Norton Internet Security / Norton AntiVirus

[thecleaner]

I am running Vista Home Premium and NIS 2011. While using my email i noticed that 2 folders have disappeared these both carrying important info. I have since run a NIS full  scan and also Malwarebytes full scan both scans are clear of any threats. My apologies if i should be running this on the Windows Mail Forum but i would be grateful for any help.

[RichD]

Hi, Have you checked to see if the missing folders are inside any of your other mail folders?  Perhaps the missing folders were dragged inside one of the adjacent mail folders and are now sub-folders in one of the other folders.

RichD

[thecleaner]

Thanks  Rich D  but alas they are not there Many thanks for trying.

[delphinium Norton Fighter]

What email client do you use?  Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird?

[thecleaner]

I am sure it is the old  Windows Mail that was with XP. My ISP is Virgin.

[huwyngr Norton Fighter]

Are the missing folders ones created by you to hold specific mail?

Have you checked in Norton History to see if you can spot a security action by it and in particular check Quarantined Items.

I know that with some email clients (I think Thunderbird is one) if a security application spots an infected file it cannot remove just the file but takes out the "folder" since everything in a folder is one file ....

If it's in Quarantine please ask on how to recover it since it may actually be infected .......

After you sort this out you may want to think of updating to Windows Live Mail which replaces Windows Mail and I think works in VISTA as wll as Windows 7. I use it and it's very similar to Outlook Express that I'm used to from XP days although the toolbar is rather different. But I don't think it suffers from this all or nothing problem.

Just did a Google and there's a lot about this ....

Have a look at this in Microsoft Answers:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_vista-windows_programs/windows-mail-under-v...

There are a lot of suggestions there including how to use a Repair function that is part of VISTA/Windows Mail .......

I note one person did include disabling AV software and that did not help ....

Please let us know how you get on.

[RichD]

Hi thecleaner,

After you have followed huwynger's suggestions, there are a couple other things you might want to do.

First, you might want to find the location where Windows Mail stores its files and see what you find there.

One site mentions that in Vista these files are usually stored in a hidden folder located here:

C:\users\(user-name)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Mail\Local Folders

Since this is a hidden folder, the icon may be grayed out or barely visible.

Another thing you could do is to try to make a backup of the files in your WIndows Mail, in the off chance that the two folders are sill stored in the system but no longer visible to you.  The procedure for making a backup of your Windows Mail data is given here:

How to Backup and Restore Messages in Windows Mail

After you have done the backup, then check the files that were placed in your new backup folder to see if the two missing folders re-appear.

RichD

[thecleaner]

Hi thanks for your advice.The two folders were created by me for storage & reference.I have checked NIS History & the Quarantine no infections at all. At the moment i am looking through the repair function many thanks for the link. I think this is a tough one will keep you posted many thanks again for the help. Cheers.

[thecleaner]

Hi many thanks for your help. I have checked the files nothing there. I will consider the backup situation but i think i am on a loser with this the head is aching now. Thanks for the link. Cheers

[huwyngr Norton Fighter]

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thecleaner wrote:

Hi many thanks for your help. I have checked the files nothing there. I will consider the backup situation but i think i am on a loser with this the head is aching now. Thanks for the link. Cheers

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Nothing to stop you posting in Microsoft Answers and seeing what they can suggest ....