Outlook Express help?

[LikaNui]

Trying to back up a ton of e-mail from Outlook Express onto CD, but their Help instructions don't work the way they say.
Anyone know how to do it, please?

[helen]

Re: Outlook Express help?

1. What version of Outlook Express are you using?
2. Are you using POP or IMAP for your email?
3. Are you able to find the folder where the local mail folders reside?
4. I am not aware of the instructions you are using. By any chance do they say File --> Export --> Messages?
5. By any chance do you have Microsoft Office installed on your system (which also includes Outlook)?

[LikaNui]

Re: Outlook Express help?

Thanks, Helen. My replies are in boldface:
What version of Outlook Express are you using? Outlook Express 6
Are you using POP or IMAP for your email? Um... how do I find out?
Are you able to find the folder where the local mail folders reside? Um... uh...
I am not aware of the instructions you are using. By any chance do they say File --> Export --> Messages?
The Help message says:
To compact and back up e-mail folders
1. Select an e-mail folder.
2. On the File menu, point to Folder, and then click Compact.
3. To back up the folder, find the folder file, and then copy it to a backup folder, floppy disk, or network drive. Outlook Express e-mail folders have a .dbx extension (for example, "Sent Items.dbx").
But Step #3 doesn't work for me.
By any chance do you have Microsoft Office installed on your system (which also includes Outlook)? I've got a program called Microsoft Office Tools, and I've got Microsoft Outlook.

[adrian]

Re: Outlook Express help?

Outlook Express really sucks. I've had many problems with it - luckily the people that had those problems had a new computer, so they used a trial version of Office 2003 - that alone persuaded them in paying for Office.

[Hellbent]

Re: Outlook Express help?

OE is fine, I have clients that use it and have over 50 folders all intricately mapped out, for some reason outlook doesnt do it.
imap means that your email is something like hotmail or yahoo, where the emails are kept on the server, not on your pc.
pop means your messages are kept on your pc, and are gone if the pc fails or is wiped.
to back up your folder, you have to go to tools\folder options\view and give yourself the ability to see hidden files.
your emails are kept here:
C:\Documents and Settings\<your user name or as 'administrator'>\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{a long string of number and letters like this-AE3BD83CC22D}\Microsoft\Outlook Express
you may have to be logged in as another account to successfully back this up however. to do this you can go to control panels and make another admin account, log in as the new account, then back it up.

[Hellbent]

Re: Outlook Express help?

to put the files back/restore them you have to drop them back in the same place, but under the new long string of names and numbers, or use the import function in OE.

[helen]

Re: Outlook Express help?

By the way are you backing up your outlook message folders so that you have something to fall back on or are you attempting to transfer your message folders from one PC to another PC?

[mapen]

Re: Outlook Express help?

Hi LikaNui,

To get OE to tell you exactly what file contains your mail, click "File" then "Properties", or just press ALT-ENTER. You will see the message "This folder is stored in the following file:".

The full path will probably be so long it will be cut off by the edge of the window. To view the entire path, highlight it like you're going to copy and paste it. That action will enable you to see the entire path.

To back-up all your mail, it's probably best to back-up the directory containing your "inbox.dbx" file. There is a .dbx file for every mail folder that you have (such as "Sent Mail.dbx", "Drafts.dbx", etc.)

[mapen]

Re: Outlook Express help?

Oops! I need to a add a little addendum/correction to my above post.

Before you click on File -> Properties or press ALT-ENTER in OE, first click on your mail folder, such as Inbox, Sent Items, etc.

If you do it while your reading a mail message, doing the above will instead show you the details of that particular email. Sorry for any confusion!

[LikaNui]

Re: Outlook Express help?

Mahalo nui plenny lots and lots! You folks were all graciously helpful.
I used Hellbent's directions (message #5) and was able to save all the various folders of mail onto a CD rather easily. Awesome.
Now. How do I open .dbx files? I tried to open them and clicked on the link to search for the format on the internet. Found one site that would sell me the program for about $800, and another one that was only about $50. I think it was called ScanDBX, but it looked like a program just to fix e-mail. Any suggestions?
Oh, and to answer Helen's question -- what I'm trying to do here is copy all the e-mail from my computer at work and be able to read them at my home computer.
Again, mahlo nui to all of you. May Santa Claus honor your every wish.

[mapen]

Re: Outlook Express help?

How do I open .dbx files? I tried to open them and clicked on the link to search for the format on the internet. Found one site that would sell me the program

LikaNui, don't spend any extra money! Use Outlook Express to view the mail in the .dbx files. To view the mail in .dbx files, you have to "Import" them back in to Outlook Express.

But you probably don't want to do this from your existing Outlook Express since "Import" will mix the email that you backed up on CD with all your current emails. You could even wind up with double copies of all your email if you import back to the original OE set-up that you backed up. What you'll want to do is create a new "Identity" under to keep the mail separate.

First, create a new identity in your OE by doing this:

File > Identities > Add New Identity... > (type a nickname for this separate identity, such as "BackUp") > OK.

What this does is create a whole new set of separate folders such as Inbox to store the imported email in. You will have two different "identities".

Now that you have created a new identity, import your backed up email from the .dbx files by doing this:

File > Import > Messages > OE 6 (or whatever version of OE you used) > Import mail from a store directory > then navigate to your .dbx file on the back-up CD and click OK.

OE will now take the emails stored in the .dbx files and put them back into Outlook Express under your new identity.

Then you can switch between your "Main Identity" and your backed-up identity by clicking

File > Switch Identities...


I know this can be confusing, so please, call me at the helpdesk. Oops, I mean post a reply

[helen]

Re: Outlook Express help?

One way to tell if you are using IMAP in Outlook Express is go into Tools and see if the IMAP Folders option is not greyed out.

To use those files on your home computer (assuming it also a PC) is for you to use Outlook Express, maybe create a bogus folder with a name that makes it easy to stand out. Search for that folder on the computer's hard drive, find out on which folder path it is, transfer the stuff you made to that path and then use Outlook Express to see it.