I'm not sure what happened, but I cannot access several of my local folders.
They are not listed on the left side of OE under folders anymore. However,
they are still in the Store Folder. I have tried to create new folders in
the same names and then copy the existing folders into them, but it does not
work. The folder is listed on the lefthand side, but is empty. Somehow, OE
is not "seeing" what is in the Store Folder. Any suggestions? Thanks in
advance.

1: Make sure you didn't switch to another identity.

2: Since you understand the Message Store, try this:

In Windows Explorer, click on the file and drag it to the Desktop. Open OE
and create a folder with the *exact* same name as the one on your desktop.
***Copy a message from any folder to the new one. You MUST do this.*** Close
OE. Go back to Windows Explorer and Click Desktop and drag the file from the
Desktop to the OE store folder that you clicked on to reveal the .dbx files.
Prompt - "Do you want to overwrite......."? Click Yes.

What you may have been lacking in your attempts, was the *dummy* message
that had to be in the newly created folder.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"Curly" wrote in message
...
I'm not sure what happened, but I cannot access several of my local
folders.
They are not listed on the left side of OE under folders anymore.
However,
they are still in the Store Folder. I have tried to create new folders in
the same names and then copy the existing folders into them, but it does
not
work. The folder is listed on the lefthand side, but is empty. Somehow,
OE
is not "seeing" what is in the Store Folder. Any suggestions? Thanks in
advance.

Ok - tried that, but no luck. I copied a message from the Inbox into the new
"duplicate" folder and verified it was in there. When I copied the old .dbx
file over the new one, the new folder "lost" the message and was empty. (I
only have the one identity, so that isn't an issue.) What next?

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

1: Make sure you didn't switch to another identity.

2: Since you understand the Message Store, try this:

In Windows Explorer, click on the file and drag it to the Desktop. Open OE
and create a folder with the *exact* same name as the one on your desktop.
***Copy a message from any folder to the new one. You MUST do this.*** Close
OE. Go back to Windows Explorer and Click Desktop and drag the file from the
Desktop to the OE store folder that you clicked on to reveal the .dbx files.
Prompt - "Do you want to overwrite......."? Click Yes.

What you may have been lacking in your attempts, was the *dummy* message
that had to be in the newly created folder.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"Curly" wrote in message
...
I'm not sure what happened, but I cannot access several of my local
folders.
They are not listed on the left side of OE under folders anymore.
However,
they are still in the Store Folder. I have tried to create new folders in
the same names and then copy the existing folders into them, but it does
not
work. The folder is listed on the lefthand side, but is empty. Somehow,
OE
is not "seeing" what is in the Store Folder. Any suggestions? Thanks in
advance.

There may be a lack of communication here. You go to the Message Store and
drag the dbx file to the Desktop. You create a new folder in the Folder Tree
place a message in it. You go back to Windows Explorer and expand the My
Documents and Setting path to the OE Folder, but do not open it up. Now
click on Desktop and drag the dbx file to the unopened OE Message Store
folder. Now, you should see the Do you want to overwrite prompt.

I have no idea what you exactly mean by *Coping* the old dbx file to the new
one. That, if you are being literal, will not work.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"Curly" wrote in message
...
Ok - tried that, but no luck. I copied a message from the Inbox into the
new
"duplicate" folder and verified it was in there. When I copied the old
.dbx
file over the new one, the new folder "lost" the message and was empty.
(I
only have the one identity, so that isn't an issue.) What next?

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

1: Make sure you didn't switch to another identity.

2: Since you understand the Message Store, try this:

In Windows Explorer, click on the file and drag it to the Desktop. Open
OE
and create a folder with the *exact* same name as the one on your
desktop.
***Copy a message from any folder to the new one. You MUST do this.***
Close
OE. Go back to Windows Explorer and Click Desktop and drag the file from
the
Desktop to the OE store folder that you clicked on to reveal the .dbx
files.
Prompt - "Do you want to overwrite......."? Click Yes.

What you may have been lacking in your attempts, was the *dummy* message
that had to be in the newly created folder.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"Curly" wrote in message
...
I'm not sure what happened, but I cannot access several of my local
folders.
They are not listed on the left side of OE under folders anymore.
However,
they are still in the Store Folder. I have tried to create new folders
in
the same names and then copy the existing folders into them, but it
does
not
work. The folder is listed on the lefthand side, but is empty.
Somehow,
OE
is not "seeing" what is in the Store Folder. Any suggestions? Thanks
in
advance.

Hi Curly,

What is the size of the missing folder DBX file? It should be larger than
about 137KB -- much larger if there are any number of messages included.
Indications are the old folder.dbx file may be empty. If the missing
folder.dbx files are of appropriate size you could try importing the
folders by first moving the folder.dbx files and a copy of Folders.dbx to
a desktop folder (Mail Backup). Do not leave a copy of the folder.dbx
files in the OE message store folder.

Instead of using search the store folder can be opened directly. Each
identity has its own store folder.



a.. In Outlook Express click on Tools, Options, Maintenance tab...Store
Folder.
b.. Place the cursor at the left of the text of the path to the folder.
c.. Drag the cursor to the right until the text scrolls to the end.
d.. Right-click on the text and choose Copy.
e.. In the Start, Run box right-click Paste. Click OK to open the store
folder.
f.. Close Outlook Express before working with the message store files.


Using Keyboard Shortcuts for Transfer of the Folder Path
Courtesy of: Jim Pickering, MVP-Outlook Express

An even easier method when opening that page is to use the Tab to
highlight the folder location, then Ctrl+C and close OE, then use Start/Run
and Ctrl+V. Same caveat about hidden files applies but can be easily
modified in Explorer by using Tools/Folder Options.

Also see:
OLEXP: How to Back Up and Recover Outlook Express Data

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;270670


--
Tim K.
aka Kuay Tim
MS-MVP - Outlook Express
Lynnwood, WA
*
"Curly" wrote in message
...
Ok - tried that, but no luck. I copied a message from the Inbox into the
new
"duplicate" folder and verified it was in there. When I copied the old .dbx
file over the new one, the new folder "lost" the message and was empty. (I
only have the one identity, so that isn't an issue.) What next?

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

1: Make sure you didn't switch to another identity.

2: Since you understand the Message Store, try this:

In Windows Explorer, click on the file and drag it to the Desktop. Open OE
and create a folder with the *exact* same name as the one on your desktop.
***Copy a message from any folder to the new one. You MUST do this.***
Close
OE. Go back to Windows Explorer and Click Desktop and drag the file from
the
Desktop to the OE store folder that you clicked on to reveal the .dbx
files.
Prompt - "Do you want to overwrite......."? Click Yes.

What you may have been lacking in your attempts, was the *dummy* message
that had to be in the newly created folder.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"Curly" wrote in message
...
I'm not sure what happened, but I cannot access several of my local
folders.
They are not listed on the left side of OE under folders anymore.
However,
they are still in the Store Folder. I have tried to create new folders
in
the same names and then copy the existing folders into them, but it does
not
work. The folder is listed on the lefthand side, but is empty.
Somehow,
OE
is not "seeing" what is in the Store Folder. Any suggestions? Thanks
in
advance.

I need to correct something from my first post that I was unaware of... the
missing .dbx files/folders are no longer in the Message Store. Another user
made a copy of them into a folder on the desktop and that is the only source
I now have of the original files. I think he somehow deleted them from the
Message Store but doesn't know how he did it or how he even made the copy.
So now what I am left with is trying to import these files back into OE from
a folder on the desktop, but when I do, nothing appears in the folders. The
files all are of a significant size and therefore appear to contain the
missing messages. When I "overwrite" the files, the blue bar goes across the
box and looks like it is transferring the data, but nothing shows once it is
complete. I hope I'm being clear enough to understand, this is all rather
foreign to me. Basically, I am trying to do the same thing I have
successfully done before while importing backup messages to OE, but the end
result is empty folders.

"Kuay Tim" wrote:

Hi Curly,

What is the size of the missing folder DBX file? It should be larger than
about 137KB -- much larger if there are any number of messages included.
Indications are the old folder.dbx file may be empty. If the missing
folder.dbx files are of appropriate size you could try importing the
folders by first moving the folder.dbx files and a copy of Folders.dbx to
a desktop folder (Mail Backup). Do not leave a copy of the folder.dbx
files in the OE message store folder.

Instead of using search the store folder can be opened directly. Each
identity has its own store folder.



a.. In Outlook Express click on Tools, Options, Maintenance tab...Store
Folder.
b.. Place the cursor at the left of the text of the path to the folder.
c.. Drag the cursor to the right until the text scrolls to the end.
d.. Right-click on the text and choose Copy.
e.. In the Start, Run box right-click Paste. Click OK to open the store
folder.
f.. Close Outlook Express before working with the message store files.


Using Keyboard Shortcuts for Transfer of the Folder Path
Courtesy of: Jim Pickering, MVP-Outlook Express

An even easier method when opening that page is to use the Tab to
highlight the folder location, then Ctrl+C and close OE, then use Start/Run
and Ctrl+V. Same caveat about hidden files applies but can be easily
modified in Explorer by using Tools/Folder Options.

Also see:
OLEXP: How to Back Up and Recover Outlook Express Data

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;270670


--
Tim K.
aka Kuay Tim
MS-MVP - Outlook Express
Lynnwood, WA
*
"Curly" wrote in message
...
Ok - tried that, but no luck. I copied a message from the Inbox into the
new
"duplicate" folder and verified it was in there. When I copied the old .dbx
file over the new one, the new folder "lost" the message and was empty. (I
only have the one identity, so that isn't an issue.) What next?

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

1: Make sure you didn't switch to another identity.

2: Since you understand the Message Store, try this:

In Windows Explorer, click on the file and drag it to the Desktop. Open OE
and create a folder with the *exact* same name as the one on your desktop.
***Copy a message from any folder to the new one. You MUST do this.***
Close
OE. Go back to Windows Explorer and Click Desktop and drag the file from
the
Desktop to the OE store folder that you clicked on to reveal the .dbx
files.
Prompt - "Do you want to overwrite......."? Click Yes.

What you may have been lacking in your attempts, was the *dummy* message
that had to be in the newly created folder.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"Curly" wrote in message
...
I'm not sure what happened, but I cannot access several of my local
folders.
They are not listed on the left side of OE under folders anymore.
However,
they are still in the Store Folder. I have tried to create new folders
in
the same names and then copy the existing folders into them, but it does
not
work. The folder is listed on the lefthand side, but is empty.
Somehow,
OE
is not "seeing" what is in the Store Folder. Any suggestions? Thanks
in
advance.

More new info... the other user has informed me that just before things
started to go wrong, OE compacted the files/folders.

"Kuay Tim" wrote:

Hi Curly,

What is the size of the missing folder DBX file? It should be larger than
about 137KB -- much larger if there are any number of messages included.
Indications are the old folder.dbx file may be empty. If the missing
folder.dbx files are of appropriate size you could try importing the
folders by first moving the folder.dbx files and a copy of Folders.dbx to
a desktop folder (Mail Backup). Do not leave a copy of the folder.dbx
files in the OE message store folder.

Instead of using search the store folder can be opened directly. Each
identity has its own store folder.



a.. In Outlook Express click on Tools, Options, Maintenance tab...Store
Folder.
b.. Place the cursor at the left of the text of the path to the folder.
c.. Drag the cursor to the right until the text scrolls to the end.
d.. Right-click on the text and choose Copy.
e.. In the Start, Run box right-click Paste. Click OK to open the store
folder.
f.. Close Outlook Express before working with the message store files.


Using Keyboard Shortcuts for Transfer of the Folder Path
Courtesy of: Jim Pickering, MVP-Outlook Express

An even easier method when opening that page is to use the Tab to
highlight the folder location, then Ctrl+C and close OE, then use Start/Run
and Ctrl+V. Same caveat about hidden files applies but can be easily
modified in Explorer by using Tools/Folder Options.

Also see:
OLEXP: How to Back Up and Recover Outlook Express Data

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;270670


--
Tim K.
aka Kuay Tim
MS-MVP - Outlook Express
Lynnwood, WA
*
"Curly" wrote in message
...
Ok - tried that, but no luck. I copied a message from the Inbox into the
new
"duplicate" folder and verified it was in there. When I copied the old .dbx
file over the new one, the new folder "lost" the message and was empty. (I
only have the one identity, so that isn't an issue.) What next?

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

1: Make sure you didn't switch to another identity.

2: Since you understand the Message Store, try this:

In Windows Explorer, click on the file and drag it to the Desktop. Open OE
and create a folder with the *exact* same name as the one on your desktop.
***Copy a message from any folder to the new one. You MUST do this.***
Close
OE. Go back to Windows Explorer and Click Desktop and drag the file from
the
Desktop to the OE store folder that you clicked on to reveal the .dbx
files.
Prompt - "Do you want to overwrite......."? Click Yes.

What you may have been lacking in your attempts, was the *dummy* message
that had to be in the newly created folder.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"Curly" wrote in message
...
I'm not sure what happened, but I cannot access several of my local
folders.
They are not listed on the left side of OE under folders anymore.
However,
they are still in the Store Folder. I have tried to create new folders
in
the same names and then copy the existing folders into them, but it does
not
work. The folder is listed on the lefthand side, but is empty.
Somehow,
OE
is not "seeing" what is in the Store Folder. Any suggestions? Thanks
in
advance.

"Curly" wrote in message
...
More new info... the other user has informed me that just before things
started to go wrong, OE compacted the files/folders.

Go to Help | About. What is the version number for directdb.dll? (e.g.
6.00.2900.2869)

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, OE/WM
Please reply in newsgroup.

Hi Curly,

Here is something to try.

Create a new "Test" folder in Outlook Express
Drag one message into the folder
Close and reopen OE

Next...

Create another (temporary) desktop folder -- it might be named Mail Test.
Copy (from the OE message store folder) the files "Test.dbx" and
"Folders.dbx".
Try importing the selected "Test" folder.
Are there now two copies of the message in the OE Test folder?

If successful...

Move a copy of DBX file you're trying to restore into the Mail Test folder.
Delete the Test.dbx file
Rename the file you want restored to Test.dbx
Try importing to see if the messages go to the OE Test folder.

--
Tim K.
aka Kuay Tim
MS-MVP - Outlook Express
Lynnwood, WA
*
"Curly" wrote in message
...
More new info... the other user has informed me that just before things
started to go wrong, OE compacted the files/folders.

"Kuay Tim" wrote:

Hi Curly,

What is the size of the missing folder DBX file? It should be larger
than
about 137KB -- much larger if there are any number of messages included.
Indications are the old folder.dbx file may be empty. If the missing
folder.dbx files are of appropriate size you could try importing the
folders by first moving the folder.dbx files and a copy of Folders.dbx
to
a desktop folder (Mail Backup). Do not leave a copy of the folder.dbx
files in the OE message store folder.

Instead of using search the store folder can be opened directly. Each
identity has its own store folder.



a.. In Outlook Express click on Tools, Options, Maintenance tab...Store
Folder.
b.. Place the cursor at the left of the text of the path to the folder.
c.. Drag the cursor to the right until the text scrolls to the end.
d.. Right-click on the text and choose Copy.
e.. In the Start, Run box right-click Paste. Click OK to open the store
folder.
f.. Close Outlook Express before working with the message store files.


Using Keyboard Shortcuts for Transfer of the Folder Path
Courtesy of: Jim Pickering, MVP-Outlook Express

An even easier method when opening that page is to use the Tab to
highlight the folder location, then Ctrl+C and close OE, then use
Start/Run
and Ctrl+V. Same caveat about hidden files applies but can be easily
modified in Explorer by using Tools/Folder Options.

Also see:
OLEXP: How to Back Up and Recover Outlook Express Data

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;270670


--
Tim K.
aka Kuay Tim
MS-MVP - Outlook Express
Lynnwood, WA
*
"Curly" wrote in message
...
Ok - tried that, but no luck. I copied a message from the Inbox into the
new
"duplicate" folder and verified it was in there. When I copied the old
.dbx
file over the new one, the new folder "lost" the message and was empty.
(I
only have the one identity, so that isn't an issue.) What next?

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

1: Make sure you didn't switch to another identity.

2: Since you understand the Message Store, try this:

In Windows Explorer, click on the file and drag it to the Desktop. Open
OE
and create a folder with the *exact* same name as the one on your
desktop.
***Copy a message from any folder to the new one. You MUST do this.***
Close
OE. Go back to Windows Explorer and Click Desktop and drag the file from
the
Desktop to the OE store folder that you clicked on to reveal the .dbx
files.
Prompt - "Do you want to overwrite......."? Click Yes.

What you may have been lacking in your attempts, was the *dummy* message
that had to be in the newly created folder.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"Curly" wrote in message
...
I'm not sure what happened, but I cannot access several of my local
folders.
They are not listed on the left side of OE under folders anymore.
However,
they are still in the Store Folder. I have tried to create new
folders
in
the same names and then copy the existing folders into them, but it
does
not
work. The folder is listed on the lefthand side, but is empty.
Somehow,
OE
is not "seeing" what is in the Store Folder. Any suggestions? Thanks
in
advance.

If this happened while compacting was in progress, DBXpress run in disk mod
is your only chance of recovery.

*Canned* reply for this problem:

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 tool:

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~

"Curly" wrote in message
...
More new info... the other user has informed me that just before things
started to go wrong, OE compacted the files/folders.

"Kuay Tim" wrote:

Hi Curly,

What is the size of the missing folder DBX file? It should be larger
than
about 137KB -- much larger if there are any number of messages included.
Indications are the old folder.dbx file may be empty. If the missing
folder.dbx files are of appropriate size you could try importing the
folders by first moving the folder.dbx files and a copy of Folders.dbx
to
a desktop folder (Mail Backup). Do not leave a copy of the folder.dbx
files in the OE message store folder.

Instead of using search the store folder can be opened directly. Each
identity has its own store folder.



a.. In Outlook Express click on Tools, Options, Maintenance tab...Store
Folder.
b.. Place the cursor at the left of the text of the path to the folder.
c.. Drag the cursor to the right until the text scrolls to the end.
d.. Right-click on the text and choose Copy.
e.. In the Start, Run box right-click Paste. Click OK to open the store
folder.
f.. Close Outlook Express before working with the message store files.


Using Keyboard Shortcuts for Transfer of the Folder Path
Courtesy of: Jim Pickering, MVP-Outlook Express

An even easier method when opening that page is to use the Tab to
highlight the folder location, then Ctrl+C and close OE, then use
Start/Run
and Ctrl+V. Same caveat about hidden files applies but can be easily
modified in Explorer by using Tools/Folder Options.

Also see:
OLEXP: How to Back Up and Recover Outlook Express Data

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;270670


--
Tim K.
aka Kuay Tim
MS-MVP - Outlook Express
Lynnwood, WA
*
"Curly" wrote in message
...
Ok - tried that, but no luck. I copied a message from the Inbox into the
new
"duplicate" folder and verified it was in there. When I copied the old
.dbx
file over the new one, the new folder "lost" the message and was empty.
(I
only have the one identity, so that isn't an issue.) What next?

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

1: Make sure you didn't switch to another identity.

2: Since you understand the Message Store, try this:

In Windows Explorer, click on the file and drag it to the Desktop. Open
OE
and create a folder with the *exact* same name as the one on your
desktop.
***Copy a message from any folder to the new one. You MUST do this.***
Close
OE. Go back to Windows Explorer and Click Desktop and drag the file
from
the
Desktop to the OE store folder that you clicked on to reveal the .dbx
files.
Prompt - "Do you want to overwrite......."? Click Yes.

What you may have been lacking in your attempts, was the *dummy*
message
that had to be in the newly created folder.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"Curly" wrote in message
...
I'm not sure what happened, but I cannot access several of my local
folders.
They are not listed on the left side of OE under folders anymore.
However,
they are still in the Store Folder. I have tried to create new
folders
in
the same names and then copy the existing folders into them, but it
does
not
work. The folder is listed on the lefthand side, but is empty.
Somehow,
OE
is not "seeing" what is in the Store Folder. Any suggestions?
Thanks
in
advance.