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.

First, check if there is a bak file already in the message store. If there
is, and you removed the dbx file, go ahead and rename it to dbx.

If it isn't already in the message store, 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.
--

Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP [Mail]
Imperial Beach, CA


"Bobby" wrote in message
...
Hi Thanks,

I have found lost so .bak files in the recycle bin - is there an easy way
to
restore these? Or should I use the DBXpress software?

Bobby


"Steve Cochran" wrote:

I have no idea what could have happened if there is not another directory
of
dbx files there somewhere. For the address book search for *~* and see
what
you find and rename whatever to give it a wab file extension and then see
if
the contacts are there. For the messages, you might check first the
Recycle
bin for bak files that are backups of the dbx files that you may be able
to
restore (see www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#2). Otherwise, I think your only
shot is the extract from disk feature of DBXpress
(www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/)
which will bypass the file system and analyze the all the disk clusters
on
the drive and if the messages are still there, it will recover them. But
there is no way of knowing if they are there without running the program.

steve

"Bobby" wrote in message
...
There are no signs of any other dbx files on the system.

I have Kapsersky Anti-Virus - anti-Spam - I have turned this off for
now -

Any other ideas?

Thanks,


"Steve Cochran" wrote:

It sounds as if you lost the entire user profile, or at least you lost
the
previous message store location. I would do an Advanced Search for
*.dbx
and include hidden files and folders under the Advanced search
parameters.
Make sure also you have in Explorer, Tools | Folder Options | View and
uncheck the option to hide extensions of known file types and to show
hidden
files and perhaps even protected and OS files. That way you will see
them
if they are there.

If you find a directory of dbx files that are not the current ones,
then
you
can try File | Import | Messages to get them into the current message
store.
See www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#4

steve

"Bobby" wrote in message
...
Following the last Windows Update all my email messages and contacts
have
been lost
Am Using Win XP with Auto updates turned on
My desktop picture also disappeared and now the desktop is a plain
blue
colour and
When I look in the message store
Userlocal settingsapplication data
identities?{91D2DB82-1315-4914-B477-BAD761E79D3A}Microsoft Outlook
Express
I just have the default and empty dbx files - all my many folders
etc.
have
gone.

I tried system restore to before the update and nothing has
re-appeared.

Where could my email messages/contacts have gone?

Thanks
Bobby