Topic: Missing OE6 messages

[Clive]

A friend of mine is having problems retrieving his e-mails which he saved before reformatting his computer.  I somehow suspect that he hasn't saved them correctly and I sent him details of a useful website.  I'm posting both his messages to see if anyone can help.  

Dear Clive
 
Can you help?
 
As I said I've had to reload my PC from the OS up. I thought I had secured all of my e-mail ( I use MS Outlook Express 6). I secured a pile of files with names like "inbox.idx" etc.
 
Now that I've reloaded the system, I can't get MS OE6 to recognise anyting in these files. Any ideas? I'm coming to the conclusion that MSOE6 is fairly cruddy when it comes to backing up files and re-using them!



Clive,
 
That was a very interesting item that you sent. There seems to be a twist in the tail. I copied all of the files held in the mail directory before I had to reformat my hard disc. This secured 12 files which have extensions such as .idx and .mbx (e.g. inbox.mbx and inbox.idx). Oddly, that is not a complete list of my mail folders.....
 
These files contain over 2Mb of data.
 
I cannot persuade OE6 to pick these up. I've been using file/import. I've tried pretending that they are Oe4, Oe6, nothing seems to work, it tends to say things like 'no messages found'.
 

[Simon]

I think you may be right, in that he hasn't saved the messages properly.  As far as I am aware, OE mailboxes are *.dbx files (not *.ibx).  Mine are stored in the following folder, which I believe is the default, so everyone's should be the same:

C:\Documents and Settings\Simon\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{Random Numbers}\Microsoft\Outlook Express

Can't suggest what to do to get them back, if he's already formatted his drive.  I suspect there maybe data recovery services available, but at a considerable cost.

[chorleydave]

I format my machine every six months and never lose my e-mail.  If the .dbx files are saved, they should be put in a folder (and perhaps even a subfolder) and then Outlook Express 6 set up to point there.

As an example, my e-mail is saved in d:\email\chorleydave.  Once I have reloaded OE6, I go to Tools>Options>Maintenance, click on the "Store Folder" tab and browse to d:\email\chorleydave.  After clicking "Apply" and "OK" I restart OE6 and my e-mails and their folders reappear as they were before the format.

[Clive]

When I saved mine I used the instructions in the Microsoft bulletin:

Copy Mail Files to a Backup Folder
To make a backup copy of your Outlook Express e-mail message files:
On the Tools menu, click Options.
On the Maintenance tab, click Store Folder.
Select the folder location, and then press CTRL+C to copy the location.
Click Cancel, and then click Cancel again to close the dialog box.
Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, press CTRL+V, and then click OK.
On the Edit menu, click Select All.
On the Edit menu, click Copy, and then close the window.
Right-click any empty space on your desktop, click New, and then click Folder.
Type mail backup for the folder name, and then press ENTER.
Double-click the Mail Backup folder to open it.
On the Edit menu, click Paste.
Close the Mail Backup window.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B270670


It seemed terribly long-winded but it was successful.  I think that it was a far more simple operation in earlier versions of OE.  He should have checked that his backup files were good before he reformatted.   :'(

[Adept]

I think .idx and .mbx files are from previous version of Outlook Express, probably version 4