Symptoms of DBX Corruption

The initial symptoms of DBX corruption usually begins unknowingly. You might notice that Outlook Express opens slowly when starting, or when switching folders. Simple tasks like marking a message as read might take several seconds. Such performance issues usually mean that some minor corruption has occurred but has not yet reached a serious level.

If the corruption is wider but engrosses a single e-mail or news folder, Outlook Express might crash with this error when you try to open the damaged folder:

Msimn caused an exception C0000006h in module Directdb.dll. The message could not be sent. There is not enough Disk space.

In such cases, the corruption can usually be repaired by compacting all your Outlook Express folders. If compacting does not rectify the corruption, you will need to move all messages out of the damaged folder (if possible), close Outlook Express, and then delete the linked DBX file for that folder. If you cannot open the folder, move the damaged DBX file out of the Store Folder into a new folder you create.
 
In cases of severe corruption, Outlook Express will no longer recognize that the DBX file exits, and so the corresponding folder will disappear from the Folder list. If however the corrupt file is Inbox.dbx, Outlook Express will sometimes create a new one and append a number to its name, such as Inbox(1).dbx. If this happens when you open the Inbox, you will see your Inbox messages disappear right before your very eyes!