How to troubleshoot e-mail messages that are stuck in your Outbox

This article covers the problem of not being able to send an

email message that appears to be stuck in your outbox.

When you try to send an e-mail message, the e-mail message may

move to your Outbox and not be sent. This article will

describe how to solve the issue that can be caused by multiple

issues. I have included the possible causes of this problem

and the solution for each possible cause. If none of these

solutions work for you I suggest you back up your contacts and

important email messages as well as the all important address

book. Then re-install outlook express 6.

This behavior can be caused by any of the following

conditions:

– You open the e-mail message in your Outbox before the e

-mail message is sent.

– You work offline and have not made a remote connection.

– Your sending options are not set to send e-mail messages

immediately by using the correct connection.

– Your mail folders or e-mail messages within the folders

are damaged.

Message Opened from Your Outbox

After you send an e-mail message, Outlook moves the e-mail

message to your Outbox. When Outlook connects to your mail

server, the e-mail message is delivered and a copy of the sent

e-mail message appears in your Outbox. If you open and close

an e-mail message while it is in your Outbox, the e-mail

message may not be sent because you may have changed its

status. If the status of the e-mail message has been changed,

the title of the e-mail message no longer appears in bold.

To send the e-mail message, open the message, and then click

Send. The message title changes back to the bold format in the

Outbox Messages view. The next time that you make a connection

to the mail server, the e-mail message is delivered.

You Are Working Offline

To change the Work Offline command:

1. On the File menu, click Work Offline.

2. On the Tools menu, point to Send/Receive, and then click the name of the account from which you want to send the message.

Make sure that you have a reliable connection to the internet. Check to see if you can get web pages.

Send Options

To make sure that you have selected the correct send options:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.

2. On the Send tab, click to select both the Send messages

immediately and Save copy of sent messages in the ‘Sent Items’

folder check boxes.

3. On the Connection tab, click Change under Internet

Connection Settings, and then make sure that the correct dial

-up or local area network (LAN) settings are in the list.

4. Click OK, click OK, open the message in your Outbox, and then click Send.

Damaged Mail Folders

Your mail folders or e-mail messages within the folders may be

damaged. There are two ways to troubleshoot this type of

problem. The first method is to concentrate only on the Outbox

folder. The second method is to create all new folders.

You can create a new Outbox folder using the following steps:

1. Exit Outlook Express.

2. Search your hard drive for Outbox.dbx and delete this file.

3. Restart Outlook Express. A new empty outbox folder is created automatically.

You can create all new mail folders if you create a new

identity. After you create the new identity, you can import

your old e-mail messages to your new identity.

Create a New Identity

1. On the File menu, point to Identity, and then click Add New Identity.

2. Type a name for the new identity, and then click OK.

When you are prompted to switch to the new identity,

click Yes. Outlook Express quits, and then restarts with the

new identity.

3. Follow the prompts in the Internet Connection Wizard to

configure Outlook Express for your new identity.

4. When the Outlook Express Import Wizard starts, click Do

not import at this time. You can import your files later.

5. Create a new e-mail message, and then send the new e-

mail message to make sure that the new identity is working correctly.

Import Messages from the Old Identity to the New Identity

After you send an e-mail message from the new identity, you

can import messages from your old identity:

1. On the File menu, point to Import, and then click

Messages.

2. Under Select an e-mail program to import from, click

your version of Outlook Express, and then click Next.

3. Under Specify Location, click your old identity, click

OK, and then click Next.

4. Click All folders, click Next, and then click Finish.

As mentioned at the top of this article if none of these situations or solutions solves your problem. Do a complete backup of everything including the address book and re-install Outlook Express.

by Brian Ringland

http://www.youneedyourmail.com

http://www.makingmoneyfromyourblog.com