Do you know for a fact that there are messages in Deleted Items that you
need? The reason I ask is because when you empty Deleted Items, (or any
other folder), the space taken up is not recovered until you compact.
The bak file is created before the folder is compacted. IOW, if you have a
Deleted Items folder that is 2MB in size, it will still be 2MB in size when
you empty it. After you compact, it should be 59KB in size, but the bak file
will still show 2MB, even if it is empty, or has one message in it as in
your case.
You say:
After the computer started to compact the message I did a search to see what
files were recently created on his computer.
Did you do this while it was compacting? Touching /anything/ during the
compaction process can cause a loss of messages.
Many people post that they have lost messages after compacting. You had done
some homework, so I skipped right to the chase explaining how to restore the
folder. For most people, I start with this canned reply. It might shed some
light on the whole situation.
The two most common reasons for what you describe is disruption of the
compacting process, (never touch anything until it's finished), or bloated
folders. More on that below.
Why does OE insist on compacting folders when I close it?:
http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/why.htm#compact
Why Mail Disappears:
http://www.insideoe.com/problems/bugs.htm#mailgone
About File Corruption:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/...orruption.mspx
Recovery tools:
If you are running XP/SP2, and are fully patched, then you should have a
backup of your dbx files in the Recycle Bin, copied as bak files.
To restore a bak folder to the message store folder, first find the location
of the Message Store.
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 Explorer, you must enable Show Hidden Files and Folders under Start
| Control Panel | Folder Options | View.
Close OE and then 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.
If you do not have bak copies of your dbx files in the Recycle Bin, then:
DBXpress run in Extract From Disk Mode is the best chance to recover
messages:
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx
And see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#4
A general warning to help avoid this in the futu
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.
Turn off e-mail scanning in your anti-virus program. It is a redundant layer
of protection that eats up CPUs, slows down sending and receiving, and
causes a multitude of problems such as time-outs, account setting changes
and has even been responsible for lose of messages. Your up-to-date A/V
program will continue to protect you sufficiently. For more, see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3
And backup often.
Backup and Resto
http://www.insideoutlookexpress.com/backup/
http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx
And this good one click backup program.
Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB):
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA
"Sarah" wrote in message
...
Firstly my boss doesn't usually archieve his email in the garbage pail.
After
the computer started to compact the message I did a search to see what
files
were recently created on his computer. I discovered this file called
Deleted
Items.bak and then googled this file type, which lead me to here.
Anyway this Delted Items.bak file says it is 439,138 KB in size. I did as
you said and dragged the .dbx file out and renamed this one to dbx, but
only
one message came up in the Outlook folder. I woul dhave thought that with
it
being the size that it is it would have had more in it. Should I be
looking
elsewhere??
Any suggestions? Perhaps it was corrupted?
Cheers,
Sarah
"Bruce Hagen" wrote:
You will always have a dbx file in the message store and you can't have
two
with the same name. That is why I said to drag the dbx file out to the
Desktop, and then rename the bak file to dbx. It this succeeds, then you
can
delete the dbx file on the desktop.
If I may ask, why does your boss archive messages in a garbage pail?
General precautions for Outlook Express:
Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually become
corrupt. 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.
After you are done, follow up by compacting your folders manually while
working *offline* and do it often.
Click on Outlook Express at the top of the folder tree so no folders are
open. Then: File | Work Offline (or double click Working Online in the
Status Bar). File | Folder | Compact all folders. Don't touch anything
until
the compacting is completed.
Turn off e-mail scanning in your anti-virus program. It is a redundant
layer
of protection that eats up CPUs and causes a multitude of problems such
as
time-outs and account setting changes. Your up-to-date A/V program will
continue to protect you sufficiently. For more, see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3
In Tools | Options | Maintenance: Uncheck Compact messages in background
and
leave it unchecked. {N/A if running XP/SP2}.
And backup often.
Backup & Resto
http://www.insideoutlookexpress.com/backup/
This is a great two click program:
Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB)
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA
"Sarah" wrote in message
...
Ok just one quick question. I am trying to restore Deleted Items.bak
file,
but I also have Deleted Items.dbx in the same location both exactly the
same
size. So how id renaming the bak file going to work.
Should I be starting a new thread already?
Cheers,
Sarah
"Sarah" wrote:
Thanks Bruce and sorry for posting here. Forgive me I am new at this.
Totally
agree with you regarding the use of this email program, but boss is
set
in
his ways!!!
Hope this works. Although it seems boss thinks he did it. 
Cheers,
Sarah
"Bruce Hagen" wrote:
It is always best to start your own thread.
Do you have bak files already in the message store? This is not
supposed to
be, but it has started to be reported. Do this for any file needed,
but
I
will just use one for an example.
For the Inbox. Close OE. Drag the Inbox.dbx file out of the message
store to
the desktop. Rename the Inbox.bak file to Inbox.dbx. Open OE and the
Inbox
should be back to normal.
If you have bak files for folders that are missing, in OE, create a
folder
with the same name. Eg: If you have a bak file for a user created
folder
named My Mail, create a My Mail folder in OE. Close OE and in the
message
store, rename My Mail.bak to My Mail.dbx. Open OE and that should be
fixed.
OE is far from a great e-mail client. I would expect people with a
business
to use a better program, but whether you use OE for home, or work,
it
should
be backed up daily. There are many reasons that messages can be
lost.
To avoide this in the futu
Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually
become
corrupt. 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.
After you are done, follow up by compacting your folders manually
while
working *offline* and do it often.
Click on Outlook Express at the top of the folder tree so no folders
are
open. Then: File | Work Offline (or double click Working Online in
the
Status Bar). File | Folder | Compact all folders. Don't touch
anything
until
the compacting is completed.
Turn off e-mail scanning in your anti-virus program. It is a
redundant
layer
of protection that eats up CPUs and causes a multitude of problems
such
as
time-outs and account setting changes. Your up-to-date A/V program
will
continue to protect you sufficiently. For more, see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3
In Tools | Options | Maintenance: Uncheck Compact messages in
background and
leave it unchecked. {N/A if running XP/SP2}.
And backup often.
Backup & Resto
http://www.insideoutlookexpress.com/backup/
This is a great two click program:
Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB)
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA
"Sarah" wrote in message
...
Hi Bruce,
OE decided to compact my messages at work yesterday and I know my
boss
will
freak when he realises they are not there. I have found where the
messages
are hiding, but it is located in the same folder as the main dbx
files are
and not the recycle bin. How can I restore it from there without
killing
my
boss' computer?
Cheers,
Sarah
"Jack B" wrote:
Ok, thanks again.
Jack
----------------------------
"Bruce Hagen" wrote in message
...
You can. There are a number of ways to backup. I just like this
program
because it backs up quick and restores quick. And that includes
Blocked
Senders, Message Rules and the Address Book.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA
"Jack B" wrote in message
...
Bruce,
"I backup OE daily
with this.
This freeware tool backs up everything in OE in seconds.
Disregard
what
is
written in red. That is referring to a different program.
Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB):
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx"
But why not just back it up by copying to another folder or HD?
Jack
-----------------------------------
"Bruce Hagen" wrote in message
...
Crazy, but a friend just e-maid me and there has been a few
instances
of a
bak file ending up in the message store. One possibility
mentioned
was
if
the compacting stopped using Task Manager or possibly just
pulling
the
plug,
but apparently it can happen. Not sure why, and certainly don't
depend
on
it.
Even if it proves redundant, it never hurts to be safe. I
backup
OE
daily
with this.
This freeware tool backs up everything in OE in seconds.
Disregard
what
is
written in red. That is referring to a different program.
Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB):
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA
"Jack B" wrote in message
...
Bruce,
"but Sent 2007.bak did not get into the message store by
itself"
But it did -- that is, it was there already, that is, when I
first
discovered that my Sent 2007 folder was empty:
Upon checking Identities, I see there is a small Sent
2007.dbx
file
and
a
large Sent 2007.bak file. Apparently, my lost msgs are in
the
Sent
2007.bak
Also, I may have left out a step I did -- somewhere in the
process, if
not
mistaken, I created a new Sent 2007 folder in OE.
Jack
------------------------------------
"Bruce Hagen" wrote in message
...
I'm glad it worked, but Sent 2007.bak did not get into the
message
store
by
itself. Someone had to click Restore in the RB to get it
there.
Deleting
the
dbx file and then changing the bak file to dbx is fine. I only
suggest
dragging it out in case renaming the bak file fails in some
way.
At
least
then you still have the option of using a recovery tool should
it
come
to
that.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA
"Jack B" wrote in message
...
Bruce,
Thanks.
My situation was a little different than any of those
alternatives.