Hi jh3000!!
First of all thank you for asking to Google Answers.
Your first question (Where does Microsoft ME hide outlook express
messages in the file system and what is the name of the file?) has the
following answer:
You can find them in the directory:
C:\Windows\Application Data\Identities\{EDBEF.....}\Microsoft\Outlook
Express
but the best way to find the e-mail files is the following:
Run OE (Outlook Express), then on the Tools menu, click Options and on
the Maintenance tab, click Store Folder. Select the folder location,
and then press CTRL+C to copy the location. Then click on Cancel
button, and then click Cancel again to close the dialog box.
Open the Explorer (not Internet explorer) and in the address box paste
the location of the Store Folder copied in the previous step. Press
Enter or click the Go button and voila there are the e-mail files in a
dbx format. You cannot read or open these files, you need to back up
all the files on this folder in order to recover them later in another
machine or a new installation.
I found the following info in the Microsoft Support Online website.
The following article tells you how to backup and then recover your
e-mails step by step:
"How to Back Up and Recover Outlook Express Data":
'This article describes how to back up and restore your messages,
Address Book, mail accounts, and news accounts in Outlook Express 5
and later. If multiple Identities are in use for Outlook Express,
these steps should be repeated for each Identity and the backup data
segregated accordingly. This will facilitate restoration of each
Identity.'
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;e;270670
In addition, at the "RESA V Knowledge Base" I found the following info
about the files on the OE Store Folder, the info is intended to
windows XP users, but the pfollowing paragraph is applicable to your
Windows Me version:
"OE Files:
Folders.dbx The master index of an OE store folder, required for OE to
run and created automatically if missing.
Inbox.dbx
Drafts.dbx
Sent Items.dbx
Deleted Items.dbx The default mail folders, created automatically if
missing. Should one of these stop working, move all messages into
another folder, close OE, and delete the corresponding *.dbx file.
Offline.dbx Stores IMAP and Hotmail actions that you carry out
offline, created only if an IMAP or Hotmail account exists
Pop3uidl.dbx Keeps track of messages left on a POP3 mail server,
created automatically if missing. If OE starts downloading mail you've
already read, close OE and delete this file.
Cleanup.log Created when automatic maintenance is enabled
<name>.dbx A user-created mail folder and its messages. The number of
folders is limited only by your disk space, but don't let any one
folder grow above 1Mb or so.
<newsgroup>.dbx A newsgroup folder, tied to the news account keys in
the registry and so cannot normally be imported
Opening the store root in Windows Explorer reveals a collection of
*.dbx files. These are the files where all your messages are actually
stored. The "Folders.dbx" file is the master index of the entire
store. It stores the tree structure (nesting) of mail folders, the
lists of newsgroups on each news account, and the synchronization
options for all subscribed newsgroups and Hotmail folders. If it is
missing when OE starts, OE will scan the store folder for all *.dbx
files and then create a new Folders.dbx. Likewise, the *.dbx files for
the OE default mail folders will also be created if missing. If one of
these folders stops working properly, deleting the corresponding *.dbx
file will usually solve the problem. (Be sure to move the contents of
those folders in OE before you attempt this). Special attention should
be paid to the Inbox, Sent Items and Deleted Items folders. It is easy
for these folders to grow extremely large. OE is not a dedicated
database program, and can have problems with very large files, making
them prone to corruption and data loss. For this reason alone, you
should not use the Inbox to store messages. Instead create other
folders for storing mail and leave the Inbox for incoming mail. You
should also make cleaning and compacting the Sent Items folder part of
your regular maintenance. You can avoid a large Deleted Items folder
by configuring OE to empty the Deleted Items folder automatically upon
exiting. Do this under Tools| Options| Maintenance. If you choose to
disable that, be sure to include Deleted Items in your regular
maintenance."
See the complete page at:
http://resa5.k12.wv.us:1010/comp_forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=25
May be the following page will be helpful:
"Back Up or Copy Mail Files in Outlook Express - Step by Step
Screenshot Walkthrough ":
http://email.about.com/library/daily/et/nnet102502_1.htm
In your clarification you go further and request for a backup and
recover of rules and accounts, I know how to export accounts but
rules..., I believed that this task could not be done but again in the
Microsoft Support Online website I found this info:
"How to Backup and Restore Outlook Express Blocked Senders List and
Other Mail Rules" (Please be careful in the use of the Registry
Editor):
'This article describes how to back up and restore your Blocked
Senders list and other mail rules in Outlook Express 5 and later. If
multiple Identities are in use for Outlook Express, these steps should
be repeated for each Identity, and the backup data segregated
accordingly. This will facilitate restoration of each Identity.'
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;276511
At the following pages from About.com you will found the same info but
with different words and you also found screenshots walkthrough, you
can use them when you are unsure about the next step in the task:
"Identify Your Outlook Express Store Folder":
http://email.about.com/cs/oetipstricks/a/et101202.htm
"Back Up or Copy Mail Files in Outlook Express":
http://email.about.com/cs/oetipstricks/a/et102502.htm
"Restore Outlook Express Mail Folders from a Backup Copy":
http://email.about.com/cs/oetipstricks/a/et110402.htm
"Back Up or Copy Your Outlook Express Address Book"
http://email.about.com/cs/oetipstricks/a/et112502.htm
"Back Up or Copy Your Outlook Express Blocked Senders List"
http://email.about.com/cs/oetipstricks/a/et011503.htm
"Back Up or Copy Your Outlook Express Mail Rules"
http://email.about.com/cs/oetipstricks/a/et031903.htm
"Import or Restore Outlook Express Mail Rules"
http://email.about.com/cs/oetipstricks/a/et032803.htm
"Restore or Import Outlook Express Address Book Data"
http://email.about.com/cs/oetipstricks/a/et120502.htm
I hope also you find these pages from "Inside Outlook Express" site
useful:
"OE files and registry settings":
http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/files/index.htm
"OE Backup, free backup utility":
http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/backup/index.htm
"OEBackup utility" page:
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
Search strategy:
keywords:
backup "outlook express"
rules backup "outlook express"
dbx files
Search engine:
www.google.com
I hope this helps you. If you find something unclear or have troubles
with any link please let me know by posting a request for an answer
clarification, I will glad to reply you.
Best regards
livioflores-ga |
