[Email messages missing after compaction in OE]

etap · 2009/04/08

The outlook express started compacting and after that,I notice my in-box mail stopped at 2-27-09 and picked new mail at 4-07-09.How would you go about getting all of that back.I did do a system restore,didn't work.THX's

PeteC · 2009/04/08

Welcome to WindowsBBS

You posted in the XP forum - this is an Outlook Express problem and should have been posted in the Microsoft Mail (Outlook / Outlook Express / Windows Mail) forum to which I have moved your thread.

In Outlook Express emails are stored in .dbx files - these are not system files and thus not monitored by System Restore.

When OE compacts the original, uncompacted files are placed in the Recycle Bin as .bak files, e.g. Inbox.bak - provided that you have not emptied the Recycle Bin it should be possible to recover the mails .....

To restore a bak folder to the message store folder

To restore a bak folder to the message store folder, first close OE and
locate the Message Store in Windows Explorer.

Tools | Options | Maintenance | Store Folder will reveal the location of
your Outlook Express files. Press the Tab key to highlight the folder
location, then Ctrl+C. Close OE, then Start | Run | Ctrl+V will put the
location in the box - Click OK and you'll see the OE files. Otherwise, write
the location down and navigate to it in Windows Explorer.

In WinXP, the .dbx files are by default marked as hidden. To view these
files in Explorer, you must enable Show Hidden Files and Folders under Start
| Control Panel | Folder Options | View.

In Windows Explorer, click on the dbx file for the missing, or empty, folder
and drag it to the Desktop. It can be deleted later once you have
successfully restored the bak file. Minimize the Message Store.

Open OE and, if the folder is missing, create a folder with the *exact* same
name as the bak file you want to restore but without the .bak. Eg: If the
file is Saved.bak, the new folder should be named Saved. Open the new folder
and then close OE. If the folder is there, but just empty, continue on to
the next step.

Open the Recycle bin and right click on the bak file for the folder in
question and click Restore. Open the Message Store back up and change the
file extension from .bak to .dbx. Close the Message Store and open OE. The
messages should now be back in the folder.

If the messages are successfully restored, you can go ahead and delete the
old dbx file that you moved to the Desktop.
Click to expand...

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[Email messages missing after compaction in OE]

etap Inactive Thread Starter

PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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[Email messages missing after compaction in OE]

etap Inactive Thread Starter

PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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