Folders.dbx back up - now my Sent Mail is gone - help
 

The last 2 days my OE E-Mail has not been sending about 90% of the time
(error msg)...but occasionally it does. Pain in the rear but at least it did
get sent. I read that I could possibly fix this by renaming FOLDERS.DBX to
FOLDERS.BAK and then re-staritng OE and it would build a new FOLDERS.DBX
file.

I did this, and the first thing I notice is that the directory structure is
messed up but that's an easy fix. What troubles me is that my SENT MAIL
folder, with 5+ years of messages, is EMPTY.

Any advice/assistance on how to restore the contents of the SENT MAIL
folder, either in the SENT MAIL folder or an archive folder, is appreciated.

Folders.dbx back up - now my Sent Mail is gone - help
 

If you had posted the error message, we probably could have helped you
without you losing your mail.

Recovery tools.

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

DBXpress: {much faster for large files}
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

Some general OE advice *after* you have recovered the messages:

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.

In Tools | Options | Maintenance: Uncheck Compact messages in background and
leave it unchecked. {N/A if running XP/SP2}.

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.

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~

"Bob Hayden" wrote in message
om...
The last 2 days my OE E-Mail has not been sending about 90% of the time
(error msg)...but occasionally it does. Pain in the rear but at least it
did
get sent. I read that I could possibly fix this by renaming FOLDERS.DBX to
FOLDERS.BAK and then re-staritng OE and it would build a new FOLDERS.DBX
file.

I did this, and the first thing I notice is that the directory structure
is
messed up but that's an easy fix. What troubles me is that my SENT MAIL
folder, with 5+ years of messages, is EMPTY.

Any advice/assistance on how to restore the contents of the SENT MAIL
folder, either in the SENT MAIL folder or an archive folder, is
appreciated.

Folders.dbx back up - now my Sent Mail is gone - help
 

Have you done a file search for the hidden file "Sent Items.dbx"? It sounds
like the file was corrupted, either by disabling the option to compact
folders while it had not yet completed or using Task Manager (the infamous
Ctrl+Alt+Del) to end the Task of Outlook Express.

If that's the case, you may have an option using DBXpress from
www.oehelp.com to see if it can extract any salvageable messages you wish to
keep from the corrupted file, or use its Extract from Disk mode to recover
all messages on the disk. DBXpress is well worth the $25 the author charges
for it and it can be a lifesaver.
--
Jim Pickering, MVP, Outlook Express
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...8-1171988A62D6
Please deliver feedback to the newsgroup, so that others can be helped.

Customers in the U.S. and Canada can receive technical support from
Microsoft Product Support Services at 1-866-PCSAFETY. There is no charge for
support calls that are associated with security updates



"Bob Hayden" wrote in message
om...
The last 2 days my OE E-Mail has not been sending about 90% of the time
(error msg)...but occasionally it does. Pain in the rear but at least it
did
get sent. I read that I could possibly fix this by renaming FOLDERS.DBX to
FOLDERS.BAK and then re-staritng OE and it would build a new FOLDERS.DBX
file.

I did this, and the first thing I notice is that the directory structure
is
messed up but that's an easy fix. What troubles me is that my SENT MAIL
folder, with 5+ years of messages, is EMPTY.

Any advice/assistance on how to restore the contents of the SENT MAIL
folder, either in the SENT MAIL folder or an archive folder, is
appreciated.

Folders.dbx back up - now my Sent Mail is gone - help
 

Hi Bruce,

Thanks. It was an 0x800C0131 error message nad has affected sending E-Mail
MOST of the time the last 48 hours.
I Googled the error and a lot of advice said just rename/back up the
Folders.dbx file and re-start OE. I did..and as I noted all my directory
folders are now flat (I can redo those) but my Sent Items folder is empty. I
do have a BIG "Sent Items.dbx" file still on my hard drive, and I have the
entire Folders.bak from what I renamed. I also have a 30-day old backup of
my "Identities" folder which is on my backup Hard Disk.

So. I'll pay $25 if I need to but I'd rather not. Will I just be restoring a
corrupt Sent Items folder that will cause me future grief or is there a way
to identify/fix/delete the message or part of the file that caused the
problem?

Thanks again to you and Jim for quick responses so far.

Bob
"Bruce Hagen" wrote in message
...
If you had posted the error message, we probably could have helped you
without you losing your mail.

Recovery tools.

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

DBXpress: {much faster for large files}
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

Some general OE advice *after* you have recovered the messages:

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.

In Tools | Options | Maintenance: Uncheck Compact messages in background
and
leave it unchecked. {N/A if running XP/SP2}.

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.

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~

"Bob Hayden" wrote in message
om...
The last 2 days my OE E-Mail has not been sending about 90% of the time
(error msg)...but occasionally it does. Pain in the rear but at least it
did
get sent. I read that I could possibly fix this by renaming FOLDERS.DBX
to
FOLDERS.BAK and then re-staritng OE and it would build a new FOLDERS.DBX
file.

I did this, and the first thing I notice is that the directory structure
is
messed up but that's an easy fix. What troubles me is that my SENT MAIL
folder, with 5+ years of messages, is EMPTY.

Any advice/assistance on how to restore the contents of the SENT MAIL
folder, either in the SENT MAIL folder or an archive folder, is
appreciated.

Folders.dbx back up - now my Sent Mail is gone - help
 

Jim,

My thanks exttend to you as well...see my reply to Bruce above.
It's hard "seeing" that my file is there and not being able to read/access
it now...and I'd sure like to avoid the $25 if at all possible. However, if
that's what it takes, like I said, i have 5+ years of sent mail that has
some value to it.

Any additional advice is of course appreciated.

Bob

"Jim Pickering" wrote in message
...
Have you done a file search for the hidden file "Sent Items.dbx"? It
sounds
like the file was corrupted, either by disabling the option to compact
folders while it had not yet completed or using Task Manager (the infamous
Ctrl+Alt+Del) to end the Task of Outlook Express.

If that's the case, you may have an option using DBXpress from
www.oehelp.com to see if it can extract any salvageable messages you wish
to
keep from the corrupted file, or use its Extract from Disk mode to recover
all messages on the disk. DBXpress is well worth the $25 the author
charges
for it and it can be a lifesaver.
--
Jim Pickering, MVP, Outlook Express

https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...8-1171988A62D6
Please deliver feedback to the newsgroup, so that others can be helped.

Customers in the U.S. and Canada can receive technical support from
Microsoft Product Support Services at 1-866-PCSAFETY. There is no charge
for
support calls that are associated with security updates



"Bob Hayden" wrote in message
om...
The last 2 days my OE E-Mail has not been sending about 90% of the time
(error msg)...but occasionally it does. Pain in the rear but at least it
did
get sent. I read that I could possibly fix this by renaming FOLDERS.DBX
to
FOLDERS.BAK and then re-staritng OE and it would build a new FOLDERS.DBX
file.

I did this, and the first thing I notice is that the directory structure
is
messed up but that's an easy fix. What troubles me is that my SENT MAIL
folder, with 5+ years of messages, is EMPTY.

Any advice/assistance on how to restore the contents of the SENT MAIL
folder, either in the SENT MAIL folder or an archive folder, is
appreciated.

Folders.dbx back up - now my Sent Mail is gone - help
 

General OE Caveats:

- Don't use Inbox or Sent Items to archive messages. Move them to local
folders created for this purpose.

- Empty Deleted Items folder daily.

- Disable Background Compacting [N/A in SP2] and frequently perform a manual
compact of all OE folders while "working offline". More at
http://www.insideoe.com/files/maintain.htm.

- Do not attempt to close OE via Task Manager or shutdown your machine if
Automatic Compacting is taking place (WinXP SP2 only).

- Your anti-virus application's email scanning feature can also cause such
corruption. Disable it. It provides no additional protection.
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE, Shell/User, Security), Aumha.org VSOP, DTS-L.org


Bob Hayden wrote:
snip
Any additional advice is of course appreciated.

Folders.dbx back up - now my Sent Mail is gone - help
 

Ok, good advice here...thanks.

One question about not archiving things in the Sent Mail folder...I have
tried setting up a new "Old Sent" folder, but when I move messages there, it
would lose the name heading of who I sent it to (it would just show my
name). The only way I could get it back was to then move the messages to the
Deleted folder and then drag them back to the Sent Items folder...and then
the Send To info was restored. If there is a work-around, I'm all for it!

"PA Bear" wrote in message
...
General OE Caveats:

- Don't use Inbox or Sent Items to archive messages. Move them to local
folders created for this purpose.

- Empty Deleted Items folder daily.

- Disable Background Compacting [N/A in SP2] and frequently perform a
manual
compact of all OE folders while "working offline". More at
http://www.insideoe.com/files/maintain.htm.

- Do not attempt to close OE via Task Manager or shutdown your machine if
Automatic Compacting is taking place (WinXP SP2 only).

- Your anti-virus application's email scanning feature can also cause such
corruption. Disable it. It provides no additional protection.
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE, Shell/User, Security), Aumha.org VSOP, DTS-L.org


Bob Hayden wrote:
snip
Any additional advice is of course appreciated.

Folders.dbx back up - now my Sent Mail is gone - help
 

If the Sent Items.dbx gets too large, it gets corrupted. In an attempt to
fix it, Outlook Express will create a new, but empty DBX file with that name
and will rename your corrupted with a number appended, i.e., Sent
Items(1).dbx, Sent Items(2).dbx, etc.

You should *not* use any default folder in Outlook Express (Inbox, Sent
Items, Deleted Items, Drafts, etc.) as an archive folder, but instead create
local folders to contain the info.

You can try a less expensive option called DBXtract ($5) from the same site,
but it is much slower and if the corrupted file is large (100 or more MB) it
can take days of constant running to extract the info. There is a free
extractor from this link:
http://perso.club-internet.fr/macallan/
but I have no personal knowledge as to whether it can do "anything" with a
corrupted dbx file but you're free to try it. Good luck.
--
Jim Pickering, MVP, Outlook Express
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...8-1171988A62D6
Please deliver feedback to the newsgroup, so that others can be helped.

Customers in the U.S. and Canada can receive technical support from
Microsoft Product Support Services at 1-866-PCSAFETY. There is no charge for
support calls that are associated with security updates



"Bob Hayden" wrote in message
om...
Hi Bruce,

Thanks. It was an 0x800C0131 error message nad has affected sending E-Mail
MOST of the time the last 48 hours.
I Googled the error and a lot of advice said just rename/back up the
Folders.dbx file and re-start OE. I did..and as I noted all my directory
folders are now flat (I can redo those) but my Sent Items folder is empty.
I
do have a BIG "Sent Items.dbx" file still on my hard drive, and I have the
entire Folders.bak from what I renamed. I also have a 30-day old backup of
my "Identities" folder which is on my backup Hard Disk.

So. I'll pay $25 if I need to but I'd rather not. Will I just be restoring
a
corrupt Sent Items folder that will cause me future grief or is there a
way
to identify/fix/delete the message or part of the file that caused the
problem?

Thanks again to you and Jim for quick responses so far.

Bob
"Bruce Hagen" wrote in message
...
If you had posted the error message, we probably could have helped you
without you losing your mail.

Recovery tools.

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

DBXpress: {much faster for large files}
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

Some general OE advice *after* you have recovered the messages:

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.

In Tools | Options | Maintenance: Uncheck Compact messages in background
and
leave it unchecked. {N/A if running XP/SP2}.

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.

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~

"Bob Hayden" wrote in message
om...
The last 2 days my OE E-Mail has not been sending about 90% of the time
(error msg)...but occasionally it does. Pain in the rear but at least
it
did
get sent. I read that I could possibly fix this by renaming FOLDERS.DBX
to
FOLDERS.BAK and then re-staritng OE and it would build a new
FOLDERS.DBX
file.

I did this, and the first thing I notice is that the directory
structure
is
messed up but that's an easy fix. What troubles me is that my SENT MAIL
folder, with 5+ years of messages, is EMPTY.

Any advice/assistance on how to restore the contents of the SENT MAIL
folder, either in the SENT MAIL folder or an archive folder, is
appreciated.

Folders.dbx back up - now my Sent Mail is gone - help
 

Are you referring to a Hotmail 'Sent Items' folder in OE?

Did you create the new "Old Sent" folder as a subfolder of OE Local folders?

Perhaps your best bet would be to move the original Sent Items.dbx to
another, non-OE folder (e.g., C:\Documents and Settings\[name]\My Documents)
and then run DBXpress (http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx; $5
cheap) on the moved file. Recovered messages, if any, may then be dragged
to an open OE folder (e.g., "Old Sent").
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE, Shell/User, Security), Aumha.org VSOP, DTS-L.org

Bob Hayden wrote:
Ok, good advice here...thanks.

One question about not archiving things in the Sent Mail folder...I have
tried setting up a new "Old Sent" folder, but when I move messages there,
it would lose the name heading of who I sent it to (it would just show my
name). The only way I could get it back was to then move the messages to
the Deleted folder and then drag them back to the Sent Items folder...and
then the Send To info was restored. If there is a work-around, I'm all
for it!

General OE Caveats:

- Don't use Inbox or Sent Items to archive messages. Move them to local
folders created for this purpose.

- Empty Deleted Items folder daily.

- Disable Background Compacting [N/A in SP2] and frequently perform a
manual compact of all OE folders while "working offline". More at
http://www.insideoe.com/files/maintain.htm.

- Do not attempt to close OE via Task Manager or shutdown your machine
if Automatic Compacting is taking place (WinXP SP2 only).

- Your anti-virus application's email scanning feature can also cause
such corruption. Disable it. It provides no additional protection.
--
Any additional advice is of course appreciated.

Folders.dbx back up - now my Sent Mail is gone - help CORRECTION
 

Correction:

PA Bear wrote:
... then run [DBXtract
(http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtract/Default.aspx]; $5 cheap) on the moved
file. Recovered messages, if any, may then be dragged to an open OE
folder (e.g., "Old Sent").