Vista - "Windows Mail can compact the message store"

I've had Vista installed for almost a month now and this evening I keep
getting a message when I close Windows Mail that says:

"Windows Mail can compact the message store. This can take a few minutes."
and asks "OK or Cancel"

What is this?

When you delete messages the space isn't necessarily freed up. By compacting
the store occasionally, every 100 shutdowns by default, it keeps the store
smaller than it otherwise would be. This is a good thing BTW.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!



"Carol in GA" <CarolinGA@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:42087CFE-CBA9-4715-9C3C-94F8E469BA00@microsoft.com...
> I've had Vista installed for almost a month now and this evening I keep
> getting a message when I close Windows Mail that says:
>
> "Windows Mail can compact the message store. This can take a few
> minutes."
> and asks "OK or Cancel"
>
> What is this?

"Richard Urban" <richardurbanREMOVETHIS@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:u1SYnfxUHHA.996@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> When you delete messages the space isn't necessarily freed up. By
> compacting the store occasionally, every 100 shutdowns by default, it
> keeps the store smaller than it otherwise would be. This is a good thing
> BTW.


Actually, WinMail does not keep the message itself in the database. It does
store all sorts of information about the message there, though, and that
space is not recovered until the database is compacted. Steve Cochran has
written a nice little free program dealing with the database, WMUtil:
http://www.oehelp.com/WMUtil/Default.aspx

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Answer in newsgroup. Don't expect an answer to email.

What are the advantages of that program?

You can compact the DB yourself. To repair the DB, seems to me you are
better off just deleting it and letting it rebuild. Even with 7,000+ emails
it didn't take very long.

Clean blank files?

Thanks




"Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM" <franksaunders@mvps.org> wrote in message
news:7E76E693-E9A5-4090-8BAB-0724B4A3ECAC@microsoft.com...
> "Richard Urban" <richardurbanREMOVETHIS@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:u1SYnfxUHHA.996@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>> When you delete messages the space isn't necessarily freed up. By
>> compacting the store occasionally, every 100 shutdowns by default, it
>> keeps the store smaller than it otherwise would be. This is a good thing
>> BTW.
>
>
> Actually, WinMail does not keep the message itself in the database. It
> does store all sorts of information about the message there, though, and
> that space is not recovered until the database is compacted. Steve
> Cochran has written a nice little free program dealing with the database,
> WMUtil: http://www.oehelp.com/WMUtil/Default.aspx
>
> --
> Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM
> http://www.fjsmjs.com
> Answer in newsgroup. Don't expect an answer to email.
>
>

"Justin" <None@None.com> wrote in message
news:ui3uuF5ZHHA.984@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> What are the advantages of that program?
>
> You can compact the DB yourself. To repair the DB, seems to me you are
> better off just deleting it and letting it rebuild. Even with 7,000+
> emails it didn't take very long.


I don't see how to compact the database yourself, and deleting it must be
done in both locations and then the rebuilding causes me problems with
duplicate messages.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Answer in newsgroup. Don't expect an answer to email.

"Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM" <franksaunders@mvps.org> wrote in message
news:4BCBAC61-140A-4AD0-ADE0-5C4E03C4C9EA@microsoft.com...
> "Justin" <None@None.com> wrote in message
> news:ui3uuF5ZHHA.984@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>> What are the advantages of that program?
>>
>> You can compact the DB yourself. To repair the DB, seems to me you are
>> better off just deleting it and letting it rebuild. Even with 7,000+
>> emails it didn't take very long.
>
>
> I don't see how to compact the database yourself, and deleting it must be
> done in both locations and then the rebuilding causes me problems with
> duplicate messages.

Dups - That's odd. No problems here.

I believe by default WM will compact every 100 runs. Change it to 1 and
exit. Then put it back.

What is the best way to store important e-mail messages before they get
compacted?

"Justin" wrote:

> "Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM" <franksaunders@mvps.org> wrote in message
> news:4BCBAC61-140A-4AD0-ADE0-5C4E03C4C9EA@microsoft.com...
> > "Justin" <None@None.com> wrote in message
> > news:ui3uuF5ZHHA.984@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> >> What are the advantages of that program?
> >>
> >> You can compact the DB yourself. To repair the DB, seems to me you are
> >> better off just deleting it and letting it rebuild. Even with 7,000+
> >> emails it didn't take very long.
> >
> >
> > I don't see how to compact the database yourself, and deleting it must be
> > done in both locations and then the rebuilding causes me problems with
> > duplicate messages.
>
> Dups - That's odd. No problems here.
>
> I believe by default WM will compact every 100 runs. Change it to 1 and
> exit. Then put it back.
>
>

In WinMail, unlike OE, the messages don't get compacted, only the database
does. So they won't be affected.

See also www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx#wm

steve

"Ellen" <Ellen@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:95998923-6A87-4382-B7E1-4AAD861C8188@microsoft.com...
> What is the best way to store important e-mail messages before they get
> compacted?
>
> "Justin" wrote:
>
>> "Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM" <franksaunders@mvps.org> wrote in message
>> news:4BCBAC61-140A-4AD0-ADE0-5C4E03C4C9EA@microsoft.com...
>> > "Justin" <None@None.com> wrote in message
>> > news:ui3uuF5ZHHA.984@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>> >> What are the advantages of that program?
>> >>
>> >> You can compact the DB yourself. To repair the DB, seems to me you
>> >> are
>> >> better off just deleting it and letting it rebuild. Even with 7,000+
>> >> emails it didn't take very long.
>> >
>> >
>> > I don't see how to compact the database yourself, and deleting it must
>> > be
>> > done in both locations and then the rebuilding causes me problems with
>> > duplicate messages.
>>
>> Dups - That's odd. No problems here.
>>
>> I believe by default WM will compact every 100 runs. Change it to 1 and
>> exit. Then put it back.
>>
>>

So what I get from this is that it is a good thing to compact the message
store? I have just been saying no, because I wasn't sure what it was.
Thanks.
"Steve Cochran" wrote:

> In WinMail, unlike OE, the messages don't get compacted, only the database
> does. So they won't be affected.
>
> See also www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx#wm
>
> steve
>
> "Ellen" <Ellen@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:95998923-6A87-4382-B7E1-4AAD861C8188@microsoft.com...
> > What is the best way to store important e-mail messages before they get
> > compacted?
> >
> > "Justin" wrote:
> >
> >> "Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM" <franksaunders@mvps.org> wrote in message
> >> news:4BCBAC61-140A-4AD0-ADE0-5C4E03C4C9EA@microsoft.com...
> >> > "Justin" <None@None.com> wrote in message
> >> > news:ui3uuF5ZHHA.984@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> >> >> What are the advantages of that program?
> >> >>
> >> >> You can compact the DB yourself. To repair the DB, seems to me you
> >> >> are
> >> >> better off just deleting it and letting it rebuild. Even with 7,000+
> >> >> emails it didn't take very long.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > I don't see how to compact the database yourself, and deleting it must
> >> > be
> >> > done in both locations and then the rebuilding causes me problems with
> >> > duplicate messages.
> >>
> >> Dups - That's odd. No problems here.
> >>
> >> I believe by default WM will compact every 100 runs. Change it to 1 and
> >> exit. Then put it back.
> >>
> >>
>

Only if you delete a lot of email. For the average user, doing this every
other month can help keep your WM app running at full speed.



"TK" <TK@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:91290CDB-FEA2-47E1-AF95-6D8A3886BC5D@microsoft.com...
>
> So what I get from this is that it is a good thing to compact the message
> store? I have just been saying no, because I wasn't sure what it was.
> Thanks.
> "Steve Cochran" wrote:
>
>> In WinMail, unlike OE, the messages don't get compacted, only the
>> database
>> does. So they won't be affected.
>>
>> See also www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx#wm
>>
>> steve
>>
>> "Ellen" <Ellen@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:95998923-6A87-4382-B7E1-4AAD861C8188@microsoft.com...
>> > What is the best way to store important e-mail messages before they get
>> > compacted?
>> >
>> > "Justin" wrote:
>> >
>> >> "Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM" <franksaunders@mvps.org> wrote in
>> >> message
>> >> news:4BCBAC61-140A-4AD0-ADE0-5C4E03C4C9EA@microsoft.com...
>> >> > "Justin" <None@None.com> wrote in message
>> >> > news:ui3uuF5ZHHA.984@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>> >> >> What are the advantages of that program?
>> >> >>
>> >> >> You can compact the DB yourself. To repair the DB, seems to me you
>> >> >> are
>> >> >> better off just deleting it and letting it rebuild. Even with
>> >> >> 7,000+
>> >> >> emails it didn't take very long.
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > I don't see how to compact the database yourself, and deleting it
>> >> > must
>> >> > be
>> >> > done in both locations and then the rebuilding causes me problems
>> >> > with
>> >> > duplicate messages.
>> >>
>> >> Dups - That's odd. No problems here.
>> >>
>> >> I believe by default WM will compact every 100 runs. Change it to 1
>> >> and
>> >> exit. Then put it back.
>> >>
>> >>
>>