To free up disk space, Outlook Express can compact messages. This may take up to a few minutes.

Anonymous
2010-01-04T16:48:32+00:00

Every few minutes the message :

"To free up disk space, Outlook Express can compact messages.  This may take up to a few minutes."

This is irrelevant for two reasons :

(1) I do not use Outlook Express, and therefore have no messages to compact.

(2) I do not need to free up disk space as I am currently using only five per cent of a very large disk.

Could someone please tell me how I get rid off this very irritating message.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Internet and connectivity

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2012-06-10T21:36:30+00:00

Here are the things I did that resolved the issue for me:

I reset Compact Check Count to 0, and I uninstalled Windows Search 4.0. 

As for Outlook Express: I don't use it.

Thank you for the reply...and thanks for the advice & info.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_xp-performance/outlook-express-can-compact-messages-how-do-i-turn/b7e41d7f-d0db-4930-9c64-19e3c7b7d5cf?tm=1339359499078&page=1#_self

Was this answer helpful?

1 person found this answer helpful.
0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2010-01-17T22:00:57+00:00

Try resetting the compact count in the registry:

  1. Start the registry editor.
  2. Open this key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities{identity}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0

where identity is a string of letters, numbers, and dashes. 3. Set the value of Compact Check Count to 0. 4. Close the registry editor.

For more information, see Why You Should Let Outlook Express Compact Messages When It Asks You .

Warning: Incorrectly editing the registry might damage your system and prevent Windows from starting. Before doing it, back up your important data, make a restore point, and make sure you know how to repair a damaged system.

Boulder Computer Maven

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional

Was this answer helpful?

0 comments

104 additional answers

Sort by: Newest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2011-08-01T11:20:55+00:00

    I did all of the above suggestions, and have the same issue and it still comes back.  Lets have some valid answers please.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2011-08-01T05:33:33+00:00

    The following, copied from another site, worked for me:

    If this problem persists, I would like to confirm if the error occurs when you start up the computer. If this is the situation, we can also disable the Outlook Express program from the startup menu by the steps below:

    ============

    1.       Right-click Start button, and choose Properties from popup menu.

    2.       Choose Start Menu tab.

    3.       Click "Classic Start Menu" radio button and choose the Customize button.

    4.       Click the Remove button.

    5.       Click on "Outlook Express" to highlight it.

    6.       Click Remove button.

    • Marked As Answer bySally TangWednesday, May 19, 2010 9:09 AM

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2011-07-27T00:53:07+00:00

    Now I have had a problem where Windows Search failed to find one of my files. It was in an indexed folder and sitting there plain as day on the hard drive, but Windows Search just couldn't see it. So that's the final straw.

    So I have now ditched Windows Search and am trialling Lookeen and X1 Professional Client as alternatives.

    Thanks everyone for all the help - at least this thread should be useful for others.

    EDIT Aug 9, 2011

    To help anyone else trying to ditch windows search, I evaluated  Lookeen and X1 Professional Client, but neither of them have proper wild card searches so are non-runners for me.

    Back to using the standard Outlook search (slow, lacks functionality, but stable and does have wildcard (ie part word) search)

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments