PC Win: Messages with Same Time Stamp Are Sorted Incorrectly

• Microsoft Mail for Windows, versions 3.0, 3.0b, 3.1, and 3.2

SYMPTOMS

In versions 3.0, 3.0b, 3.1, and 3.2 of Microsoft Mail for Windows, messages received with the same time stamp do not get sorted correctly: they appear in a folder in the order they were placed in it and are not sorted automatically by their From field.

CAUSE

The messages are inserted into the folder in the order they are received. Mail does not sort them until you open the folder. If your primary sort key is the Received field, and all the time stamps are the same, the messages appear to Mail to already be sorted and Mail does not re-sort them. As a result, the messages appear in their original, unsorted order.

The problem is that Mail pays attention only to date, hour, and minute when sorting, not seconds, and it does not automatically do a secondary sort by the From field.

RESOLUTION

Click the From field to force mail to sort based on that column, and then click the Received field again. This causes messages in the folder with the same time stamp to be sorted alphabetically.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in versions 3.0, 3.0b, 3.1, and 3.2 of Microsoft Mail for Windows. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.