[The Skeptic]

Could anyone explain, step by step, how do I backup emails and address books of outlook express and outlook and replace them after formatting. operating system is Windows XP.

I go to documents and settings>user>local settings> application data> identities>XXXXXXXX>microsoft>outlook express

In some computers I find the documents as dbx files, in other cases I do not find them but only unreadable notes about folders (inbox, sent items etc.)

It defies my logic why microsoft chose such a convoluted method to approach documents which bear no more importance than others that are stored in "my documents".

The fact is that I am not sure that I know how to backup the emails and how and to what folders to replace them.

Thanks

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Will appreciate help on this point. I guess lots of other users are having the same difficulty.

Thanks

[The Skeptic]

Will appreciate help on this point. I guess lots of other users are having the same difficulty.

Thanks

[Johanna]

http://www.oehelp.co...up/default.aspx

Johanna

[The Skeptic]

Thanks Johanna.

I try to avoid programs which I am not familiar with, and here is a case. There must be a straight forward way to find the files (as mentioned before I can't locate them in my computer) to copy and replace them on formatted disks.


Ami Yogev

[Johanna]

The files you want are .dbx files and WAB (Windows Address Book).

Mine are long moved from the default place, but I think they are in Doc & Settings, your user name. Open OE, click tools> options>maint> and click "store folder" to find your dbx files. Unless you have special software, nothing other than OE will open a dbx file, so you must import the dbx files onto the new computer. Any files existing on the new comp w/ the same name will be overwritten. Have fun.

Johanna

[The Skeptic]

Thanks Johanna.

I taks the route that you mentioned but at the end I reach dbx files which are the folders in which OE are stored (inbox, sent iteems etc.). I miss a further step in which these folders will open to reveal their contents . Is that normal with XP professional? I have another, old computer, with windows 989 SE. There I can reach all the way down to the documents themselves.

Thanks again

Ami Yogev

[Johanna]

Exactly. You can import the dbx files into Outlook Express, but you cannot access the individual emails stored inside the dbx files without something like DBXpress, which is my personal favorite.
http://www.oehelp.co...ss/Default.aspx
I have been using Mr. Steve Cochran's software for over two years, and have been very satisfied, which is why I pointed you to the simpler OE backup program on the same site.

I do not know why OE was designed to be so contrary. If anyone would like a gmail account, PM me for an invitation.

Johanna

[The Skeptic]

Hi Johanna.

I just got this article from Microsoft. That explains everything.

How to back up and recover Outlook Express data
View products that this article applies to.
Article ID : 270670
Last Review : April 21, 2005
Revision : 5.0
This article was previously published under Q270670
For information about the differences between Microsoft Outlook Express and Microsoft Outlook e-mail clients, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
257824 OL2000: Differences Between Outlook and Outlook Express


Appreciate your help / Ami Yogev