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29 Apr 03 - 07:56 AM (#942637) Subject: Tech: backing up outlook express problems From: Deni-C Please help. The other day I backed up all my files to restore my computer, which was faulty. I've done this before and had no prolems. I am now using windows XP. After restoring, when I tried to copy Outlook Express to the desktop from the CD drive or even view it, all it brought up is the new version which was automatically installed as part of the restore process. This means I can't access my address book or messages which I urgently need. what have I done. Surely It is impossible to 'overdub' a written CD with the new incomplete info..... Thanks Deni |
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29 Apr 03 - 01:11 PM (#942869) Subject: RE: Tech: backing up outlook express problems From: NicoleC To backup Outlook Express, do a find for "*.dbx" Copy all files to CD, another hard drive partition, etc. Also export your address book to a .CSV file -- use the default field mapping. On the new computer, set up your email account(s). Then do a find for the same folders, "*.dbx" Replace the new folders with your old *.dbx folders. Open Outlook Express. You should see your old folders and email. Import your .CSV file into your address book. Now, if you DIDN'T save your old .dbx folders and DIDN'T format your hard drive when you did the restore, your old folders may be under a different identity, which is what OE does to identify different users on the same computer. OE didn't have an identity registered because of the restore, so it created a new one for you. In this case, when you do the find for *.dbx, you may see duplicates for the standard folders -- "Inbox.dbx" "Sent Items.dbx" etc. One set is your new identity's folders, and should be small files. The other set is your old folders and will be larger. If this is the case, get back to me and we'll point your OE to the old folders instead. |
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29 Apr 03 - 01:47 PM (#942901) Subject: RE: Tech: backing up outlook express problems From: McGrath of Harlow There has to be a programn that is better at thius kind of thing tahn Ourtlook Express. What I want is one where I can just routinely save my mail folders to a CD-rom, and be able to put them all back again after I've restored my computer an deinstalled windows (Windows 98 in my case) And do it with a simple click or two. None of this hunting around for files with odd extensions and that. Any suggestions? |
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29 Apr 03 - 02:15 PM (#942929) Subject: RE: Tech: backing up outlook express problems From: Stilly River Sage I like Pegasus, but it puts files in a couple of places and I always have to figure out which files it's really writing to. I've never found an email program that is easy to work with when moving files back and forth between versions. Good luck. If you can create such a program you'll get rich! SRS |
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29 Apr 03 - 02:19 PM (#942933) Subject: RE: Tech: backing up outlook express problems From: mack/misophist Half the problem is Outlook. When I used '98, Eudora was easy enough to back up and restore. No matter what program you use, it's a good idea to know what and where the important files are. |
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29 Apr 03 - 02:30 PM (#942940) Subject: RE: Tech: backing up outlook express problems From: JohnInKansas OE is really pretty simple. If you click on File, you'll find "Import" and "Export" as options. You really should "compact folders" as a separate operation before you backup, but then just "Export" messages and/or address books and copy the result to the CD for your backup. When you want to restore, you "Import" and chose the import from "backup" or "external store" (label varies with version). It is important that when you copy the exported files to backup you copy the whole folder, since otherwise you may miss the index file(s) that are needed to restore. You can usually restore messages that you backed up just by copying the OE folders somewhere, but using the export function is more reliable. The biggest inconvenience with the export/import functions in OE is that you have to restore whole folders. Since email is stored in a database format, you can have multiple emails with the same "filename" so if your backup has a message that's already in your active folder, you can end up with two (or more) copies. Do this a few times, and your working folders "balloon" to very large. If you want to "backup" individual messages, you can do a "File - Save As" and save each message as the default .eml somewhere outside the OE folders. (You don't have to open the message to save it. Just select each one and save.) When you "double click" one of these .eml files in Win Explorer, it will open in OE, and if you want to put it back in the active folder, you just "Edit - Copy to Folder." The problem is, you have to do it one message at a time. The advantage is, you can access single messages from backup without importing whole folders. John |
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29 Apr 03 - 03:51 PM (#942992) Subject: RE: Tech: backing up outlook express problems From: McGrath of Harlow How about with Windows 98? It always seems to go wrong. The last time it happened was when I took it in to a PC shop to have them put an additional drive in, and I told the man specifically to make sure I didn't lose my mail folders. No luck, all he could do was manage to save a few of the emails and a few of the addresses. I know it can be done, and the fact it went wrong was because he screwed up. But the fact that someone who does it for a living screws it up like that confirms me in thinking it's not as straightforward as it should be, and it's not surprising it always goes wrong when I try to do it. |
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29 Apr 03 - 05:21 PM (#943079) Subject: RE: Tech: backing up outlook express problems From: NicoleC No, OE isn't friendly to that sort of thing. The only export/import of emails from OE I've ever had work reliably is exporting to Outlook... which I do a lot of as I wean users here off OE and into Outlook. Outlook handles archives and backups much better, but of course it's not free. If you have Office, you Outlook included. I use Outlook myself, otherwise I'd have to seriously investigate some of the other email programs that are more robust and stable than OE (and less prone to security attacks.) Eudora and Pegasus spring to mind. |
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29 Apr 03 - 05:39 PM (#943094) Subject: RE: Tech: backing up outlook express problems From: JohnInKansas McG - I'll agree that it can be a puzzle. I've been through about every mistake you can make on the email thing. To save an address book, you really should "export" it, although you can just copy it "as is" and you probably will be able to get it back. If you export directly from the OE "File" tab, it will assume you want to send the address book to the "default mail client," and if you're in your default program, it will fail. If you click on the "Address" tab at the top of OE, and then select File - Export on the Address Book header, it will let you pick a folder - anywhere on the machine - to put a "copy" of the Address book. Put the copy on a backup CD, and if you need it back, use the File - Import - Address Book thing. You can just copy your email folder to a backup CD, but it's important that you get the whole folder since it's easy to miss the index file if you try to backup just one or two "subs." Don't try to "save" just the Inbox or just the Sent Items or any other separate folder. Save the entire email folder every time. When you recover a backed up addy book, you should do an "import," although sometimes you can get by with just copying it into where OE expects to find it. If you just copy, OE sometimes gets confused about which address book it's using. If you import, it can handle it much more easily. A "working" email or address book can be "imported" from another machine, or from another "user space" on the same machine, but OE has to be "closed" on the machine you're getting it from. When you do it this way, the "working" files look just like a backup copy. Most of the problems stem from OE files being database files, with a separate index file to keep track of where the individual messages are in the database. If the index file gets "separated" or "out of register" with the data files (the folders, like Inbox, etc.) then the information may be there, but can't be recovered. OE can't do a normal "import" if the index file is missing - unless there is an identically named folder already in the OE you're importing to. Sometimes, even if the index file is gone, you can get an import if you create a folder in OE with the folder name identical to the file you're trying to import, or rename the one you want to import to the identical name of a folder that's already in OE. OE will attempt to "rebuild" the index as it adds individual data items. If you have .dbx files anywhere on your machine that don't show up in OE, you can try making a "New Folder" in OE, with the folder name identical to the filename of the .dbx file (without the .dbx extension), and then try to import. It often works. I do a periodic Address Book export to keep a good backup on hand. With typically 1500 email messages "active" and with over 8,000 in "current backups," the requirement that you backup and retrieve "whole folders" is unworkable, so I simply save (File, Save As) each individual message as a .eml file when it's received. It takes a lot more space to save them this way, but that space is mostly on backup CDs. And I can recover any individual message one at a time from the backups, just by clicking on it. (Just be sure to name the files carefully and keep a good index.) It's not surprising that people have problems with getting good backups and with recovery from backup. I've checked the Win98, Win2K, and WinXP Resource kits specifically, and each has at least 80 index entries for "backup." The words "Restore," "Recover," and any other euphemism/variation I've been able to think of, do not appear in any Index in any Reference Material published by Microsoft. John |
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30 Apr 03 - 05:22 AM (#943360) Subject: RE: Tech: backing up outlook express problems From: Deni-C Oh mi god. And I thought it was just me being dense, but evidently this is a real problem with these things. Thanks everyone. I'll er...print up these hints and try them. wish me luck, I'm a mug at this game.... Best Deni |
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30 Apr 03 - 06:34 AM (#943376) Subject: RE: Tech: backing up outlook express problems From: Deni-C Well Nicole, it WAS me bing dense. Now you told me what to look for, I see I have no *.dbx files on the CD at all and have in effect just saved the programme without any of the folders. Nuts aren't I? looks like I'm snookered. But I have printed up all the tips for next time. it's a learning curve alright. Thanks Deni :-( |
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30 Apr 03 - 06:43 AM (#943381) Subject: RE: Tech: backing up outlook express problems From: JohnInKansas Deni - Have faith. It's really not that difficult once you figure out what you want/need to backup, and once you get yourself set up do do it on a regular basis. It's just not "so obvious it doesn't need explaining" as Mickey$oft seems to think. The OE files are actually a little different than most of what you work with, but they're not really too tough to handle. Ya' just gotta beat 'em down. John |
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30 Apr 03 - 12:09 PM (#943618) Subject: RE: Tech: backing up outlook express problems From: NicoleC Deni, you aren't the first to make that mistake! I think you're in pretty good company. |
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30 Apr 03 - 06:51 PM (#943927) Subject: RE: Tech: backing up outlook express problems From: McGrath of Harlow That post by JohninKansas looks like it should be really useful, if I can't manage to find something that does its tricks without having to be coaxed every step of the way. But I'm still hoping someone can point me in the direction of the email program of my dreams. Which aren't particularly ornate dreams. |