PM 'Not responding' [Mod: Resolved]

[cbiweb]

Poco version: 4.5

Today my XP comp had a bad freeze/crash, and after getting it rebooted, Poco had been reset to all its default settings. I did not lose any mail, nor did I lose my folders nor accounts, which is strange but true (thankfully!).

I replaced the poco.ini file with a recent backup copy, and all my settings were back again. BUT! Now, whenever I go to do anything at all with it, it freezes up and I have to kill it via Task Manager.

I reinstalled Poco, but the same problem occurs. Soon as I click anywhere, either to check my mail or open a folder or click a menu -- whatever I do -- it freezes.

What do I do?

[Tomas]

Close Pocomail, and rename poco.ini to pocoold.ini. Start Pocomail, and test whether that helped.

If that helped, go to settings and add the existing address books you had.

[cbiweb]

I figured replacing the .ini file with a backup would be same as renaming?

I tried the renaming trick anyway, and it barely worked. It took a long time for Poco to respond but it finally did. So I went back to the backup .ini and it's working but not smoothly.

Would a system restore put it back to its pre-corrupt state?

[Eric]

Would a system restore put it back to its pre-corrupt state?

Yes, it would put your system back before the corrupt state. Only hope the system restore will work

I do have some other suggestions prior to and that's to close PocoMail.
Delete all *.IDB files inside the Mail directory and restart Poco.

Second suggestion is to reinstall Poco into another directory and import all, except Program preferences and settings.
Try the first suggestion and if that doesn't work try the second.

See if that helps.

[cbiweb]

Thanks, Eric. I did your first suggestion, and things are much better but still a little sluggish when I delete emails. One at a time is not so bad, but when deleting multiple emails its takes a little time.

I'll try your second suggestion if it gets really annoying, or if other problems come up. Thanks again.

[Eric]

Thanks, Eric. I did your first suggestion, and things are much better but still a little sluggish when I delete emails. One at a time is not so bad, but when deleting multiple emails its takes a little time.

You're welcome cbiweb.
Try compressing your folders, so redundant messages get removed and your indexes reindexed.

I'll try your second suggestion if it gets really annoying, or if other problems come up.

If nothing else helps, then that's the best way to eliminate this behaviour.
Good to hear it's not crashing again.

[cbiweb]

My apologies for not returning to update you on this issue! I thought I had, but apparently not.

Compressing the folders did take away the sluggishness. Poco has worked perfectly since I did that, along with the other fixes. Thanks again for the help!

[Eric]

Thanks for the update, nice to know it's working OK now.

[rgrun1]

I do have some other suggestions prior to and that's to close PocoMail.
Delete all *.IDB files inside the Mail directory and restart Poco.

I wasn't having any trouble except a LOT of hesitation when deleting mail. Even after emptying trash and compression all folders there was some hesitation.

I did a search for all the IDB files and a couple were 90K. I deleted them all and relaunched PM and the hesitation was gone.

I wouldn't have found that other than through this post. Should this not be part of maintenance or possible built in?

[Eric]

I wasn't having any trouble except a LOT of hesitation when deleting mail. Even after emptying trash and compression all folders there was some hesitation.

Don't be afraid to delete mail, I do it all the time and especially with spam in my Junk Mail folder.

I did a search for all the IDB files and a couple were 90K. I deleted them all and relaunched PM and the hesitation was gone.

It doesn't hurt to delete the IDB-files. On restart all mailboxes will be reindexed, that's all.

I wouldn't have found that other than through this post. Should this not be part of maintenance or possible built in?

Perhaps including an FAQ into the manual would help.
It's up to PSI to improve that manual, although they can't include all the tips & tricks to be found on this forum.
Guess that would be a big manual to read through and that's something to avoid too.
However, there aren't many people who , unless they have too.

[rgrun1]

hehehe I delete a LOT of mail.
I think I will make a batch file and do that on a regular basis just to keep Poco running quickly and smoothly