I had to format my hard drive. On the telephone with Microsoft over 6 hours.
I managed to save folders from my Inbox on a CD, they are dbx files. How
can I install them to OE or look at them for information? Is there an easy
to understand way to save important OE files to a disk? I have important
e-mails from years past.

If you only saved the Inbox.dbx, a normal import won't work. Copy the CD to
your HDD and save it to the Desktop. Right click on it and in Properties,
remove the Read Only attribute. Right click again and rename it to Temp.dbx.

Open OE and create a folder with the *exact* same name as the one on your
desktop, (Temp). Open the new folder and then close OE. Go to Windows
Explorer and locate the Message Store folder for your OE identity, but don't
open it. Click Desktop and drag the file from the Desktop to the OE store
folder. Prompt - "Do you want to overwrite......."? Click Yes.

If you want to save messages to CD and remove them from OE:

To backup messages to a readable CD:

Create a folder on your Desktop, then in Outlook Express open the folder
with the messages you want to save. Highlight one message, then Ctrl+A will
highlight them all, (or hold the Ctrl button down while you select only the
messages you want), Now, drag and drop them to the folder on your Desktop.
(Easiest if the folder shortcut is on the Taskbar).

Now you can copy that folder to a CD and you will be able to read the
messages on the CD by double-clicking on them.

The downside of this is that messages that have the same subject will be
overwritten. To avoid this, purchase:

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

You could also create another identity for the sole purpose of archiving. If
you backup reguarly, this may be a good option.

This freeware tool backs up everything in OE in seconds. Disregard what is
written in red. That is referring to a different program.

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB):
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx

General precautions for Outlook Express:

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.

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. For more, see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3

In Tools | Options | Maintenance: Uncheck Compact messages in background and
leave it unchecked. {N/A if running XP/SP2}.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"tenahacourt" wrote in message
...
I had to format my hard drive. On the telephone with Microsoft over 6
hours.
I managed to save folders from my Inbox on a CD, they are dbx files. How
can I install them to OE or look at them for information? Is there an
easy
to understand way to save important OE files to a disk? I have important
e-mails from years past.

I did not save the INBOX folder, what I have on the CD is idividually named
dbx - such as "court" which is a dbx file

I printed your answer - so I could try to follow the directions - I got lost
and did not find the OE store folder.

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

If you only saved the Inbox.dbx, a normal import won't work. Copy the CD to
your HDD and save it to the Desktop. Right click on it and in Properties,
remove the Read Only attribute. Right click again and rename it to Temp.dbx.

Open OE and create a folder with the *exact* same name as the one on your
desktop, (Temp). Open the new folder and then close OE. Go to Windows
Explorer and locate the Message Store folder for your OE identity, but don't
open it. Click Desktop and drag the file from the Desktop to the OE store
folder. Prompt - "Do you want to overwrite......."? Click Yes.

If you want to save messages to CD and remove them from OE:

To backup messages to a readable CD:

Create a folder on your Desktop, then in Outlook Express open the folder
with the messages you want to save. Highlight one message, then Ctrl+A will
highlight them all, (or hold the Ctrl button down while you select only the
messages you want), Now, drag and drop them to the folder on your Desktop.
(Easiest if the folder shortcut is on the Taskbar).

Now you can copy that folder to a CD and you will be able to read the
messages on the CD by double-clicking on them.

The downside of this is that messages that have the same subject will be
overwritten. To avoid this, purchase:

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

You could also create another identity for the sole purpose of archiving. If
you backup reguarly, this may be a good option.

This freeware tool backs up everything in OE in seconds. Disregard what is
written in red. That is referring to a different program.

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB):
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx

General precautions for Outlook Express:

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.

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. For more, see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3

In Tools | Options | Maintenance: Uncheck Compact messages in background and
leave it unchecked. {N/A if running XP/SP2}.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"tenahacourt" wrote in message
...
I had to format my hard drive. On the telephone with Microsoft over 6
hours.
I managed to save folders from my Inbox on a CD, they are dbx files. How
can I install them to OE or look at them for information? Is there an
easy
to understand way to save important OE files to a disk? I have important
e-mails from years past.

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, Win2K & Win2K3, the OE user files (DBX and WAB) 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.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"tenahacourt" wrote in message
...
I did not save the INBOX folder, what I have on the CD is idividually named
dbx - such as "court" which is a dbx file

I printed your answer - so I could try to follow the directions - I got
lost
and did not find the OE store folder.

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

If you only saved the Inbox.dbx, a normal import won't work. Copy the CD
to
your HDD and save it to the Desktop. Right click on it and in Properties,
remove the Read Only attribute. Right click again and rename it to
Temp.dbx.

Open OE and create a folder with the *exact* same name as the one on your
desktop, (Temp). Open the new folder and then close OE. Go to Windows
Explorer and locate the Message Store folder for your OE identity, but
don't
open it. Click Desktop and drag the file from the Desktop to the OE store
folder. Prompt - "Do you want to overwrite......."? Click Yes.

If you want to save messages to CD and remove them from OE:

To backup messages to a readable CD:

Create a folder on your Desktop, then in Outlook Express open the folder
with the messages you want to save. Highlight one message, then Ctrl+A
will
highlight them all, (or hold the Ctrl button down while you select only
the
messages you want), Now, drag and drop them to the folder on your
Desktop.
(Easiest if the folder shortcut is on the Taskbar).

Now you can copy that folder to a CD and you will be able to read the
messages on the CD by double-clicking on them.

The downside of this is that messages that have the same subject will be
overwritten. To avoid this, purchase:

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

You could also create another identity for the sole purpose of archiving.
If
you backup reguarly, this may be a good option.

This freeware tool backs up everything in OE in seconds. Disregard what
is
written in red. That is referring to a different program.

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB):
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx

General precautions for Outlook Express:

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.

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. For more, see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3

In Tools | Options | Maintenance: Uncheck Compact messages in background
and
leave it unchecked. {N/A if running XP/SP2}.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"tenahacourt" wrote in message
...
I had to format my hard drive. On the telephone with Microsoft over 6
hours.
I managed to save folders from my Inbox on a CD, they are dbx files.
How
can I install them to OE or look at them for information? Is there an
easy
to understand way to save important OE files to a disk? I have
important
e-mails from years past.

References:

Backup & Restore OE Data
http://www.insideoe.com/backup/index.htm
http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx

OE Files & Settings
http://www.insideoe.com/files/index.htm

OE Registry Keys
http://www.insideoe.com/files/regkeys.htm

Importing OE Data (all DBX files, including Folders.dbx)
http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/how.htm#importOE5

Importing a single DBX file
http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/how.htm#importdbx
http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx (last paragraph)
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)


tenahacourt wrote:
I had to format my hard drive. On the telephone with Microsoft over 6
hours. I managed to save folders from my Inbox on a CD, they are dbx
files.
How can I install them to OE or look at them for information? Is there an
easy to understand way to save important OE files to a disk? I have
important e-mails from years past.

I have Microsoft XP Professional Version 2002 Service Pack 2
My e-mails were from Microsoft Outlook Express 6
I now have Microsoft Outlook
That is probably why I have not been able to follow the directions I have
been provided.
I am probably in the work Discussion Group.


"tenahacourt" wrote:

I had to format my hard drive. On the telephone with Microsoft over 6 hours.
I managed to save folders from my Inbox on a CD, they are dbx files. How
can I install them to OE or look at them for information? Is there an easy
to understand way to save important OE files to a disk? I have important
e-mails from years past.

You still have OE6 and you can import the backed up data into it. See
previous replies to your thread.

You cannot import the backed up OE data directly into MS Outlook.
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)

tenahacourt wrote:
I have Microsoft XP Professional Version 2002 Service Pack 2
My e-mails were from Microsoft Outlook Express 6
I now have Microsoft Outlook
That is probably why I have not been able to follow the directions I have
been provided.
I am probably in the work Discussion Group.

I had to format my hard drive. On the telephone with Microsoft over 6
hours. I managed to save folders from my Inbox on a CD, they are dbx
files. How can I install them to OE or look at them for information? Is
there an easy to understand way to save important OE files to a disk? I
have important e-mails from years past.