ToolsOptionsMaintenanceStore 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 StartRunCtrl+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 WindowsXP, 2K & 3K, the OE user files (DBX and WAB) are by default
marked as hidden. To view these files in Explorer, you must enable
Show Hidden Files and Folders under StartControl PanelFolder
OptionsView.

When you see the compact option, and select OK, and never touch anything
until
it has completed. A power change can cause you to lose mail also.

Why Mail Disappears:
http://www.insideoe.com/problems/bugs.htm#mailgone

About File Corruption:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/...orruption.mspx

Recovery tool, (if the messages are still there):

DBXpress is the best chance of recovery when run in disk mode:
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

And this is a very good option for the futu

Steve Cochran has added a button in his new version of OE Tool
that will not only Compact All Folders, but at the same time,
resets the "Compact Check Count" to zero whenever you compact
manually. You will see the prompt again if you do not compact
before 100 closings.

http://www.oehelp.com/OETool/

It is still advised to check Work Offline before you compact.


A general warning:

Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually
become corrupted. Create your own user defined folders for storing
mail and move your mail to them. Empty Deleted Items folder
regularly. Keep user created folders under 100MB, and Default folders as
empty as is feasible.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"David" wrote in message
...
All of my emails are lost. Nothing is found when I search for *.dbx*
folders
and nothing shows up when I pull down Import/Messages/OE6...... It doesn't
seem to show up anywhere?
Thanks for your help in advance.


David