How can I do a clean install of Mac Mail client? ...

You need to do a reinstall of the Mail app if Mail fails to launch in a new user account. Your problem would now be system wide. If it is system wide then reinstalling Mail would be your first test to see if the problem is with the app. Before doing a reinstall. Open Disk Utility and choose your hard drive volume. Verify disk. If it passed then repair Disk permissions. Now you are ready to do a reinstall. If you get errors when you Verify Disk then you have problems with your data structure and need to address that issue. If there are no issues with the structure, drag the Mail app from the Applications folder to the trash. Insert install disk 1 and follow the instructions here http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301229. Check your version of Mail after the reinstall. If it is not Version 2.1.1 then you need to go to the Apple downloads at the apple site and download and install the Mac OS X 10.4.10 Combo Update for your machine. This applies even if you have 10.4.10 installed since there is not other way to get the updated version other than copying the app from another computer. If you do not update Mail you may not be able to see your messages.

First find out if you need to reinstall the mail app. Create a new user by going to system preferences >accounts. Unlock the lock and click on the + sign. Create a new user account. Log into the new user by going to the apple menu and logging out. In the new user go to system preferences>.mac. Enter your user name and password. If you can log in here then open Mail. Your .mac mail should be automatically set up. Send a test e-mail to yourself. If Mail works then the problem is specific to your user account and you do not need to reinstall the Mail app. If the Mail works then consider continuing to set up your other accounts in this user. Once your accounts are working in the new user close all windows and applications. Go the the ~/Library/Preferences and holding down on the Option key drag the com.apple.mail.plist to desktop. Now select your hard drive icon in the finder window and double click on the Users folder. Drag the com.apple.mail.plist into the Shared folder. Log out of your new user account and back into your account. Navigate to the ~/Library/Preferences and drag your com.apple.mail.plist from that folder onto the desktop. Open your hard drive and go to the Users folder and open it, then open the Shared folder. Drag the com.apple .mail.plist from the shared folder into the open Preferences window. Close the windows and open mail. Mail should work.

i've problems with Mail.app and i am looking for the samething as you.

i hope that someone will show us how to re-install Mail

Thanx imac007 for your help. I also have a similar problem. I created a new user , followed your directions with com.apple.mail.plist and my Mail still failed. I think a reinstall is called for. One thing that worries me is throwing Mail in the trash.
Noob question, what about my mail?

imac007, thx a million.
i've done it.
piece of cake.

hippiesparx, backup mail folder first, then do it.
i used Entourage as a backup. worked perfectly.

hippiesparx,

If you followed the advice of imac007 exactly, then if Mail failed for the New User Account, then you would not have gotten to the com.apple.mail.plist thing. But if Mail worked at first for the New User (as imac007 conditioned) then something else is wrong beside the Mail application, and a reinstall is NOT called for?

Please explain in more detail what you attempted, and also more about your problem. Don't be too sure it is the same as that of Bob, or at least tell us enough that we can agree with you.

Ernie

"If you followed the advice of imac007 exactly",

Yep

" But if Mail worked [at first] for the New User (as imac007 conditioned) then something else is wrong beside the Mail application, and a reinstall is NOT called for?"

Yeah, Mail works normally on the 'new user'.
Mail was also stable on 'hippiesparx' this morning. I only loaded my ISP mail details and it successfully downloaded another wonderful business opportunity from West Africa, which I trained as Junk and trashed.
This afternoon it had gone back to crashing as soon as it starts downloading mail.
Having 'new user' is handy, cos I'm thinking it might be time for a spring clean and I can sort keepers into the 'new user'.
So, which of the files do I need for addresses, history and stored mail?
If I throw the appropriate files into 'new user' one by one, maybe I'll find out where the error is.

PS Last night, after I created the new user and did the plist thing, I downloaded Thunderbird and threw the mbox files in there.
So this morning 'hippiesparx' Mail had a clean slate.
This afternoon, with an item in Trash, it has conniptions.
I've gone back and moved all the mbox files and the spam to Trash , emptied Trash and it still can't handle a download.
So I've downloaded via 'new user' and emptied the ISPs mail server.
'hippiesparx' Mail starts up ,looks for mail and settles down.
Hmm.

So I just did the plist thing again. Moved all the mbox files back. Sent myself some mail.
Mail downloaded and is still stable.
Is this better than TV?

Mail just crashed. Probably went for a download.

Please clarify "going for download"? Do you mean clicking on a link in an email, or do you mean some HTML laden mail is seeking to download from a server after a message is open?

Ernie

I have Mail set to download mail every half hour.
So when Mail has mail in any mailbox and tries to download mail either manually or automatically, Mail crashes.

Glad you were able to get your mail working. As to bringing back mail. Do not drag and drop. Use the import mail function built into the app. It looks for files with a .mbox extension. So if you have an old Mail folder on the desktop, navigate to the Mailboxes folder inside Mail and choose it. The import function should find the mailboxes. You may have to tinker with what to select in order to get boxes to import. The worst that happens is that it tells you it can't find anything to import.

I see from your original post that you say you deleted accounts. Deleting accounts deletes the mailboxes that were with that account. If you are hoping to recover lost messages by copying the folder to the desktop and reimporting messages you hope are in the folder, you are out of luck with pop accounts. If you have not deleted your messages from the mail server you will get them all back but the mailboxes you may have created will be gone.
The .mac account is an imap account and should rebuild.