I have an old MACINTOSH AOL filing cabinet in a screenname that is now
defunct that was owned and emailed to me by a remote work colleague
for a review of the email contents. It's about a meg of data and she
did not wish to open and individually forward every email in the
cabinet, a tiresome and lengthly task. Instead, she emailed the filing
cabinet module to me as an attached file. I have the Filing cabinet
module successfully downloaded and it is being held on my MAC G4
hardrive. Is there a way to open a Macintosh AOL Filing cabinet that
is not linked to a resident screenname, and was created on another
Macintosh computer? AOL TECH help says yes for WINDOWS but no for MAC,
but there must be a workaround. Changing the name of the cabinet to
match one on my existing AOL account and placing it into the proper
"Data" folder does not work. My screennames do not link to the alien
filing cabinet, even though I changed the name to match.Installing new
MAC AOL version 4 software and substituting the Filing Cabinet module
into System Folder--->Preferences--->America Online---> Data, (this is
where the filing cabinet modules are held) does not work either. No
passwords or active AOL accounts that link to this filing cabinet will
be available, now, it is too late for that. Any ideas? This is work
related and time sensitive. |
Request for Question Clarification by
chellphill-ga
on
02 Jun 2003 22:30 PDT
Lets see if I can remember how to do this... Bear with me... it's been
a long time. :-)
First, make a copy of the file, then rename the copy to
whateveryouwant.pfc
the "whateveryouwant" part can be the original screen name that the
filing cabinet was for ect. just be sure it ends with the ".pfc"
Then bring up your aol, go to file (upper left hand corner) then go to
open, and locate the file you named that ends with .pfc, and then try
and open the file.
Let me know if that works. I believe it should though. If not I can
dig through my old pfc's and find the instructions.
Thanks!
chellphill-ga
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Request for Question Clarification by
tisme-ga
on
02 Jun 2003 22:42 PDT
Do you have Microsoft Word or a word processor installed? Open up the
word processor and open up the file to see what comes up.
tisme-ga
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Clarification of Question by
roachgar-ga
on
03 Jun 2003 11:37 PDT
Thanks for the help so far. First, the suffix <.pfc> might not apply
since this is a MAC, not a Wintel machine, and we are running OS
9.2.1. I made a duplicate of the filing cabinet module, renamed it "so
and so'sfiling cabinet.pfc" as you suggested, but it does not open. In
fact, AOL can't even "SEE" it. Launching AOL, selecting the file then
going to FILE (menau) and choosing "Open" changes the curser to a
watch (Indicating "wait) and then it all just sits there. The watch
sits there doing nothing that I can see. That's it. A <click> on the
desktop returns to the FINDER and the watch cursor becomes a pointer
again. And I am back to square one.
As for word processors, APPLEWORKS has a ton of translators but can't
even "see" this file, that is, launching APPLEWORKS, selecting the
module and then going to the FILE menu to OPEN leads to the Open and
Save dialog box, but the AOL Filing cabinet file cannot be seen and
therefore cannot navigated to. I've tried every app on my hardrive
including decompression algorithyms like Stuffit Expander, Photoshop,
Internet Explorer, Acrobat, you name it.
This is an encrypted file made in AOL version 4 for the MAC, and so no
mere word processor is going to open it. I think it needs an
unencryption scheme to have any real chance at all. And suffix's don't
influence much when working on the MAC in 9.2. But since there is a
workaround for WINDOWS, and your <.pfc> suggestion might work in
WINDOWS, I'm hoping we can disciver one for MACINTOSH. I appreciate
the help and I hope we can keep on trying.
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Request for Question Clarification by
tisme-ga
on
03 Jun 2003 11:44 PDT
Hello roachgar,
I have contacted several companies who do unencrypt old AOL filing
cabinets, but so far have found nobody that is able to convert an AOL
4.0 Filing Cabinet to text or other format. Most of them say that they
only process PC AOL Filing Cabinets. I will keep looking though,
tisme-ga
|
Request for Question Clarification by
wonko-ga
on
03 Jun 2003 12:29 PDT
Try the following:
Install another instance of the AOL 4.0 software into a different
folder. Use the defunct screen name when setting it up (existing
member, not new member). Then, close the software and copy the old
filing cabinet over the newly created filing cabinet files. Then
restart the AOL 4.0 software and open the filing cabinet. Hopefully
you will be able to see the e-mails.
Please let me know if that works.
Thanks!
Wonko
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Clarification of Question by
roachgar-ga
on
03 Jun 2003 15:03 PDT
I, too, tried for a couple of days to locate a firm online who can
unencrypt a MAC-based AOL v.4 filing cabinet, and all of them offered
me PC services only. Your experiences confirm my own. If you locate a
MAC/AOL unencrypt firm, though, there's my answer.We can hope.
Wonko and I are thinking alike. Last weekend I installed a light
version of the MAC OS to a MAC ZIP disk, then I installed AOL 4.0 to
the ZIP. The installer placed the proper files in the proper places in
the light system folder, and I thought I was on my way. I placed the
filing cabinet I want to open into DATA where it is stored.
Unfortunately, I am able to sign online and temporarily delete one of
my own screennames, but I cannot use the name that created the Filing
cabinet. When I tried, I was informed that "That name is taken" and as
I understand it, there is a six month wait until an old name frees up
for reuse. To use that name now I'd need the master screen name and
the password associated with it of the original account, an event that
is not gonna happen. And even if the name frees up, there is no
guarantee that someone else doesn't grab it before I do.And in any
event, six months is far too long. We need this data now and I think
it's just an unencrypt issue. Let me keep helping, I don't feel so
frustrated that way. And please keep trying. Thank you. RoachGAR
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