DBX files are composed of messages that are split into 512 byte pieces. So
a 10 KB message has 20 pieces. If you have 100 such messages in the folder,
then that makes 2000 pieces. You can for sure manually edit them and put
them back together again, if you can find which piece connects with the
other. It might take you a little time to do it, but go ahead.

If you want to really recover the messages then get DBXpress, which is what
you probably need, as it will look at every disk cluster on the hard drive
and find any messages there. No other program will do that. But you have
to pay for it. Otherwise you can try opening up the entire hard drive in an
editor and try piecing together messages manually.

steve

"YT" wrote in message
...
thanks for the prompt reply.

while froze is a generic term, that;s exctly what happened. no idea if it
was compacting at that moment as i wasnt there, but occasionally my laptop
freezes when it overheats. nature of the beast.

without trying to sound ultra-cheap, is there not a free utility for
repairing dbx files? can i not do it myself.-- perhaps with a text or hex
editor? and does dbxtract rebuild my folders? yes i create my own folders
(as subfolders to inbox & sent items). and i always delete my deleted
items.

cheers, yt


"Bruce Hagen" wrote in message
...
Froze is a very generic term. If the problem had absolutely nothing to do
with compacting messages, rename the original Inbox to Inboxold.dbx, and
get:

DBXtract:
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtract/Default.aspx

However, the two most common reasons for what you describe is disruption
of the compacting process, (never touch anything until it's finished),
and 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 using a fully patched version of XP/SP2, see:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918069/en-us

If not:

DBXpress run in 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 if you don't want to lose your messages 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.

And backup often.

Backup and Resto

http://www.insideoutlookexpress.com/backup/

http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx

http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~


"YT" wrote in message
...
hello,

i'm a fairly savvy user. my laptop froze last night and when i startup
OE again, all my inbox messages are gone.
Sent Items is OK, but inbox messages (and subfolders) are gone.

I can see the file Inbox.dbx in the identities folder (76MB), but i
guess it's corrupt as a new Inbox (1).dbx file has been created and is
being used.

Is there any way to recover my inbox.dbx file WITHOUT spending the 30
bucks on some random software out on the internet?

thanks in advance, yt