Outlook Express messed up

[TpGun2424]

We use outlook express and for the past couple pf weeks it hasn't been working right. When anyone tries to open it it basically freezes. Also whenever it opens it opens AIM, does anyone know how to disable that and what may be wrong with OE.

Thanks
T

[Miz]

Most likely one of OE's .dbx files is corrupt. Do a search of the harddrive for "*.dbx* (without the quotes, with the asterisk and dot). You may find more than one folder containing .dbx files but generally the one with the "inbox.dbx" that was modified most recently (right click on the file, go to Properties, check "Date Modified") is the folder which OE is actually using.

Start by renaming the inbox.dbx file to inbox.old, try to open OE. If that doesn't work, rename the folders.dbx file to folders.old and try OE again.

If that doesn't work, the next most likely suspect is spyware, specifically Hotbar, which has been known to mess up OE. If you haven't already, download, install, immediately update and then run Spybot and/or Ad-Aware. Read the help files to familiarize yourself with how they work. I recommend you use them both since each tends to find things the other misses. Let them clean up any spyware found. See if removing spyware helps out with the OE problem.

To turn off AIM starting up when OE does, try OE's Tools>Options>General tab, uncheck "Automatically logon to....etc.," click OK and see if that fixes the problem.

[AlwaysUp]

If you are not married to AIM as a chat platform, I would suggest using MSN Messenger, as the applications seem to more seemlessly interact with one another. Also, a good tip for OE users is to go in and disable preview of emails in preview pane. This in and of itself can allow malicious content exposure.