Outlook Express Cleaned Files I wish to get back.

Windows XP & Outlook Express 6.0

Outlook Express 6.0 continued to ask me if I wanted to compact or clean my files. When I finally agreed, it compacted everything and also deleted all of my three years worth of sent files I was keeping for records.

Is there a way to get these files undeleted after they were cleaned? They are not in my "deleted folder." I could not find the file in my "Trash Can" either.

Is there any creative approaches that I can try?

 

killerkilbach--Were these lost files in the normal Sent Items folder or in a separate folder with a different name?
Look in your Store Folder. (OE Tools|Options|Maintenance tab|Store Folder. That will tell you where the store folder is. Go there.)
Do you see a .dbx file with the name of this folder? (Or, if you have rebooted, perhaps as Steve R Jones has suggested a Sent Items[1].dbx file in addition to the normal Sent Items.dbx folder?) Do you see a .dbt file with the name of this folder?
If so, you still have the messages. You may be able to import back into the new Sent Items.dbx folder that has been created when you rebooted.
Or, if not, you may be able to read what is in these folders using the following programs and then copy them or create .eml files (which you can send to yourself, if you want them back in OE).
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtract/Default.aspx
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/dbxviewer.html
If you cannot find any .dbx or .dbt files that have the lost files, you can try to recover from your hard drive using Restoration
http://www.webattack.com/get/restoration.html
I suggest this program and downloading it to a floppy (or other external drive) and running it from there, since the less you use your hard drive before trying to recover, the better your chances are.
Deleted files are not erased immediately from the harddrive. They are still on the drive, but the space is is marked as ready to be overwritten as needed.

 

Welshjim - The files were lost from the sent folder itself when I proceeded to do a compact when prompted.

I am starting to loose faith. I did find the folders you were speaking of but there was no additional file. I could not find a "sent (1)" or a ".dbt" file. That was the first time I had heard of a ".dbt" file. What is that?

I also tried a recovery software that did not turn up any results. However I did not try looking for a ".dbt" file. I may try again.

Any other suggestions. I would REALLY like to recover this email.

Thank you for any help you provide.

 

killerkilbach--

Well, unfortunately, just forget that idea. I did not know if you might have two Sent Items file, one of which could contain the files you were looking for. Steve R Jones was suggesting the same possibility.
Concerning a .dbt file, it is often created when you have performed a corrupted compacting of .dbx files (like not compacting offine, interrupting the compacting, etc.). It was just a hope.