Ask a new question

requesting delivery receipts in oe6?

We have some users here that still use Outlook Express 6.  One of them is having an issue with messages he sends.  They leave his outbox, go into sent items, but the recipients don't receive them.  He has had them check their junk folder and they aren't there.  He can then forward the same message to the person, and they get it.  It is happening with addresses at different tlds.

I wanted to set him up to request delivery receipts so I could figure out if it was something on the recipients' ends or if it was something I'd need to address with our mail provider.  Alas, I only see a way to request read receipts in OE6, not delivery receipts.  Am I missing something?  Is there a plug-in or anything that will allow me to request delivery receipts?

And, yes, I know.  Moving to Outlook would solve this, but our OE people are pretty well entrenched.  I don't see that happening.

Any advice anyone might have would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks.

Answer
Answer
That is the only type of receipt OE offers. This person can easilly send a message to himself and see iif he gets it. If not, either the Outbox or Sent Items is probably corrupt.
 
You have apparent dbx file corruption.
 
Move most of your messages out of Sent Items you wish to save to a local folder you create then do the following.
 
Tools | Options | Maintenance | Store Folder will reveal the location of your Outlook Express files. Write the location down and navigate to it in Windows Explorer or, copy and paste it into Start | Run.
 
In WinXP, the OE user files (DBX and WAB) are by default marked as hidden. To view these files in Windows Explorer, you must enable Show Hidden Files and Folders under Start | Control Panel | Folder Options Icon | View, or in Windows Explorer | Tools | Folder Options | View.
 
With OE closed, find the DBX files for the Outbox & Sent Items and delete them.  New ones will be created automatically when you open OE.
 
After you are done, follow up by compacting your folders manually while working *offline* and do it often.
 
Click on Outlook Express at the top of the folder tree so no folders are open. Then: File | Work Offline (or double click Working Online in the Status Bar). File | Folder | Compact all folders. Don't touch anything until the compacting is completed.
 
 
 
General precautions for Outlook Express:
 
Do not archive mail in the Inbox or Sent Items. Create your own user defined folders and move the messages you wish to save to them. Empty Deleted Items folder daily. Although dbx files have a theoretical capacity of 2GB, I recommend about a 300MB max for less chance of corruption.
 
Information about the maximum file size of the .dbx files that are used by Outlook Express:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=903095
 
Turn off e-mail scanning in your anti-virus program. It is a redundant layer of protection that eats up CPUs, slows down sending and receiving, and causes a multitude of problems such as time-outs, account setting changes and has even been responsible for loss of messages. Your up-to-date A/V program will continue to protect you sufficiently. For more, see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3 
 
Why you don't need your anti-virus to scan your email
http://thundercloud.net/infoave/tutorials/email-scanning/index.htm
 
Note that for some AV programs, it may be necessary to uninstall the program and reinstall in Custom Mode and uncheck e-mail scanning when the option arises. 
 
Compact often as specified above.
 
And backup often.
 
Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB Freeware)
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx 
===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== =====
☞ Avoid a post. Backup your data. ☜

Bruce Hagen
MVP: 2004 ~ 2010
2014 ~ Present
Imperial Beach, CA

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Answer
Answer

Sometimes there are server filters and it is possible the recipient's server spam filters blocked the original messages.  They need to log on to the server via webmail to check that.  If the message got put into the sent items box, then it left the outbox and likely passed the SMTP server (since there was no error from that).  One can set up a log file to check for issues under Tools | Options | Maintenance, but make sure you turn that off again, as the file grows and eventually slows things down to a crawl.

steve

 

Steve Cochran, Ph.D.
MS-MVP 1998 - 2014
Outlook Express \ Windows Mail
http://www.oehelp.com

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

 
 

Question Info

Last updated March 26, 2018 Views 31 Applies to: