We've lost one year's Sent Items messages from OE, probably due to interupted
compacting. There are now 1265 files remaining in Sent Items folder.
Before reading your message below I found the Sent Items.bak in the RB and
clicked restore. I have since located a Sent Items DBX file in OE Identities
and have made .bak copy on the desktop. The icons accompanying all the items
in Identities are incidentally for Wordpad. The DBX file is labelled as
151,000 KB but sized at 147MB under properties. The files are titled DBX and
not .dbx.
I've followed your suggested procedures but these have not restored the
missing messages to Sent Items. I am not sure how to change the file
extensions from .bak to dbx. If you can point me in the right direction it
would be much appreciated.
David at Doha
"Bruce Hagen" wrote:
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 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.
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.
*********************************************
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
"Jack B" wrote in message
...
Win XP and OE 6 -----------
I did a Compact All Folders today, and there was an error, so, I did it
again.
Now I discover that all msgs in my "Sent 2007" folder are missing. (I
often
move msgs out my Sent folder to my Sent 2007 folder so that my Sent folder
doesn't get too big.)
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
file. How do I get them back into OE?
Jack