OOerrr! I've been out playing golf and am now behind the curve!
Hi BOAC. I didn't use Revo because I didn't have it - indeed, I'm not sure that it even existed. I'm pretty sure that I used add/remove programs in Control Panel. Had I used Revo then I'm pretty sure that the vestiges of OE wouldn't be there to raise their ugly head. I'm a little perplexed that so many are telling me that one can't remove OE because I did and it completely disappeared for several years. Indeed a big part of the problem is that I have used several tools but still can find absolutely no trace of it because if I could find it I'd let loose the dogs of Revo on it. There are no e-mails left in whatever remains of OE on my computer. I cleared everything out and shipped it to Thunderbird. All would have remained completely well if some bl***y unwanted update (probably) hadn't started it offering to compact the non-existing e-mails every time I boot my computer. Remember that this only started very recently and very strangely coincided with Mozilla sending the same useless message. I'm perfectly capable of deciding when I want to click on the "compact folders" button in Thunderbird whenever I choose without being nannied!
I have tried the option of clicking to let OE compact the empty or non-existing folders, in the hope that it would keep quiet about it for at least a month or two but it doesn't work. Every time I boot the system it comes up again.
Hi PowerDragTrim. I did effectively remove it from my XP. It was, and still is, impossible to find with any tool I am aware of and caused no issues for years. Thank you for the idea but it is outside my comfort (capability?) zone. I'd prefer to find a way of letting Revo get a grip of it first so that it will (should?) eliminate every last trace. I suspect that MS has sent an unwanted update to tell it to wave a "compact me!" flag so perhaps I could eliminate that update if I could identify it as a single issue item. Then I could just leave the thing alone again to stew.
Hi mixture. The repair/reinstall OE option, followed by tearing it out again was one idea which I asked about in the original post. There's no point in repeating the use of the original uninstall tool because it obviously left some tiny traces the first time and would do so again. I'd need to use something more radical and I've always found Revo Uninstall has fitted the bill, but it needs to find a trace of OE to start to work on its elimination and that's the problem - there appears to be absolutely no trace!