Thanks Tom, tried that. Followed your suggestion fully. All folders appeared
to compact OK this time.
However "need to close" message still appears when downloading emails only.
Each of my local .dbx folders can be opened OK, with no problems seen which
could suggest a damaged folder...so far as I can tell (but what do I know?)
So I'm still at a loss to see what's wrong!
Anything else I can try?
Roy



"Tom Koch" wrote in message
...
"Roy Hammond" wrote in message
...
In OE6, part way during downloading emails, the "needs to close" message
appears.
I've discovered that the emails continue to fully download if I ignore
the
closedown message (of course I then have to allow the closedown).

The error signature in the closedown message says "AppName: msimn.exe"
and
"ModName: directdb.dll".

I've compacted all OE6 folders (although, strangely, one folder wasn't
compacted because a message said it was in use - unlikely since it was a
store only for messages associated with a hobby of mine).

There's the problem. An error in directdb.dll is almost always due to a
damaged dbx file.

In the OE Folder list (View| Layout| Folder List),
click Outlook Express so that no mail or news folder is open.
Now click File| Work Offline so that no new messages will be arriving.
Finally, click File| Folder| Compact All Folders.
This process can take several minutes and you should not attempt to use
your computer until it is finished. If an error occurs, such as "cannot
compact, folder in use", just close OE, wait a second or two, then re-open
OE and begin the process again.

You might have to remove the damaged *.dbx from the store folder if the
compaction process does not repair it. You might also want to use
something like DBXtract to recover messages from the damaged file.

For more on file corruption in OE:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/...orruption.mspx

--
Tom Koch, former MVP for IE/Outlook Express 1997-2005
http://www.insideoe.com
Awareness is free.