Outlook keeps telling me to compact email, but it only gets half way and quits

I'm getting the message to compact email to save disk space, and yet everytime I do it, it aborts the process about half way through. Why do I keep getting this and why can't it finish the job? I'm using XP home and I believe it's OE6.

 

You may be running into a known error. I found the following suggestion as to how to deal with it (if so). It involves manually compacting your folders, rather than responding to OE's suggestion to compact. Try this:

• 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.

Just fyi, your subject says "Outlook", but OE6 is "Outlook Express". They are different things.

Having now made a suggestion about a fix, may I also suggest that you try a different program, such as Mozilla Thunderbird (which is free), rather than OE?