WFWG Mail Causes Unexpected Hard Disk Activity

• Microsoft Windows for Workgroups versions 3.1, 3.11

SYMPTOMS

When you run Windows for Workgroups Mail, hard disk drive access begins with no apparent cause or result.

CAUSE

By default, Mail compresses the mail message file (.MMF) during periods of inactivity.

RESOLUTION

To disable this feature, you can either increase the Secs_till_Fast_Compress entry, or disable the automatic compression feature.

Increasing the Secs_till_Fast_Compress Entry

To change the period of time Mail waits before automatically compressing the .MMF file, edit the MSMAIL.INI file as follows:

1. Open the MSMAIL.INI file in a text editor such as Windows Notepad.

2. Add the following entry to the [mmf] section:

         Secs_till_Fast_Compress=<number of seconds desired>
   

   NOTE: The [mmf] section may not exist. If does not, simply add it.

Disabling Automatic MMF Compression

Although you can disable automatic compression of .MMF files, Microsoft does not recommend doing so because it can lead to abnormally large message files.

To disable the automatic compression of an MMF file:

1. Open the MSMAIL.INI file in a text editor such as Windows Notepad.

2. Add the following entry to the [mmf] section:

         No_Compress=1
   

   NOTE: The [mmf] section may not exist. If does not, simply add it.