Back up of Outlook Express Address etc.

I have to do a restoration of my windows 98 and cannot get on the internet or open my outlook express or even open internet explorer, so I wasn't sure if there is anything I can do about backing up my address book in outlookexpress or my favorites.
I can open my windows explorer and wondered if there is any way to do a backup from explorer?

 

Yes you can backup your address and even the emails stored within outlook.

Firstly go to folder options and tell explorer to display hidden files as well as hidden system files.

Now go to this location for XP i`m not sure about 98 but i`m sure you be able to work it out. C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

In that location you will find some files which are used by outlook to stored your imformation in. I.E address.

I hope this helps

 

Thank you for such a speedy reply. I'm afraid I don't have the experience to follow these instructions. Can you give me a little more information on where I go to get folder options and how to tell explorer to display hidden files and hidden system files?

"Frstly go to folder options and tell explorer to display hidden files as well as hidden system files. "


So far I haven't found anything that corresponds to this path.

C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

The closest thing I found under Microsoft\address book are 2 files with my name.wa~ and another with my name.wab.
The first one under type has WA ~File and the second one has Address Book File. Do you think thes 2 files might be what I need?

Maybe I'm getrting into something over my head.

 

You OE address book has the WAB extension. the WA~ extension is the backup, created when the current book is modified, and is not the up to date file.

That is it, or them, it is not a hidden file
Just a simple question here, did you ever have a file with "~" as the name show up on the desktop or located at C:\ ? If you do or ever do, it is a bug with OE, and is also the backup address book file, put in the wrong place and with the wrong name.

 

If I backup the wab file, will that be all I need for the addresses? There are 3 identities and some different address for each identity. Will the wab file go to each identity? Also, does this include all messages in each identity as well? Thanks so much for the help.

Oops, I just found by looking in files and folders for messages and found some DBX files with the inbox, deleted and sent items. There is one outbox file and 2 folders files and a number of deleted items files and files in the Drafts folder.. Should all the DBX files be backed up? Does this appear to be everything I need?

 

Yes, the wab file preceded by your name is your address book and is the file you need to back up.

Outlook Express uses .dbx files to store its data. Outlook (which is OE's big brother) uses pst files.

To be on the safe side, back up the entire folder with the dbx files in it.

The Favorites folder is in the Windows folder. Just back up the whole Favorites folder.

 

If you have three identities, each would have their own Address Book.
If you do not want to save old emails, just forget about the next paragraphs. That is what the DBX files are.

This also complicates matters for the DBX files. Look in the folder C:\Windows\Application Data\Identities. You will find three folders, each named like "{bunchoflettersandnumbers}\Microsoft\Outlook Express ". Each of these are the email folders for each user in Outlook Express. Tracking down as to which user these belong to requires some extensive looking in the registry. I am not sure you are ready for that.
Just keep each folder in their own folder as they are. It is not necessary to use the {bunchoflettersandnumbers} as the folder name you keep them in when backing them up.
Later on, you can use OE's import feature to put them back, sort of trial and error to get them straight.

 

rondom,

Go HERE and check it out. If you read everything very carefully and do what it tells you one step at a time, you should have it all done in about 15 minutes.

If I can do it, anyone can.

HTH


Mike

 

This would save you about 10 of those minutes, Mike

 

Brett and Indutch,

I believe the links you gave him require that OE can be opened. In his first post, he stated that he can't open OE. I could be wrong.

 

You guys are all incredible. Thanks alot. What a wonderful help site this is.

Ron