Outlook Express stores its mail folders with same names as they appear in Local Folders list, but with .dbx extension (if your use OE 5 or OE 6) on hard disk. All the folders are then collectively stored in a hidden folder called Store Folder. Any corruption to these folders can render the important emails inaccessible. The options to solve such problems can be to rename or delete the corrupted folders. Outlook Express will recreate the default mail folders on next restart. But if the files contain important data, you need to apply the backup or repair the corrupted folders by using Outlook Express Recovery solutions.For instance, suppose you run Outlook Express 6. On occasion, you might find that when you click Sent Items folder to view its contents, the application freezes and nothing happens. The folder fails to open and forces you to close the application using Task Manager.

Cause

There can be several causes responsible for this issue. One could be that the Sent Items.dbx file is corrupt because of any of the below reasons:

1-Sent Items folder is grown to a quite large size. DBX files have default file size limitation of 2 GB.
2-If you are using Windows XP SP1 or earlier, background compaction can corrupt the DBX files, especially on slow systems. However, manual compaction can also bring corruption if is interrupted.
3-Unexpected shutdown can make .dbx files consistent.

Solution

To solve corrupted .dbx file problem, you should apply these fixes:

1-Check if a valid backup is available. If it is, you can simply delete the Sent Items.dbx and import items to the newly created file, which OE creates after you delete and start the application. You can alternatively rename the file as well.
2-If you need to retrieve emails when no clean or complete backup is available, the option to Recover Outlook Express is to use third-party repair products. Outlook Express Recovery tools come with rich design and powerful repair features that can competently repair a damaged or corrupted OE .dbx file.

Stellar Phoenix Outlook Express Recovery is an effective utility that uses high-end scanning algorithms to repair and restore corrupted .dbx files. It is a safe utility to Recover Outlook Express with impressive set of features. The tool supports comprehensive .dbx file repair for Outlook Express 5.x and 6.x. It is a reliable utility and proves competent in each scenario of OE file corruption.