When I think reliable, I think will it do the task and will it cause
problems.
There is no guarantee that it will recover any or all messages.
It will not create more problems by using it.
--
Ron Sommer
MVP-Mail

"Bruce Hagen" wrote in message
...
DBXpress:
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

You may need to run it in the Extract From Disk Mode if its normal
recovery mode fails to find the lost messages.

Is it reliable? There is never a 100% guarantee, but the majority of
people that have used it in your situation have had success. Steve
Cochran, who is also in this thread, is the author.
--

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


"Bobby" wrote in message
...
Hi

Thanks for all your help so far. I have manged to restore some of teh bak
files into OE - but these were deleted on 14 July - so I have the emails
up
until then, but that still leaves me with almost 2 months of missing
emails.

Is there much hope of recovering other emails that may be lurking on my
system somewhere?

Has anyone used the DBXpress software - is this reliable?

Thx
Bobby


"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.

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