PC Win: Err Msg: Mail System Error. Mail Could Not Read...

• Microsoft Mail for Windows, versions 3.0 and 3.0b

SYMPTOMS

In versions 3.0 and 3.0b of Microsoft Mail for Windows, you may receive an unreadable message. The header information (To:, From:, and Subject: fields) is correct, but the text indicates a MAIL SYSTEM ERROR. The error message states:

   Mail could not read the entire message from the postoffice. Some
   parts of the message may be missing. Ask the sender to resend the
   message.

CAUSE

If the mail message is unreadable due to some sort of text corruption, it must be resent. However, this message does not always mean the message is corrupt.

Some messages that are reported to one user as unreadable are received successfully by other users on the postoffice. These messages are not corrupt, but have encountered a problem when Mail for Windows downloaded them from the postoffice.

Mail first computes a checksum for the message, one component of which is the file size. If the file is locked exclusive, the client cannot get the file size, so it sets file size to zero (0) and when it compares the computed checksum with the file checksum, they do not match. This causes the MAIL SYSTEM ERROR.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in versions 3.0 and 3.0b of Microsoft Mail for Windows. This problem was corrected in version 3.2 of Microsoft Mail for PC Networks.