I've got a new mail message and the spot where the senders name should be is blank. I cannot open the mail and the goddam 'You have new mail!' message will not go away because I can't open the mail. The subject line is there, but you can't open from there.

I could easily delete it, but it's mail...everybody loves mail. This is the second time this has happened. What's the deal?

NSF

It's a Private Mail program quirk (bug) that happens occasionally, resulting in a PM with no sender that cannot be easily opened or deleted.

To view the message contents, do a 'view source' to discover the messageID, then open a different message and change the query string to the ID of the mystery message.  Once open, you should be able to delete it from within by clicking on the 'delete' button.

Thanks to Lex Luethor of the DC board for the workaround.

I can delete the mail, it is now sitting by itself in my trash bin and the new mail icon is off. I'm having trouble doing a 'view source' though and am curious as to what that message says...

NSF

From the Inbox (or Trash Can) screen, right-click near the Inbox (or Trash Can) header.

Select 'View Source' ('View Page Source' for Netscape) to open the page html source code (usually in either Notepad or another Netscape window).

Use the Find feature (click 'Edit-Find' from the top menu or use Ctrl-F) and search on the PM subject.

The message ID will be above the message title, usually in this format:
href=readmailform.asp?ID=1356710
All you need are the ID digits.

Go back to your PM inbox, and open any message.  Replace the message ID in your browser's URL address box with the new one and press ENTER.

The mystery message should display.