Your alternate approach will work if due diligence is used in keeping track.
It would be more accurate if you left the machine on and OE open though. I
don't know what your situation is, but I don't need to worry about anyone
else touching my computer, so it is on all day long and sometimes a few days
without rebooting. If electrical usage is a concern, just turn off the
monitor. The computer itself uses only a few watts.

See also Robert's post. He beat me to the punch. I was going to suggest
RegMon if the compact count increased during this test.
--

Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA


"AnnaMarie" wrote in message
...
Thanks for a 3rd pass on my posting, Bruce! That is very kind of you.

With SP2, a manual compact will reset the counter to zero regardless if
Local Folders is highlighted or not, or you are working online. Those are
recommendations to reduce the chance of corruption when compacting.

Understood.

EML files are any OE message you saved to the hard drive as a message or
a template for instance.

Okay. Prior to asking what EML files were, I searched my HDD using *.eml
and found NADDA.

In the option to exclude selected file types from indexing, be sure to
add these file types: .eml, .dbx & .nws

??? Please clarify.

No need to clarify. If you are not using Nero, it's a moot point.

Good. )

Do this test.
Go to: StartRunRegeditOK and find this key.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{GUID for Identity
\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0. In the right hand pane and find
*Compact Check Count* and set the value to 0, (zero).

DONE!

Do this when you boot up in the AM, or whenever. Open OE and leave it
open all day. Minimize to the SysTray is fine. At the end of the day,
what is the Compact Check Count before you close OE?

Hmmm . . . this may be difficult. I always shutdown after each use, and I
typically use my PC (and power it up) 4 to 5 times a day. I have never
left it on all day and prefer not doing so now. I see where you're
going - you'd like to see if its incrementing on its own, when it should
not. Of course, if I were to keep track of the times I access OE6 and
check my mail, or send mail, I suppose this may accomplish the same thing.
What is your opinon on this alternate approach, Bruce?

AnnaMarie )