Three problems: Preparing to Send Messagespopup and spam folder won't empty, and messages duplicate

[joelm]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel Email Client: imap I'm running into three problems: The first is one I hoped would have disappeared when I upgraded from 2004 to 2008 a couple months ago. At seemingly random (or maybe incremental?) times, I get a dialogue box that pops up that says "Preparing to Send Messages" that I imagine uploads messages from my desktop to the server or something like that. But the number keeps getting bigger and it often occurs when I'm in the middle of typing an e-mail and interrupts what I'm working on because the problem is locked up when I do this. Also, new to v. 2008, if I'm using a different program the process brings Entourage into focus and interrupts what I'm doing in the other stuff I'm working on.

2. My IMAP spam folder keeps getting more and more messages that won't delete. They disappear from my online IMAP account, so they're not actually still "officially" existing in that folder, and I can run through the Empty Junk Mail options, Repair Message List options, and Refresh Message List options and nothing happens with any of them. I can't even mark them all as read.

3. When I move messages from my main inbox folder to an archive folder, the messages duplicate. My mail provider says it's not happening on their end, and it doesn't happen with my Apple mail client, which I use at home with the same account, which means it must be Entourage. Ideas?