Windows 10 Composing email draft problem

[paulbudrow]

Hi:

I am in Windows Live Mail and am trying to write a draft. Don't know what is happening but I get just so far and cannot write anymore. Is there a limit being set somewhere to limit the number of characters composing a draft message? Anyone have an answer please?

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Hi and welcome to the forum
I used to run WLM for several years until about a year ago when I switched back to Outlook (2016). Perhaps someone will run into that and post it. I did not find it on any of Microsoft's forums including TechNet, Community Forums, etc.

I don't imagine it's more than 3-4 pages of single-spaced 80-line characers; maybe 3k-4k or something. What you can try is to type up your draft in MS Word or Wordpad and use the character or word-count feature to count your words/characters in your document. When you get to 3k characters (3,000), try to copy into a new WLM E-mail message and attempt to send it. You can block copy & paste it to get to 6k, 9k, 12k, etc. and keep going and see how long a message you can send in WLM before it fails to send or gives you an error message or both. It would also help to know which version of WLM you are running. There are versions from WLM 2009-2012. Some of these won't run on W10, which is the forum you posted your help request on. I'm guessing your are running WLM 2011 or WLM 2012.

Sorry, I don't have a precise answer for you. Most E-mail programs limit your new message size (in the body of the message) to the 3k-5k limit or so. Therefore, trying to type in a 10-page or 25-page E-mail probably will fail to send in WLM or most other E-mail programs such as Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, etc.

Another workaround I've used is to type up your E-mail in MS Word or Wordpad as above and save as an attachment, and address your E-mail to your recipient and ATTACH the Word or Wordpad document to the E-mail. Word has a size limit of hundreds of pages, Wordpad is about 25-30 pages I seem to recall. If you are at more than 4 pages in your document draft in WLM, that may be what you have to do in order to send a longer E-mail message to someone.

Hope that helps.
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>

 

[paulbudrow]

Thanks so much for your extensive answer. It will really help

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

You're welcome! Glad to help. Let us know if you find a max message character size limit experientially. Our other forum users would benefit from that information; as it certainly doesn't show up in any Google searches I did.

Best,
<<<BBJ>>>

 

[paulbudrow]

Thanks again . I will.

One other question, if I can. The problem with the "critical error"received trying to click on the start menu button.I think Ive tried every suggestion other than resetting my system but this looks like the only way to solve it on my Dell inspiron computer running windows 10. I really don't want to lose all my apps and all my additions. Thank God my surface book isn't affected. Anyway do you have anything solution that really works? Thanks Paul.

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

It would be helpful if you could take a screenshot and post it back here for it; if it's a full screen error (such as a Blue, Black, or White screen) you may have to use your Cell. phone camera and E-mail/upload here. If it's a small window dialog box, you could try to download the DXDIAG program and upload the results here for us to analyze. Also, critical errors are usually caused by the following:
1. Virus/malware infection
2. Windows registry corruption
3. Hardware failure (RAM, Hard Drive, or Motherboard)
4. Out of date or obsolete program still running in your Startup programs

Things to try:
1. Scan/remove all viruses found with whatever your primary AV is, such as Windows Defender, Norton, Avast, etc. Retest for problem.
2. Download the free MALWAREBYTES antispyware scanner from malwarebytes.org and scan/remove all spyware viruses found.
3. Remove all toolbars on all your browsers, especially IE11 and Edge except the Google toolbar which is safe.
4. Download the free CCLEANER from piriform.com and clean out junk from your C: drive.
5. Download the free JUNKWARE REMOVAL TOOL and do a 2nd level cleanout.
6. Use W10 install media, MCT tool to run a W10 in-place upgrade repair on W10 from the Recovery Console. You can download the MCT tool from Microsoft free here for DVD or USB: Windows 10
Retest for problem.

These are software solutions and assuming you have no hardware failures (bad RAM stick(s), Hard Drive, or Motherboard), you may be able to avoid the dreaded W10 reinstall! Bear in mind, some of us enjoy doing that--but we are weird computer geeks, and that's what we like to do. LOL. If you are willing to spend the 2-3 days to 1 week it takes to do the troubleshooting to get to the bottom of your probem--assuming nothing else we suggested has fixed your Error problem--you can narrow down where the problem is coming from, and fix it. My handy Troubleshooting Guide I wrote, will fix this kind of problem about 90% of the time if you are willing to do the work. Here's the link:
Windows 10 - Unclickable Task Bar
Keep in mind that certain devices such as laptops and tablets don't respond well to being dropped or run over with a chair or used as a Frisbee by the kids or grandkids--this can often cause weird software errors; as the jarring can break sensitive electronics such as RAM sticks and Hard Drives (most of which have moving parts). An awful lot of failures on laptops/tablets I see in my repair business are due to drops and accidental abuse.

If your Error message is a full screen error; Blue, Black, or White then you'll need to post back and we'll provide you instructions on how to upload your Crash Dump files here for analysis by one of our Dump Experts and try to help solve the problem. In any case, they will be able to identify the problem such as a bad driver, or a bad program, and we can narrow it down from there. Taking the time to test your hardware however, will save you time in the long run. As if you go through all the software solutions and you still have a hardware failure, no software on the planet can fix Broken Hardware! So, even if you do the dreaded W10 reinstall, that Error will remain if it's coming from a failed hardware component and you haven't identified and replaced it.

Let us know how it goes. Don't be afraid to ask further questions. If we can see that screenshot and identify the exact error you get, that will help speed things along.

Best,
<<<BBJ>>>

 

[paulbudrow]

Thanks. I will work on doing these items. In the meantime , here is a screenshot of the error I get.

ps: you suggested some virus/maleware apps to use. I used these originally but the Microsoft rep.. told me I only needed windows defender. So you do suggest using other apps?

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Good job getting us the screenshot. Unfortunately, it's not a full Windows crash/dump or stop screen so you might try the DXDIAG. I've not yet seen this particular error from W10; and it's a weird one since there is no error message code. That leads me to believe it's a virus/malware. Some programs will launch an error message like this that looks like a legit Windows error, but really they are just trying to get you to reinstall their software that you recently may have yanked out of your Programs list.

After backing up all your Personal Data to external media, it might be worth trying to rollback your system to a point in time before you got this error message; say a few weeks or a few months back using the built-in Windows SYSTEM RESTORE utility. It's not guaranteed to work, but often it will where a virus got into your system and normal repairs aren't fixing it--it is kind of like an undo button for your Registry. I'm guessing you haven't had that message from the day you bought that computer, right? If it's something that occurred after you bought it and were using the computer for awhile, System Restore might be able to fix it and you'll be good to go!

As for which AV to use, a lot of the guys here swear by WD (Windows Defender) as it's super stable and great for troubleshooting your computer as some AVs produce conflicts with certain apps or drivers such as gaming video drivers. However, in my experience, I see computers infected by all kinds of nasty viruses including Ransomware which locks up your computer and/or all your files and demands money to unlock it--on a regular basis. Many of these computers are running WD, relying on this Microsoft free program to keep out the 1 million+ viruses/malware identified on the Internet; 100% of the time. This program is good, but not that good. Microsoft doesn't place a large amount of resources on their built-in AV programs and the engines are often stolen from legit AV programs and reverse-engineered and thrown into Windows as a feature. Remember there is like an 8 billion dollar niche market with about 40 companies making AV products; both free and paid versions. If WD was 100% perfect at stopping viruses 100% of the time, none of these companies would exist!

In the short term, I recommend Avast, Norton, and TrendMicro as that's what I use for my Customers, and I have a 1% infection/return rate on any computers I repair or install. All other products produce a significantly higher infection rate; some are more than 60%! There is a vast list, and lots and lots of discussion on which is best. You'll never win an argument there; but, I can give you what works for me and my Customers.

Hope that helps.
<<<BBJ>>>

 

[paulbudrow]

Wow. Once again thank you for your expertise. I will try all your suggestions. Thanks so much. If I solve this I will let you know,,

Paul