A few days ago my computer was disconnected (and battery was dead)
while I was writing an e-mail in Outlook Express 6. Ever since, I have
been unable to open OE. When I try I get a window that says "Outlook
Express has encountered a problem and needs to close.  We are sorry
for the inconvenience."

I have attempted to reinstall IE&OE but there was no improvement. I
thought this must be about a corrupt mailbox but I am not sure how to
deal with that and don't even know where this mailbox file is stored
(and a search for *.idx or *.mbx yields no results).

Thanks, Andrew

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Request for Question Clarification by netcrazy-ga on 19 May 2004 12:54 PDT

Which OS you are using?

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Request for Question Clarification by netcrazy-ga on 19 May 2004 12:56 PDT

And also, which version of Internet Explorer you are using on your computer?

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Clarification of Question by andrewmartin2005-ga on 19 May 2004 13:18 PDT

Windows XP v5.1
internet explorer 6 SP1

Hello andrewmartin2005,

Thanks for asking this at GA. After doing some search, it seems that
your problem is because of the .dbx file corruption which might have
happened due to sudden power failure of your computer. So, to fix
this, I?m posting some of the options which you can try.

1.	First of all, let?s start by making sure that your Outlook Express 
(OE) data file is corrupted. If your problem is due to the .dbx files
corruption, then this solution would fix it.
Following link will tell you how to search for .dbx files and how to fix it.
http://www.fjsmjs.com/OE/directdb.htm

Impact of creating a new .dbx file - 
http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/files/store.htm#deldbx

To view the hidden files - 
http://www.xtra.co.nz/help/0,,4155-1916458,00.html#5

You may also try this approach to search for .dbx files
- Make sure that Outlook Express is not running
- On Win XP, you need to use the advanced options to find Hidden or System files.

You may also want to use the DBXtract tool to get the data from the
corrupted .dbx file to the new inbox after you are able to find the
old .dbx files.
 
2.	If option 1 doesn?t help, then you may want to repair your OE. I
know you?ve already tried re-installing IE and OE, but I?m just trying
to make sure that nothing is left out.
On doing a quick search within the Microsoft knowledge base, here are
the steps to repair your IE and OE -
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=318378  
NOTE: Don?t forget to take a complete backup of your registry before
performing this.

3.	If any of the above options fixes your problem, then make sure that
your system is running latest patches and Virus definition.

To get Microsoft?s latest patches for XP, click on the following link
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and then Scan for updates. 
I?m not sure which Anti-virus you are running, but try to get the
updated version available on your computer.

A similar question was posted on internet -
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winme/t1065703534

Let me know if your problem got fixed. In case of any questions, feel
free to request for clarification.

Search Strategy:
Outlook Express encountered
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=Outlook+Express+encountered+

Outlook Express has encountered problem
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=Outlook+Express+has+encountered+problem

Thanks
netcrazy

this problem once happened to as well. the way i solved this is by
checking if any of the dbx files are read only.
to do this, select the dbx files. 
Mine is in "C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local
Settings\Application
Data\Identities\{483C497F-64B2-4761-A7A9-62F4AB5F59DF}\Microsoft\Outlook
Express".
Right click and select properties. Then see if the "Read-only"
attribute is checked. Untick the check mark and click OK. This should
correct the problem.