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I have just upgraded to XP Pro from Win98SE. I rashly assumed that as I was upgrading on top of Win98 that OE would not lose it's messages. This I now discover is not true. Has the upgrade wiped the old messages or is ther a way of recovering them?
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Upgrading 98SE to XP Pro also upgrades OE 5 to OE 6, but you should not have lost your old email messages, OE 6 has probably created a new store folder - 98 & XP's default store folders are not in the same location.
Search for *.dbx files - you should find two sets - one from OE 5 and another from OE 6.
If this is the case you have two possible options -
In OE 6 File > Import - don't know if this works under these circumstances.
or
Point OE 6 to the location where your OE 5 messages are stored - Tools > Options > Maintenance > Store Folder and set the OE 5 store folder as the OE 6 store folder.
The default storage location for E-mail related files is different in WinXP compared to Win98.
In Win98 it is in C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook Express\"strange folder name"
If I remember correctly (have moved my own location), in WinXP it is in C:\Documents and Settings\"Your Username"\Application Data\Identities\"strange folder name"
You´ll know what I mean by "strange folder name" when You see it!
Try a search in Windows Explorer to see if You find anything in the Win98 location.
I´m not sure if You can delete* what is in the WinXP location and move what is in the Win98 location over so, let´s hope someone steps in and verifies that before You try it.
*) Maybe not deleting right away but move to a temporary folder.
Under any circumstances, make sure to create a restore point in System Restore before doing anything.
Point OE 6 to the location where your OE 5 messages are stored - Tools > Options > Maintenance > Store Folder and set the OE 5 store folder as the OE 6 store folder.
I wouldn´t do that because if anything is in the Win98 location it will be replaced by what is in the WinXP location. You will probably move the new files to the old location and concequently destroy the old files.
Hopefully You´ll get a confirmation question if You want to do that.
Christer
Last edited by Christer; 2nd January 2004 at 22:16.
Do NOT attempt to copy the store manually to the new location. This will only confuse OE and result in warnings that will confuse you. The automated move function works as expected, and is quite safe.
Concerning the search in Windows Explorer, these files are hidden which means that under Start | Control Panel | Folder Options | View, You must enable Show Hidden Files and Folders.
I can not see any possibility to export the messages (if found in the Win98 location) using the function under "Archive" since it only works for the current messages.
I apologize for any confusion that I´ve caused,
Christer
Possibly even more confusion ...... ...... I found this on how to import a single *.dbx folder. It´s a good one which fools OE to believe it actually created the folder itself.
I dont think that You should try to delete the current inbox.dbx and rename the imported temp.dbx to inbox.dbx but You can rename it to anything else that is not a default folder-name.
I think that I´ll sit down and have a good peek into the InsideOE site.
An SR point will do no good protecting the dbx files. Are Win 98 OE files dbx or called something else? Can't remember, but I think there is a difference. Might be able to locate them and change their file extensions.
Why didn't you burn backups before you upgraded? Nothing is ever certain, especially when you insert that XP disk!
An SR point will do no good protecting the dbx files.
That´s correct and the reason why I use Norton Ghost instead ...... ...... ! However, a restore point will, hopefully, protect OE and the system if it shouldn´t like the treatment. I have a faint memory of messing it up when trying myself and later in the evening I found support for it and posted a warning.
I would think that the "import a single *.dbx folder" will work. However, I don´t understand why it first should be named "temp" and then renamed to "what it´s wanted to be named" instead of going for the latter immediately?
Christer
Last edited by Christer; 3rd January 2004 at 10:33.
Thanks for the responses. Unfortunately just after posting this message XP stopped working due to some hardware issue. I've got a back of my drive so once I get Win98 back fully I will try some of the suggestions.
If You get Win98 back in working order with Your E-mails in place, then You should be able to export them to a file which can be burned to a CD and imported to the new system.
I´ve never done it myself but the option is in Archive > Export > Messages.
Today, I did a re-install of WinXP for a friend. Among the backed-up stuff was his complete E-mail storage.
After I had set up his E-mail account in Outlook Express, I re-created two subfolders under the inbox, which he had earlier and concequently in the backed-up E-mail storage.
In Windows Explorer, I moved the new files from the E-mail storage to a temp folder and next, I copied the old files from the backup to the E-mail storage.
It went well and OE works just fine with the old files. I think that it works when EVERYTHING is copied, including the cleanup.log. This does not upset the folders.dbx which keeps track of the different files.
If a single file is copied to the E-mail storage, then I believe it upsets folders.dbx.
The new files, moved to the temp folder, have been deleted.
By the way, as a preparation to backing up the old files, Compact Your OE Folders which actually cleans them up and makes them much smaller. In my case it saved som 120 MB!
If a single file is copied to the E-mail storage, then I believe it upsets folders.dbx.
I've done this many times and never had any problem. Also, I've never included the cleanup log. I just create a folder in OE with the same name as the one I want to get in there, close OE, delete the new one and move the old one in. Don't what naming it temp first is all about. Possibly they are just concerned that some people may have already moved the old dbx files in only to find out they don't show up in OE. If you then created a folder in OE named the same as one that you had moved into the store folder without first renaming or moving the old back out, who knows what kind of trouble that could cause. I've often thought of trying it for giggles but I have to find somebody willing to let me try it on their's. I prefer to be the one giggling rather than the one that's being giggled at.
Last edited by Zander; 11th January 2004 at 21:30.
...... I found 
...... ! However, a restore point will, hopefully, protect OE and the system if it shouldn´t like the treatment. I have a faint memory of messing it up when trying myself and later in the evening I found support for it and posted a warning.
...... !
