PC Pals Forum
Technical Help & Discussion => Windows PCs & Software: Help, News & Discussion => Topic started by: Clive on January 01, 2004, 19:31
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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'.
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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.
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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.
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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 (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. :'(
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I think .idx and .mbx files are from previous version of Outlook Express, probably version 4 :o