keep messages gone

[z...@some.com]

Hi

Agent 7

1......In alt.Usenet.offline-reader.forte-agent I had a load of messages that I had a KEEP icon on
them so I did not lose them every time I got new headers.

2.....Now for some reason I looked at the icon in folders and it had changed to a yellow icon and
not the normal Usenet one.

3.....I went and had a look at the help files to see why this was and it pointed me to "folder
properties news access plan enable newsgroup retrieval and posting" I put a tick in that.

4.....I went to "get new headers and folders " and when I went to have a look in the message part
ALL my keep messages had gone but the new ones was listed but not my keep ones.


5.....Why did they go when I had the keep icon on them and can I get them back?


I have the " In Agent 7.00, "View >> All Messages" showing

Thanks

Zac

[Ralph Fox]

A. "Why did they go when I had the keep icon on them"

Each folder in Agent corresponds to two files on your hard drive, an
00xxxxxx.IDX file and a matching 00xxxxxx.DAT file. If these files
are deleted or corrupted, then you can lose all messages in the
folder - including 'kept' messages.

It appears that something has corrupted these two files -- or perhaps
deleted and recreated them.

Putting 'keep' on a message is similar to chaining a book to a
bookshelf. It may stop the book by itself from being taken out of
the library. But it does not stop the entire bookshelf from being
taken out and dumped in a landfill, books and all.

Some things which can corrupt Agent's database files include

1. Letting any other program access Agent's database files at
the same time that Agent is trying to use them.

For example,
1.1 A script that makes backup copies of files;
1.2 A desktop search indexer;
1.3 A second copy of Agent (run from a different Windows
login account or run from a different computer).

2. If one's Anti-Virus finds a virus in a message, and quarantines
the 00xxxxxx.DAT file.

I suspect that this is not the case here, as this would not
have changed the folder icon. Generally only the folder's
00xxxxxx.DAT file gets quarantined, but the folder's icon
setting is kept in the 00xxxxxx.IDX file.

3. Trying to synchronize files in two Agent databases, when both
databases have been modified since the previous synchronization.


B. "and can I get them back"

Before you go any further, make a backup copy of the folder's
00xxxxxx.IDX file and 00xxxxxx.DAT file. This is so that if
the first thing doesn't work, you can go back to an unmodified
copy of the files and try the next thing.

1. The surest option for getting these messages back would be to
restore the 00xxxxxx.IDX and 00xxxxxx.DAT file from a backup copy.

2. You could try "File >> Repair Selected Folders".
It might recover the messages, but I don't think it will recover
the 'kept' flags. You will need to reset those.

Running "Repair Selected Folders" will modify the .IDX and .DAT files,
and if it doesn't recover the messages it may trash anything that
could be recovered. That is why it is important to have backup copies
of the .IDX and .DAT files to revert to.

3. First replace the 00xxxxxx.IDX file with a file of exactly zero size,
and then run "File >> Repair Selected Folders". This is for in case
the messages are in the .DAT file but the .IDX file had broken pointers
to data in the .DAT file.

4. You could try checking your AV's quarantine. You can lose messages
if the AV finds a virus in a message in the folder and quarantines
the 00xxxxxx.DAT file containing it. Just restoring the .DAT file
won't recover your messages, you need to have (or rebuild) a
matching .IDX file from the same point in time. Post back if you
did find a .DAT file in quarantine.


--
Kind regards
Ralph