I
like it better than OE. I have seen some posts in here about some things
people could do with OE that they can't do (or haven't figured out how to)
on WLM, but don't recall what they were.

On Mon, 11 Feb 2008 12:33:49 -0500, Sam Bryan wrote:

> I'm sure this very basic question must have been asked before, but it is
> not showing up in the newsgroup's messages that I can currently view and
> I'm new to this group and Google'ing didn't help that much.
>
> So...
> Is it advisable to leave Outlook Express and use Windows Live Mail? I
> have intermittent file corruption problems and have become nervous about
> allowing OE to do a file compaction when it asks. Would hope for a better
> comfort level with Windows Live Mail. I am running under XP. Does Windows
> LM have the functionality of OE and is it more reliable?
>
> Many thanks for any feedback. -- Sam

I find that Windows Live Mail is somewhat less flaky than Outlook Express,
but shares some of the weaknesses that I don't care for. Rules and the
manner of handling signature separators, in particular.

WLM does not have Identities, and it keeps all account folders in separate
folder trees (some don't like that feature, others have wanted it in Outlook
Express).

WLM seems less prone to corruption of the message store, and it is easier to
recover messages (they are stored as individual .eml files).

All that I can say is to try it out. If you don't like it, you can always go
back. WLM will import messages from Outlook Express, but it doesn't delete
them from MSOE. It removes the shortcuts to MSOE; but you can get those
back, if you need them back. WLM does not delete MSOE, though it may seem
like it.

--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum

Hi, Sam.

I switched to Vista when it went to RTM over a year ago, so I haven't run
OE - or WinXP - in over a year. I know that Windows Live Mail will run in
WinXP, but I've run it only in Vista. I think that you would be well
advised to move to WLM for several reasons. Not necessarily in order...

1. WLM is "the wave of the future". I doubt that Microsoft will spend
any more effort on improving OE, so it's a dead-end. You'll need to move to
WLM sooner or later, and now might be the best time. Even in Vista, MS
devotes little or no effort that I can see in improving Windows Mail, which
is included in every copy of Vista, just as OE is in every copy of WinXP.

2. When you install WLM in WinXP, it will seem to delete OE, but it
removes only the shortcut and icon. You can still run OE from the Start
menu. You can even run both OE and WLM side by side while you decide which
one you like better, because OE will maintain its Store Folder and WLM will
create and maintain its own Message Store. Be sure that both are set to
leave messages on the server long enough for you to keep both message stores
complete. You'll have to move Sent Items, too.

3. Your "intermittent file corruption problems" will probably disappear
with WLM, or will at least be much less disastrous if one does occur. OE
keeps messages in .dbx "folders"; 1,000 emails from your Mom might be in a
single "Mom.dbx" folder. If there is corruption on one of those messages,
you probably will lose all 1,000 of them. WLM will store each message as a
separate .eml file. If one gets corrupted, you will lose just that one. Of
course, there is more disk overhead involved in processing 1,000 small files
than one big one, but WLM's system is fast enough that you won't notice
this - except during the initial process of Importing the messages from the
Store Folder to the Message Store.

4. Compaction occurs in the background in WLM. It happens so
unobtrusively that I rarely realize that it is happening at all. (Of
course, it might be noticeable on slow hardware.)

5. When the time comes for you to migrate to Vista, your OE-to-WLM
migration will already have been completed.

The decision is yours, of course, but I would suggest downloading and
installing WLM as soon as you have a little time to devote to the conversion
process and the fairly short learning curve. Half a day should be plenty.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@xxxxxx
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64 SP1)

"Sam Bryan" <sambryan@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uluAERNbIHA.3572@xxxxxx

> I'm sure this very basic question must have been asked before, but it is
> not showing up in the newsgroup's messages that I can currently view and
> I'm new to this group and Google'ing didn't help that much.
>
> So...
> Is it advisable to leave Outlook Express and use Windows Live Mail? I have
> intermittent file corruption problems and have become nervous about
> allowing OE to do a file compaction when it asks. Would hope for a better
> comfort level with Windows Live Mail. I am running under XP. Does Windows
> LM have the functionality of OE and is it more reliable?
>
> Many thanks for any feedback. -- Sam

Many thanks to those of you who responded to my question about moving from
OE to WLM, especially to RC's thoughtful and detailed response below. I've
downloaded WLM and looks like a pretty easy transition. -- Sam

"R. C. White" <rc@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:e7SVlGQbIHA.6024@xxxxxx

> Hi, Sam.
>
> I switched to Vista when it went to RTM over a year ago, so I haven't run
> OE - or WinXP - in over a year. I know that Windows Live Mail will run in
> WinXP, but I've run it only in Vista. I think that you would be well
> advised to move to WLM for several reasons. Not necessarily in order...
>
> 1. WLM is "the wave of the future". I doubt that Microsoft will spend
> any more effort on improving OE, so it's a dead-end. You'll need to move
> to
> WLM sooner or later, and now might be the best time. Even in Vista, MS
> devotes little or no effort that I can see in improving Windows Mail,
> which
> is included in every copy of Vista, just as OE is in every copy of WinXP.
>
> 2. When you install WLM in WinXP, it will seem to delete OE, but it
> removes only the shortcut and icon. You can still run OE from the Start
> menu. You can even run both OE and WLM side by side while you decide
> which
> one you like better, because OE will maintain its Store Folder and WLM
> will
> create and maintain its own Message Store. Be sure that both are set to
> leave messages on the server long enough for you to keep both message
> stores
> complete. You'll have to move Sent Items, too.
>
> 3. Your "intermittent file corruption problems" will probably disappear
> with WLM, or will at least be much less disastrous if one does occur. OE
> keeps messages in .dbx "folders"; 1,000 emails from your Mom might be in a
> single "Mom.dbx" folder. If there is corruption on one of those messages,
> you probably will lose all 1,000 of them. WLM will store each message as
> a
> separate .eml file. If one gets corrupted, you will lose just that one.
> Of
> course, there is more disk overhead involved in processing 1,000 small
> files
> than one big one, but WLM's system is fast enough that you won't notice
> this - except during the initial process of Importing the messages from
> the
> Store Folder to the Message Store.
>
> 4. Compaction occurs in the background in WLM. It happens so
> unobtrusively that I rarely realize that it is happening at all. (Of
> course, it might be noticeable on slow hardware.)
>
> 5. When the time comes for you to migrate to Vista, your OE-to-WLM
> migration will already have been completed.
>
> The decision is yours, of course, but I would suggest downloading and
> installing WLM as soon as you have a little time to devote to the
> conversion
> process and the fairly short learning curve. Half a day should be plenty.
>
> RC
> --
> R. C. White, CPA
> San Marcos, TX
> rc@xxxxxx
> Microsoft Windows MVP
> (Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64 SP1)
>
> "Sam Bryan" <sambryan@xxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:uluAERNbIHA.3572@xxxxxx

>> I'm sure this very basic question must have been asked before, but it is
>> not showing up in the newsgroup's messages that I can currently view and
>> I'm new to this group and Google'ing didn't help that much.
>>
>> So...
>> Is it advisable to leave Outlook Express and use Windows Live Mail? I
>> have
>> intermittent file corruption problems and have become nervous about
>> allowing OE to do a file compaction when it asks. Would hope for a better
>> comfort level with Windows Live Mail. I am running under XP. Does Windows
>> LM have the functionality of OE and is it more reliable?
>>
>> Many thanks for any feedback. -- Sam

>
>

Hi, Sam.

You're welcome. And welcome to WLM. ;<)

Just like with OE (and WM), you'll want to use Tools | Options to customize
WLM to your own taste.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@xxxxxx
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64 SP1)

"Sam Bryan" <sambryan@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ugTcVOSbIHA.4712@xxxxxx

> Many thanks to those of you who responded to my question about moving from
> OE to WLM, especially to RC's thoughtful and detailed response below. I've
> downloaded WLM and looks like a pretty easy transition. -- Sam
>
> "R. C. White" <rc@xxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:e7SVlGQbIHA.6024@xxxxxx

>> Hi, Sam.
>>
>> I switched to Vista when it went to RTM over a year ago, so I haven't run
>> OE - or WinXP - in over a year. I know that Windows Live Mail will run
>> in
>> WinXP, but I've run it only in Vista. I think that you would be well
>> advised to move to WLM for several reasons. Not necessarily in order...
>>
>> 1. WLM is "the wave of the future". I doubt that Microsoft will spend
>> any more effort on improving OE, so it's a dead-end. You'll need to move
>> to
>> WLM sooner or later, and now might be the best time. Even in Vista, MS
>> devotes little or no effort that I can see in improving Windows Mail,
>> which
>> is included in every copy of Vista, just as OE is in every copy of WinXP.
>>
>> 2. When you install WLM in WinXP, it will seem to delete OE, but it
>> removes only the shortcut and icon. You can still run OE from the Start
>> menu. You can even run both OE and WLM side by side while you decide
>> which
>> one you like better, because OE will maintain its Store Folder and WLM
>> will
>> create and maintain its own Message Store. Be sure that both are set to
>> leave messages on the server long enough for you to keep both message
>> stores
>> complete. You'll have to move Sent Items, too.
>>
>> 3. Your "intermittent file corruption problems" will probably
>> disappear
>> with WLM, or will at least be much less disastrous if one does occur. OE
>> keeps messages in .dbx "folders"; 1,000 emails from your Mom might be in
>> a
>> single "Mom.dbx" folder. If there is corruption on one of those
>> messages,
>> you probably will lose all 1,000 of them. WLM will store each message as
>> a
>> separate .eml file. If one gets corrupted, you will lose just that one.
>> Of
>> course, there is more disk overhead involved in processing 1,000 small
>> files
>> than one big one, but WLM's system is fast enough that you won't notice
>> this - except during the initial process of Importing the messages from
>> the
>> Store Folder to the Message Store.
>>
>> 4. Compaction occurs in the background in WLM. It happens so
>> unobtrusively that I rarely realize that it is happening at all. (Of
>> course, it might be noticeable on slow hardware.)
>>
>> 5. When the time comes for you to migrate to Vista, your OE-to-WLM
>> migration will already have been completed.
>>
>> The decision is yours, of course, but I would suggest downloading and
>> installing WLM as soon as you have a little time to devote to the
>> conversion
>> process and the fairly short learning curve. Half a day should be
>> plenty.
>>
>> RC
>>
>> "Sam Bryan" <sambryan@xxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:uluAERNbIHA.3572@xxxxxx

>>> I'm sure this very basic question must have been asked before, but it is
>>> not showing up in the newsgroup's messages that I can currently view and
>>> I'm new to this group and Google'ing didn't help that much.
>>>
>>> So...
>>> Is it advisable to leave Outlook Express and use Windows Live Mail? I
>>> have
>>> intermittent file corruption problems and have become nervous about
>>> allowing OE to do a file compaction when it asks. Would hope for a
>>> better
>>> comfort level with Windows Live Mail. I am running under XP. Does
>>> Windows
>>> LM have the functionality of OE and is it more reliable?
>>>
>>> Many thanks for any feedback. -- Sam

[snipped...]

"N. Miller" <anonymous@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1e0lajbz7zp3n.dlg@xxxxxx

> It removes the shortcuts to MSOE; but you can get those
> back, if you need them back. WLM does not delete MSOE, though it may
> seem
> like it.

Actually, WLMail 1606 does not hide the Outlook Express shortcuts like
previous builds did, and it un-hides any Outlook Express shortcuts
previously hidden by earlier versions of WLMail.

This change of tact was due to the amount of feedback in response to the
hidden shortcuts.

--
Cheers,
Peter
(Windows Vista Home Premium with Windows Live Mail 12.0.1606)
"There are more things in Heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in
your philosophy." - Shakespeare
---------------

To add to the other comments, though centered on OE.

While OE has had some issues with corruption in large messages stores--- one
of the consistent maintenance suggestions is to compact OE. OE post a
Windows Update compacts by default after 100 runs. It can be done manually,
and also manually offline. Compaction may prevent corruption.

WLM may also have some corruption issues and likewise also provides a
maintenance option(cleanup). It also includes a recovered items folder that
may contain problem posts etc and allow retrieval/salvage vs. struggling
with OE'd dbx files or a third party dbx retrieval tool.

--
...winston
ms-mvp windows live mail


"Sam Bryan" <sambryan@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uluAERNbIHA.3572@xxxxxx
I'm sure this very basic question must have been asked before, but it is not
showing up in the newsgroup's messages that I can currently view and I'm new
to this group and Google'ing didn't help that much.

So...
Is it advisable to leave Outlook Express and use Windows Live Mail? I have
intermittent file corruption problems and have become nervous about allowing
OE to do a file compaction when it asks. Would hope for a better comfort
level with Windows Live Mail. I am running under XP. Does Windows LM have
the functionality of OE and is it more reliable?

Many thanks for any feedback. -- Sam