Lost Outlook Mail Messages with XP Upgrade

Eric

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Dec 31, 2007
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Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

All mail message folders in Outlook were empty after an XP upgrade. Can they
be retrieved, and if so, how?
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

HI!!

This behaviour occurs because the Windows XP file structure is different and
the files for Outlook Express are no longer in the same location.

However this article provides a step-by-step procedure to help you find your
previous mail, folders, and Address Book, and import them back into Outlook
Express!


Step 1 : Your Previous Mail Messages and Folders

Find Your Previous Mail Messages
On your desktop, create a new folder called XPMail. To do this, right-click
your desktop, click New, and then click Folder. If you use identities, create
a new folder for each identity.
Click Start, and then click Search.
In the What do you want to search for box, click All files and folders.
In the All or part of the file name type *.dbx.
Click More Advanced options, click Search hidden files and folders, and then
click Search.

NOTE: If you had previously used identities, each user will have their own
identity folder!

Each identity folder will have a unique alphanumeric number (for example,
{9EFEBDEA-CE00-4DD7-A4D6-CDB85C3EEDBF}) followed by "\Microsoft\Outlook
Express".

You can differentiate between the previous identity and the new identity
even though they may share the same alphanumeric number. The new identity
will be followed by "\Microsoft\Outlook Ex".

STEP 2 :

Copy the Mail Folders
Before you copy the mail folders from the previous identity folder to the
new folder on the desktop called XPMail, please review the Note about
differentiating between old and new identities in step 5 of the "Finding Your
Previous Mail Messages" section.

In the Search window, you may select each .dbx folder individually or select
multiple folders by pressing the CTRL key and clicking each folder.
After you have selected the folders, click Copy on the Edit menu.
Open the XPMail folder, and then click Paste on the Edit menu.

NOTE: Make sure to include the Folders.dbx file when you copy the folders.
This file is necessary for the import functions in Outlook Express.
This procedure copies all the files from the selected folder into the XPMail
folder. Perform this procedure for each identity folder, but make sure to
create a separate folder, such as XPMail1, for each identity folder found.

Import Your Mail and Folders
Open Outlook Express.
On the File menu, click Import.
Click Messages.
Click Microsoft Outlook Express 5, and then click Next.

NOTE: In some instances you may only see the options to import Outlook
Express 4 and Outlook Express 6. If your previous version of Outlook Express
was version 4, use the option for Outlook Express 4. If you are importing
from Outlook Express 5, or 5.5, you can use the Outlook Express 6 option!

Click Next then Import mail from an OE6 store directory, and then click OK.
Click Browse, select the XPMail folder that you created earlier, click OK,
and then click Next.
Click All folders, and then click Next.
This procedure imports your previous mail into the current Identity. After
it is finished, click Finish. Repeat this procedure for each of the folders
that you created earlier.

STEP 3 : Your Windows Address Book

Find Your Windows Address Book
Click Start, and then click Search.
Click All files and folders.
In the What do you want to search for box, click All files and folders.
In the All or part of the file name type, *.wab, and then click Search.
When the search is finished, double-click each file to open it. When you
have found the correct one (it will contain your Contact information), note
the exact location and name of the file.

Import Your Windows Address Book
In Outlook Express, click the File menu.
Click Import, and then click Address Book.
Point the Look In field to the location that you noted in step 5 of the
"Find Your Windows Address Book" section.
Click the .wab file, and then click Open.
Click OK to import the Address Book.

After you have verified that the import was successful, by opening Outlook
Express and checking to see if everything is there, remove all folders that
you created during the mail recovery process

I hope it helps ...

"Eric" wrote:

> All mail message folders in Outlook were empty after an XP upgrade. Can they
> be retrieved, and if so, how?
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

Eric wrote:
> All mail message folders in Outlook were empty after an XP upgrade.
> Can they be retrieved, and if so, how?

You'll get more knowledgeable help for Outlook in an Outlook newsgroup:

news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.outlook
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.outlook.Calendaring
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.outlook.configuration
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.outlook.Contacts
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.outlook.Fax
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.outlook.General
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.outlook.installation
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.outlook.interop
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.outlook.printing
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.outlook.Program_AddIns
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.outlook.program_forms
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.outlook.Program_VBA
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.outlook.ThirdPartyUtil




--
Kath Adams
MS MVP - Windows (IE/OE)
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

The OP said Outlook - NOT Outlook Express? Two different applications.

--
Kath Adams
MS MVP - Windows (IE/OE)


Ritesh Nigam - Microsoft Techie wrote:
> HI!!
>
> This behaviour occurs because the Windows XP file structure is
> different and the files for Outlook Express are no longer in the same
> location.
>
> However this article provides a step-by-step procedure to help you
> find your previous mail, folders, and Address Book, and import them
> back into Outlook Express!

<snip>
> "Eric" wrote:
>
>> All mail message folders in Outlook were empty after an XP upgrade.
>> Can they be retrieved, and if so, how?