Tech: Help - message date in Outlook Express

Subject: Tech: Help - message date in Outlook Express
From: Fossil
Date: 25 Oct 04 - 04:54 AM

I use Outlook Express under Win 98. After several years of trouble-free operation (apart from people sending me viruses and spam, which I can cope with), in the last few days, all my emails have started coming in with incorrect dates on them. Messages are currently dated to a specific day (I have seen 8th, 9th and 10th) of May 2004. This means they get sorted to the bottom of the inbox which is inconvenient, takes a lot of work finding and meant that until I figured out what was happening, that I missed one or two important ones.

I have looked at the message headers and it could be that the problem lies with my ISP, as the incorrect dates are usually displayed in the message codes.

I have checked and re-set the time/date on my computer and have cleared the inbox out completely, without apparently solving things.
I can't find any reference in the Help areas of the programme, nor did a Google turn up any immediate suggestions. So I thought I'd let the Mudcat brains have a go. Has anyone else had this problem, or have an idea what is causing it?

Subject: RE: Tech: Help - message date in Outlook Express
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 25 Oct 04 - 08:51 AM

It may vary with the version of OE that you use, but shouldn't matter that you're on Win98.

In OE, click "View" on the Toolbar, and then "columns," and make sure that you're displaying the date(s) you want to see. You can choose "sent" or "received" or both to view.

Under "View" you can also select "Sort by" but only the displayed columns are available there. If you don't display it, you can't sort on it.

You can also, in any folder, click on the header bar to change the sort. If you click the "From" column, for example, your mail will be sorted by sender. Click the same column again and the order will be reversed.

When you click a header to change how things are sorted, the dots in "View" - "Sort by" are moved, so whatever you clicked last remains your "default sort" until you change it again.

If the way your messages are sorted seems to have changed, it's likely that you've clicked a header bar and thus changed your selection of how they should sort. Just click the bar at the top of the "Received" or "Sent" column to re-sort them. Click again if they sort in the wrong order (last top or earliest top)

You should be aware that some messages may have "floatable dates." MSN and Hotmail are common offenders in sending messages that change their date to the current date every time you open them. This way it always looks like the message just arrived. One or two such in your inbox shouldn't confuse your sorts, but if you let a lot of these "magic messages" accumulate they could mess up your listings.

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Help - message date in Outlook Express
From: Snuffy
Date: 25 Oct 04 - 08:58 AM

During the day I access my e-mail account from work via the web. When I download it to Outlook Express in the evening, incoming messages show the correct time, but ones I have sent are dated an hour later than the actual time of sending. (To download sent messages I have to move them to the inbox)

If I post to a newsgroup the message received from there is timed correctly, but my outgoing post is an hour later.

Any ideas?

Subject: RE: Tech: Help - message date in Outlook Express
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 25 Oct 04 - 09:15 AM

Next possibility is that someone who's sending you stuff may have a bad clock. The "sent" date should be stamped into the message header, and except for the "magic date" things from MSN and Hotmail (and a very few other senders) the sent date shouldn't change. I've never thought about whether the date is determined by the clock on the machine that sends it or the one on the first server that passes it.

The received date should be posted when you download the message (by your machine's clock or maybe by the server you get it from).

You might want to try sorting on the "received" date instead of the "sent" date if you figure out that your problem is someone with a messed up clock who is sending stuff to you.

An erratic clock is one of the first symptoms of a failed or failing CMOS battery. All PCs have a battery attached to the motherboard that's supposed to keep the BIOS CMOS memory alive when there's no power to the computer, and keep the clock running when the machine is turned off. In older units, they're usually on pigtails that plug into terminals on the board, and are often held in place with Velcro pads. The older batteries usually lasted 5 to 7 years, but replacement was fairly common. Newer boards typically have the battery soldered onto the board, and they can be difficult just to find, much less to replace. (I'm not sure if they think the new batteries are "forever" devices, or just assume nobody will keep a computer long enough to wear one out.)

If you are getting mail from a specific person who's clock is off, you might want to suggest a battery check. If the battery goes dead, the clock has to be reset every time the machine is booted. There actually are few other problems from a dead battery with Win98 and later, if your setup is simple, since the PNP setup detects and reinstalls most stuff that the CMOS memory would "omit."

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Help - message date in Outlook Express
From: Fossil
Date: 25 Oct 04 - 09:18 AM

Thanks John, but I'm very familiar with the "view" and "sort" functionality of OE and use it a lot.

Just to compound things: my most recent connection to the ISP about two hours ago produced five messages, two (incorrectly) dated 10 May 2004 and three dated correctly with today's date, 25 October. So if I sort by date, the two incorrect ones end up at the bottom and the three correct ones at the top. I'm becoming more certain that it's an ISP problem.

Subject: RE: Tech: Help - message date in Outlook Express
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 25 Oct 04 - 09:22 AM

Snuffy -

I susect a difference between "sent" and "received" time in what you're looking at. Your office machine may be set to display one, and your home machine to show the other. You might take a look at that.

When you post, most boards use their local time, so the "hour later" may be because you're in a different time zone. Posts here at Mudcat always report a time that's an hour later than my local time when I post, because I'm in Central time zone and the 'cat is in Eastern. I sent my preceding post at 08:15 (my time), but it posted as 09:15 ('cat time).

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Help - message date in Outlook Express
From: Snuffy
Date: 25 Oct 04 - 09:25 AM

Fossil

10/5/2004 is May 10 in UK and Oct 25 in US

Subject: RE: Tech: Help - message date in Outlook Express
From: Snuffy
Date: 25 Oct 04 - 09:26 AM

I meant Oct 5

Subject: RE: Tech: Help - message date in Outlook Express
From: Mr Red
Date: 25 Oct 04 - 09:27 AM

if OE is anything like Outlook2000. ---- I rely on the bold=read formatting to prompt me to read them. I also move files around so the inbox is always short. ie in "Folk" folder is dealt with (E&OE).

I get job agency e-mail reguilarly and one insists on using the 0 date (= Jan 1 1970) so I don't sort on date until they are in the right folder. The Jobs folder is not sorted.

As good as the technology is - it can be misleading - wind assisted errors etc - so I use a bit of "procedure" anyway.

I blame Bill Gates with just a soupcon of humble pie.