URGENT help with Outlook Express - Message appears blank

[tanalasta]

I'm having major problems with outlook express 6 on Windows XP (with the latest XP updates). All of a sudden, i can no longer read any emails. All emails in the preview pane and if you open them in a seperate window appear "blank" - no text, nothing. Even emails previously downloaded onto my computer and were readable yesterday are not working.

I've done the usual google search and Windows knowledge base search and the only useful suggestions (e.g. check view-encoding, delete temporary files folder) have not worked.

Any prompt responses/fixes would be much appreciated!!! I really rely on emails for a LOT of my work.

[Jason Dunn]

This is a long shot, and I haven't tried this in years, but if you remove all the Outlook Express email files from the storage folder (move them into another folder), OE will re-create blank ones when it starts up again. Then try to import the folders one by one (FILE > IMPORT).

This may not be what you want to hear, but Outlook Express isn't a very good serious email client - the instability that you're seeing is the primary reason why most people don't use it for critical email. Outlook is a far more robust client, and the PST data file is nearly bullet-proof.

[tanalasta]

Actually, after spending hours trying various things (re-installing/repairing IE6 and OE as per knowledge base article 318378 - which didn't get very far at all. It refused to reinstall IE6 even after a reg-edit)...; the requisite spyware/virus scan; I did what I should've done a long long time ago.

Installed Outlook 2003. Works like a charm now :D OE6 is still broken though.

Thanks for the reply!