Compacting would not have started until you closed OE. /Just/ clicking
Restore is not the correct way, but you may not be out of luck yet. The
first thing to do is to locate your message store folder.

In OE: Tools | Options | Maintenance | Store Folder will reveal the location
of your Outlook Express files. Press the Tab key to highlight the folder
location, then Ctrl+C. Close OE, then Start | Run | Ctrl+V will put the
location in the box - Click OK and you'll see the OE files. Otherwise, write
the location down and navigate to it in Windows Explorer.

In WinXP, the dbx files are by default marked as hidden. To view these files
in Windows Explorer, you must enable Show Hidden Files and Folders under
Start | Control Panel | Folder Options Icon | View, or in Windows Explorer |
Tools | Folder Options | View.

If you got lucky, you will see a bak file with the same name as the dbx
files. What you need to do now, is drag the dbx files to the Desktop at the
top of the tree in Windows Explorer. Once you finish this, rename the bak
folders to dbx. For example, you dragged the Inbox.dbx to the desktop, now
right click on Inbox.bak and rename it to Inbox.dbx. The reason you have to
drag the old dbx files out of the store folder is because you can't rename a
bak file to dbx if one already exists.

After you have moved the old dbx files to the Desktop and renamed the
corresponding bak files to dbx, close Windows Explorer and open OE. Your
messages should be back in their respective folders.

If an entire folder was missing from the folder tree, before you do the
above, you have to create that folder again in OE.

Following is the correct way to restore bak folders. Read it first as it may
help you understand what I have just tried to explain.

************************************************** **

All e-mail items may be missing when you start Outlook Express 6 Service
Pack 1:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918069

To restore a bak folder to the message store folder, first locate the
Message Store in Windows Explorer.

In Windows Explorer, click on the dbx file for the missing, or empty, folder
and drag it to the Desktop. It can be deleted later once you have
successfully restored the bak file. Minimize the Message Store.

Open OE and, if the folder is missing, create a folder with the *exact* same
name as the bak file you want to restore but without the .bak. Eg: If the
file is Saved.bak, the new folder should be named Saved. Open the new folder
and then close OE. If the folder is there, but just empty, continue on to
the next step.

Open the Recycle bin and right click on the bak file for the folder in
question and click Restore. Open the Message Store back up and change the
file extension from .bak to .dbx. Close the Message Store and open OE. The
messages should now be back in the folder.

If the messages are successfully restored, you can go ahead and delete the
old dbx file that you moved to the Desktop.

Good luck.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
~IB-CA~



"McPack" wrote in message
...
I am VERY DISSAPOINTED in outlook express. Yesterday while I was surfing
the
NET outlook express started to compact my files....once it finished ALL MY
SEND FILES HAVE DISSAPEARED as well as all my inbox files of year 2007.
THIS
IS ABSOLUTLY DISCUSSTING!!!! I have a lot of important information.in
there.....WHERE IS THIS INFORMATION....??????.
I have notes in the Recycle Bin 5 or 6 files possible dbx...so I did not
delete them so I clicked "restore all"...and then …. They all dissapeared
and guess what? I don't know where they are and HOW CAN I RESTORE THEM to
the
outlook express as it was before. PLEASE HELP.