Title:  Why does OE say "Message is no longer available on the server"?

Question:
I periodically get the error "Message is no longer available on the server"
when I receive new messages in Outlook Express for Windows. How can I open
these messages?

Answer:
Outlook Express maintains a copy of message headers and message bodies on
your computer. Periodically, this local copy can get out of sync with
what's on the UW IMAP server where your mail is actually stored.

When this happens, you can get the "message is no longer available on the
server" error for new messages. Another symptom of the same problem is
that a message is marked deleted, but cannot be purged from your Inbox.

If this happens, you can delete the local copy of your messages to force
Outlook Express to create a new one based on what's actually on the UW
IMAP server.

Here's how to do this in Outlook Express for Windows:

1. In Outlook Express, display your folder list for your UW email account.

2. With your right mouse button, click on the folder exhibiting the
   problems (usually this is the Inbox).

3. From the resulting pop-up menu, choose Properties.

4. Click the 'Local File' tab, then click 'Delete', then 'Yes' to confirm.

5. Click OK. Don't be alarmed that you now see no messages in your Inbox.
   They are still on the server.

6. Click on another folder in your folder list, then click on your Inbox
   again to re-create the local copy. Your message list should return, and
   the previously unavailable messages should now be available.