Export/Import E-mail from Old PC to New

I'm really having a difficult time figuring out how to bring my e-mail messages from my old PC (running Outlook Express 6) to my new PC using the same (old PC, Win 98, New, XP). It seemed that I should be using the export function on the old PC. However, when I go through this exercise, I have no idea where it is exporting them to. I thought it would be a properly formatted file that I could then copy to CD and then import into my new PC's Outlook Express. Can anyone help a novice get through this?

 

Here's an excellent site for answering all those OE Backup and Restore questions.

What I do, since I haven't read that link I gave you, I just copy the entire mail folder and put it on the Desktop of the new system. OE imports much better than it exports. You just have to show it that folder and it'll do the rest.

If locating your mail folder is a problem, do a search for *.dbx and that's where they are. Copy that whole directory.

To make it simpler next time, create a folder on your drive named mymail or whatever you like to call it. Then open OE and go to TOOLS > OPTIONS > MAINTENANCE > STORE FOLDER > and punch the Change Location button. Browse to that folder (or type the path in) you created and OK it. From now on the messages will be much easier to find.

Good luck.

 

Outlook Express sites

You can get lots of help on Outlook Express at the folowing site

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;EN-US;oex

 

Importing E-mail in OE6 ??

Hi Zephyr,

I did find and copy the inbox and outbox .dbx files from my old PC and put them into a folder on the new PC. Here is what happens when I try to import them:

With OE6 open, I go to file, import, messages. I then choose 'import from' OE6, since this is what I was running on the old PC. I then have a chioce of importing from 'main identity' or 'from an OE6 store directory'. I think the latter choice is what I want, I click 'next' and a browse button comes up. I try to browse to the location of the .dbx files and I can only get as far as the folder they are stored in, not the files themselves. Without being able to select the files, I get a 'can't find' message when I try to proceed. I also tried typing in the path for the location but the address line will not allow me to type it in. Any ideas?

 

Import from OE6 to OE6

I meant to say sent items.dbx, not outbox.dbx...

 

It won't work that way. You MUST have all the files. You can't just select the inbox and outbox since the index is what's most important. It's what the import utility looks for. I think it's contained in the folders.dbx but I'm not sure. All I know for sure is, you need em all.
Good luck.

 

E-mail from old PC to New, OE6

I tried copying everything but still couldn't import it into the new PC. Same symptoms as before, I browse to the folder with everything I've copied from the old PC but nothing shows up in the folder. Perhaps I'm not copying everything. The old PC was running OE6 as is the new one. One would think this would make things easier...

 

I've done some exploring and testing and find that the file that contains the directory and is responsible for displaying all the mailbox folders is called folders.dbx. If you don't have it, you will see nothing available to import.

Furthermore, if you have folders.dbx and not the rest of the dbx files (8 more of the on my system) you will see all folders listed when trying to import, but when you let it finish the import it will say everything was imported successfully. The funny thing is, you'll get nothing and it won't tell you that or even register an error.

So the bottom line is, you need the file named folders.dbx and all of the others that you want to import. eg, Folders.dbx and inbox.dbx will allow you to import the inbox only. You'll see all the others listed but they're empty without the supporting file associated with them.

So, here's the files you need for the complete set:

saved.dbx
Outbox.dbx
Inbox.dbx
Drafts.dbx
Sent Items.dbx
Pop3uidl.dbx
DonsMail\Offline.dbx
Folders.dbx
Deleted Items.dbx

Then to further verify that were both reading the same page the drill goes like this:

Open OE6, FILE > IMPORT > MESSAGES > MICROSOFT OUTLOOK EXPRESS 6 > NEXT > (tag the "import mail from an OE6 store directory" selection area) > OK > BROWSE > (select your directory) > OK (the path you selected will appear in the address bar) > NEXT > (you'll see all folders listed and can select all or individually) > NEXT > FINISH > (you'll get a report of confirmation)

Now, if yours doesn't work exactly that way the possibility exists that you didn't copy the correct folder from the old system or didn't get all the files listed above.

Check it out and see if any of this helps.

 

Individual DBX Files

I have a similar problem, whereby I want to import an individual DBX file into my current e-mail system (Outlook Express 6). I agree that I believe the folders.dbx contains the main folder definitions but how can I add this new folder ?

 

After posting my query, I followed the link given previously OE Backup and restore and it works perfectly. A great site for simplistic answers.

 

SUCCESS! I went back and re-copied everything even remotely associated with OE6 (I searched *.dbx and copied any directory where this was found). I burned all of this (~500 MB) to CD and then tried to import it to the new PC. No luck when trying to pull it directly off the CD. I then tried copying the CD contents to the hard drive. Still no luck. In desperation, I remembered that when you copy things from CD, they are by default 'read only'. I unchecked 'read only' (in file, properties) for the entire mess and viola! Apparently import will not work with read only file attributes. I hope this helps someone with a similar problem. Thanks for all the help Zephyr.

 

That's good news Mike C

Thanks for the lesson via feedback. I'm sure it'll help others who search for this answer someday.

Here's another aspect that I found that has a connection to your observation about "read only ". When I was experimenting by trying to import from a folder that contained only the folders.dbx file, when I returned and looked in the folder, it had created all the other dbx files mentioned automatically. Of course they were all empty shells.

I suspect it may be impossible to import directly from a CD or any other read only files. That's good to keep in mind for other applications that need creative room to breathe while being manipulated.

Best regards.