losing e-mail from inbox

I am having a similar problem, but it started two days ago. All of a sudden, I lost *two years* worth of emails from the inbox. It doesn't look like any other mailboxes are affected, just the main inbox. (O.o)

Zig Zag, take your time and read my answer in this post.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=230769&tstart=0
Cheers..Don

A few questions.

Your OS detail indicates you are running 10.3.2. If accurate, is there a reason you have not updated to 10.3.9?

For what type of account - .Mac, IMAP or POP?

If a POP type account, quit Mail first and using the Finder go to Home > Library > Mail > this account named folder (named by the user name and incoming mail server for the account) > INBOX.mbox.

Move the INBOX.mbox to the Desktop.

When re-launching Mail, a new (and empty) INBOX.mbox will be created automatically by Mail within the account named folder when receiving the next message via the account. This will ensure no new received messages will be lost since if a POP type account, I believe the account's Inbox mailbox has an "overstuffed" mailbox issue which means the mailbox has some corruption but the messages may still be available.

Control-click on the old INBOX.mbox moved to the Desktop and at the menu window that appears, select Show Package Contents.

List the package content file names and size of each here.

Since an account's Inbox mailbox is usually the most active mailbox and more prone to minor corruption over time, it is not a good idea to use an account's Inbox mailbox as the final storage location for all received messages not deleted. Better to utilize user created "On My Mac" mailboxes to sort received and sent messages by category.

A few questions.

Your OS detail indicates you are running 10.3.2. If
accurate, is there a reason you have not updated to
10.3.9?

Yeah, there is. I'm on a slow dialup connection, which kicks me offline a lot, in the middle of downloads. I've been trying to update since 10.3.3, but for some reason, it won't let me resume a download, and just starts over from the beginning...and then I get disconnected, and it starts over. I'm not sure how else to get the updates. If they had them available on a disk, I'd happily pay for them, just to avoid this slow connection. But I continue to try! (^-^)

For what type of account - .Mac, IMAP or POP?

It's POP.

If a POP type account, quit Mail first and using the
Finder go to Home > Library > Mail > this account
named folder (named by the user name and incoming
mail server for the account) > INBOX.mbox.

Move the INBOX.mbox to the Desktop.

When re-launching Mail, a new (and empty) INBOX.mbox
will be created automatically by Mail within the
account named folder when receiving the next message
via the account. This will ensure no new received
messages will be lost since if a POP type account, I
believe the account's Inbox mailbox has an
"overstuffed" mailbox issue which means the mailbox
has some corruption but the messages may still be
available.

Control-click on the old INBOX.mbox moved to the
Desktop and at the menu window that appears, select
Show Package Contents.

List the package content file names and size of
each here.

Ok, did that, and here's what I have:

kaisatake@pop.gmail.com:
content_index 584 kb
content_index-(null)-290 88 kb
mbox 820 kb
table ofcontents 12kb

kyokipress@mail.kyokipress.com:
table ofcontents 24 kb
mbox 1.5 mb
Info.plist 4 kb
content_index-acc00312.ipt.aol.com-358 3.4 mb
content_index-acadd376.ipt.aol.com-357 3.3 mb
content_index 864 kb

Since an account's Inbox mailbox is usually the most
active mailbox and more prone to minor corruption
over time, it is not a good idea to use an account's
Inbox mailbox as the final storage location for all
received messages not deleted. Better to utilize user
created "On My Mac" mailboxes to sort received and
sent messages by category.

Ah, thanks for the advice! I'll do that, right now. I really appreciate all your help.

Yeah, there is. I'm on a slow dialup connection,
which kicks me offline a lot, in the middle of
downloads. I've been trying to update since 10.3.3,
but for some reason, it won't let me resume a
download, and just starts over from the
beginning...and then I get disconnected, and it
starts over. I'm not sure how else to get the
updates. If they had them available on a disk, I'd
happily pay for them, just to avoid this slow
connection. But I continue to try! (^-^)

Do you live near an Apple Store, an Apple authorized repair facility or a public library with a high speed connection? If so, you can download the 10.3.9 Combo Update from Apple's support website and save the Combo Update to CD.

Ok, did that, and here's what I have:

kaisatake@pop.gmail.com :
content_index 584 kb
content_index-(null)-290 88 kb
mbox 820 kb
table ofcontents 12kb

kyokipress@mail.kyokipress.com :
table ofcontents 24 kb
mbox 1.5 mb
Info.plist 4 kb
content_index-acc00312.ipt.aol.com-358 3.4 mb
content_index-acadd376.ipt.aol.com-357 3.3 mb
content_index 864 kb

These mailboxes have some corruption. All messages and message attachments are stored or should be stored in the mbox package file.

For the first INBOX.mbox, the content_index-(null)-290 88 kb is not a normal package file and some messages are being incorrectly stored in the content_index 584 kb which should not be this large.

It doesn't appear there are many messages contained in this mailbox.

For the second INBOX.mbox, some messages are being incorrectly stored in these package files which are not normal.

content_index-acc00312.ipt.aol.com-358 3.4 mb
content_index-acadd376.ipt.aol.com-357 3.3 mb

And the content_index 864 kb should not be this large.

How many messages were available in each account's Inbox mailbox since neither one appears to be storing many messages?

The manual procedure I have will probably cause some messages to be lost but I have an mbox breaker script that may be able to recover all messages by splitting both mailboxes into smaller sections.

Do you live near an Apple Store, an Apple authorized
repair facility or a public library with a high speed
connection? If so, you can download the 10.3.9 Combo
Update from Apple's support website and save the
Combo Update to CD.

Ok, thanks! I'll see what I can do, there.

Ok, did that, and here's what I have:

kaisatake@pop.gmail.com :
content_index 584 kb
content_index-(null)-290 88 kb
mbox 820 kb
table ofcontents 12kb

kyokipress@mail.kyokipress.com :
table ofcontents 24 kb
mbox 1.5 mb
Info.plist 4 kb
content_index-acc00312.ipt.aol.com-358 3.4 mb
content_index-acadd376.ipt.aol.com-357 3.3 mb
content_index 864 kb

These mailboxes have some corruption. All messages
and message attachments are stored or should be
stored in the mbox package file.

For the first INBOX.mbox, the
content_index-(null)-290 88 kb is not a normal
package file and some messages are being incorrectly
stored in the content_index 584 kb which should not
be this large.

It doesn't appear there are many messages contained
in this mailbox.

For the second INBOX.mbox, some messages are being
incorrectly stored in these package files which are
not normal.

content_index-acc00312.ipt.aol.com-358 3.4 mb
content_index-acadd376.ipt.aol.com-357 3.3 mb

And the content_index 864 kb should not be this
large.

How many messages were available in each account's
Inbox mailbox since neither one appears to be storing
many messages?

The first one listed probably had 500 or so messages in it, at least. The second one was my main account, and had around 2000 messages in it, if my memory is correct.

The manual procedure I have will probably cause some
messages to be lost but I have an mbox breaker script
that may be able to recover all messages by splitting
both mailboxes into smaller sections.

I think I might prefer to try the script, and hope to save as many as possible. Do I need to email you?

There aren't many messages available per the package content files and size of each for the first INBOX.mbox listed but there are messages available per these package content files listed for the second INBOX.mbox.

content_index-acc00312.ipt.aol.com-358 3.4 mb
content_index-acadd376.ipt.aol.com-357 3.3 mb

But I don't know if all 2000 messages are still available.

What is your hard drive capacity and available free space?

You can get my email address by selecting my name.

There aren't many messages available per the package
content files and size of each for the first
INBOX.mbox listed but there are messages available
per these package content files listed for the second
INBOX.mbox.

That makes sense, as I haven't had that account all that long.

content_index-acc00312.ipt.aol.com-358 3.4 mb
content_index-acadd376.ipt.aol.com-357 3.3 mb

But I don't know if all 2000 messages are still
available.

I'm only making a guess at how many there were. I just know there were a lot, and it was well over 1000. I can hope some of the more important ones will be among the salvagable, but if not, I'll survive. (^-^)

What is your hard drive capacity and available free
space?

My hard drive is 40 gb, and I have 12.29 gb of free space, right now.

You can get my email address by selecting my name.

Thanks! Just sent you a letter.