Lost messages in OE

Hello gingerking,
welcome to Windows BBS ... ... !

Do not empty the Recycle Bin!

More to come ...

 

I posted the first message quickly because if you haven't emptied the Recycle Bin since compacting, backup files will be in there.

Assuming that there's a lot of files in the RB, do a search in it for files with the extension "*.bak ". Are there any?

 

Recovery of .bak files from the Recycle bin .....

 

I don't like that guide and the reason is, if you restore a *.bak file and rename it, should something go wrong you no longer have a backup.

If the mail storage is in the default location

C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\Local Settings\Application Data \Identities\{GUID}\Microsoft\Outlook Express

then I create two new folders in Outlook Express and name them "dbx" and "bak ".

I move all the *.dbx files to the dbx folder.

Next, I cut all the *.bak files from the RB and paste to the bak folder. From there, I copy to the folder Outlook Express and rename them *.dbx.

Now, you're back in square one, as it was prior to compacting and you still have the *.bak files.

Outlook Express will, again, prompt you to let it compact. You can deny until you find out that everything is there. If it is, let OE try again. Now you know how to fix it if it goes wrong ... ... !

Don't forget to delete the contents of the dbx folder.

(Personally, I always empty the RB prior to letting OE compact. When done, I always move the *.bak files from the RB to a folder, created specifically for this. I always have the most recent *.bak files available.)