Error in Outlook: To free up disk space, Outlook Express can compact messages. This may take up to a few minutes.

Try resetting the compact count in the registry:

  1. Start the registry editor.
  2. Open this key:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{identity}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0

    where identity is a string of letters, numbers, and dashes.

  3. Set the value of Compact Check Count to 0.
  4. Close the registry editor.