WindowsMail on Vista.

""...winston‫"" wrote in message
...
Stormin' Norman wrote:
On Mon, 02 Mar 2015 12:44:17 -0700, "...winston?"
wrote:

philo wrote:
On 03/02/2015 01:48 AM, "...winston?" wrote:
philo wrote:
On 03/01/2015 07:59 PM, "...winston?" wrote:
philo wrote:
On 02/28/2015 08:38 PM, R.H. Breener wrote:
The Vista mail NG is dead, no reply on the other Vista group so
I'll
ask
here. I got a windows popup to compress email when I closed
WindowsMail
on Vista a few days ago, so clicked
OK. My saved inbox messages vanished. I found them but they can't
be
opened. Going to the net as per the popup when I tried to open
them, I
got a
MS doesn't recognize the file type. MS WM compressed them so how
can MS
not
know the file type? How do I open these? What good is
compressing
them as
this did, called a backup, when they can't be accessed? They're
backed
up as some unknown file type? WTF?

I have some important
business email I can't access. This is very important. A System
Restore
didn't help. How do I open that compressed folder called "backup"
and
retrieve those messages that were in the inbox?

TIA

http://tinypic.com/m/ir27wn/4




I'm sure there is a proper way to do it
but for any type of mail program I've ever used I found that the
data
base can be opened in a text reader and all the text portions of
the
email will be readable.


You can copy the file and rename it to end with .doc and open it in
Word.

No formatting will be intact but you can at least read the emails.


Emails are not stored in Windows Mail database..it is just an index
(think of it as a table of contents that tells the program where to
find
something and the status/flag of a respective item). Opening it any
other application will not yield messages, just a bunch of gibberish
and
gobbledygook.

Emails in Vista Windows Mail are stored as individual *.eml
files...if
not present when viewing in Windows Explorer on Vista or Win7 (or
File
Explorer on Win8) ....then two possibilities immediately come to
mind
- emails were deleted (user manually, user in Windows Mail, or
other
3rd party program)
- corrupt data or sector on hard drive.

Compacting the database is not coded to delete anything that has not
previously been set as deleted *and* emptied/purged.






Considering it's a 150 meg file, to me that looks like the whole
thing.

OTOH I guess that might be too large to open in a text reader...

Size of the index doesn't mean much without knowing the entire size of
the Windows Mail folder in the users profile namespace AppData local
folder.

g A text reader might balk a bit.





I suppose the OP could concatenate the file from the command line to
see
what's there.

A waste of time.

A representative sample of **what's there**
"‹é
Ÿˆœ

â€*Ã*
Æ’
€ 9•éùÀ?×ñ
ô " ¤  ¨ € & uB€"

Has anyone noticed the OP apparently doesn't give a hoot about this
topic? He
has been MIA since the initial post.


Newsreader not showing all messages?
- Op has posted 6 times in the thread.

No. They were compacted and now WM on Vista is a mess. To find the old
Inbox messages I have to go down the tree or whatever it's called and look
for Inbox under Recovered messages. There were several yesterday. I just
looked again now, and can't find them. What a disaster.


--
...winston
msft mvp consumer apps

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Gene E. Bloch wrote:
On Mon, 02 Mar 2015 12:44:17 -0700, "Winston ‫" wrote:

A waste of time.

A representative sample of **what's there**
"‹é*Ÿˆœ**â€*Ã**Æ’*€ 9•éùÀ?×ñ* ô " ¤  *¨ € &
uB€"

That's the first chapter of my novel. How'd it get in there?


For the sleeping Breener, there are two files of interest
(as found in a vistax64 posting).

C:\Users\(your username)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows
Mail\WindowsMail.MSMessageStore

C:\Users\(your username)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows
Mail\Backup\new\WindowsMail.MSMessageStore

So the tool may be keeping a backup file, you never know.
As to whether the backup one is any good, I suppose
it would depend on how much you've tortured the poor thing.

The next article mentions a "Reset" procedure. Maybe that
automates the movement of any backup file.

*******

And this one looks interesting. Hammer/Saw/Screwdrivers for
working on Windows Mail.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/62...-problems.html

And a tool for working on the database, after a fashion.
Presumably making calls to the same DLL files that Windows Mail
uses. Naturally, you would prefer Windows Mail to not
be running at the time. (I'd check the Task Manager, to
make sure some related cruft isn't still running, just to be
safe.)

http://www.oehelp.com/WMUtil/

WMUtil.exe --- presumably, the GUI portion
scxout.dll --- business end

What the Portable Executable scxout.dll imports
for its functions. It's using database functions
as defined in ESENT.dll.

PE imports
[+] ESENT.dll
JetTerm
JetEnumerateColumns
JetBeginSession
JetInit
JetMove
JetCloseDatabase
JetOpenTable
JetAttachDatabase
JetOpenDatabase
JetCreateInstance
JetCloseTable
JetInit2
JetSetSystemParameter
JetEndSession
JetDelete
JetDetachDatabase
[+] KERNEL32.dll

That's just to show you how that program can work - it
is using database calls in a Microsoft provided library,
to do stuff. The same routines Windows Mail would use
to Repair or Compact the MSMessageStore.

*******

It's possible WindowsMail.MSMessageStore is a database
(for metadata storage and not the messages) of this type.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extensible_Storage_Engine

Windows is supposed to use ESENT.dll to read the MSMessageStore.
Which would correspond to the most recent format.

http://www.forensicfocus.com/windows-search-forensics

These links don't provide "the answer", more some
background info if you needed some more search
terms, or if the WMUtil isn't helping, or any
restore from the backup isn't working, etc.

*******

There's *plenty* of information out there.
Just be careful, while following it. Keep copies.
Make sure you know where the important stuff is
stored. For example, if you really can't find
any .eml files on the computer, you're kinda ****ed.

Well then I'm kinda ****ed because WindowsMail is barely working on Vista
32-bit now. Every day WM adds another EMPTY folder under RecoveredMessages.


Make sure the search tool you're using, isn't
one of the "useless" ones. I get caught on this
stuff all the time, like analyzing program source
files (*.cc, *.h) and having software routine names
not show up in a content search. When they really
are there. Apparently, all it takes is Unix/Linux CRLF
type of line ending issues, to prevent Windows from
reading a text file properly (yikes!). Even though Wordpad
doesn't have a problem, and can open Windows flavor or
Linux flavored text or source.

I'm using Agent Ransack. It's the best I found so far.

Paul

"Stormin' Norman" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 3 Mar 2015 03:11:30 -0500, "R.H. Breener"
wrote:


Compressing emails should not remove emails.

The WMutil utility might help you repair your Windows Mail store.

There are no stuck messages but the compacted messages are a mess. I have
service pack 2 on here.

1. I am not sure if you tried the utility to repair your mail index?

2. Have you located your .eml files? There is an individual .eml file for
each
email.

Here are instructions for finding them:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/18923...ail_store.html

Let us know if you find the .eml files.

3. The utility is not only for stuck messages. It will allow you to
easily
clear zero byte .eml files and to easily repair the database file used by
WLM.
My experience has been this utility will re-index all your existing .eml
files.

I would delete the zero byte files before using the repair option.

4. MAKE A BACKUP COPY OF YOUR EXISTING .eml FILES AND YOUR
.MSmessagestore file
BEFORE USING THIS UTILITY. MAKE SURE WLM IS NOT RUNNING WHEN YOU EXECUTE
THIS
UTILITY.

And it's OK to use it on *WindowsMail*? I don't have WindowsLiveMail which
is a different email program. I found the missing emails in a second Inbox
in Local Folders under Recovered Messages. Under all the other folders in
WM. Every day another empty folder is added under recovered messages.

"Stormin' Norman" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 3 Mar 2015 03:11:30 -0500, "R.H. Breener"
wrote:


Compressing emails should not remove emails.

The WMutil utility might help you repair your Windows Mail store.

There are no stuck messages but the compacted messages are a mess. I have
service pack 2 on here.

1. I am not sure if you tried the utility to repair your mail index?

2. Have you located your .eml files? There is an individual .eml file for
each
email.

Here are instructions for finding them:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/18923...ail_store.html

Let us know if you find the .eml files.

3. The utility is not only for stuck messages. It will allow you to
easily
clear zero byte .eml files and to easily repair the database file used by
WLM.
My experience has been this utility will re-index all your existing .eml
files.

I would delete the zero byte files before using the repair option.

4. MAKE A BACKUP COPY OF YOUR EXISTING .eml FILES AND YOUR
.MSmessagestore file
BEFORE USING THIS UTILITY. MAKE SURE WLM IS NOT RUNNING WHEN YOU EXECUTE
THIS
UTILITY.

They're empty. There is nothing in the emails. Nothing. A total waste and
I'm falling further behind and losing not just sleep but income over this.

When I try and open them I get:

Message cannot be found
The contents of this message cannot be found.
Windows Mail

What good is compacting them if the contents are removed?

On Mon, 2 Mar 2015 22:44:41 -0500, "R.H. Breener"
wrote:

I found the suckers. They're in WindowsMail itself, down under Local
Folders. There are 3 Local Folders. They were under the first one. Now I
get to work half the night.

You might want to check around in your local community to see what kinds of
computer classes are available since you seem to have trouble on a regular
basis. Check the library, the YMCA, the senior centers, and of course the
community colleges. Be creative. Hire a friend or teenager, if necessary.

On Tue, 3 Mar 2015 10:38:10 -0500, "R.H. Breener"
wrote:

What good is compacting them if the contents are removed?

Compacting doesn't remove contents.

....winston explained what compacting does (and doesn't do).

On 03/02/2015 09:44 PM, R.H. Breener wrote:

""...winston‫"" wrote in message
...
philo wrote:
On 02/28/2015 08:38 PM, R.H. Breener wrote:
The Vista mail NG is dead, no reply on the other Vista group so I'll
ask
here. I got a windows popup to compress email when I closed WindowsMail
on Vista a few days ago, so clicked
OK. My saved inbox messages vanished. I found them but they can't be
opened. Going to the net as per the popup when I tried to open them, I
got a
MS doesn't recognize the file type. MS WM compressed them so how
can MS
not
know the file type? How do I open these? What good is compressing
them as
this did, called a backup, when they can't be accessed? They're backed
up as some unknown file type? WTF?

I have some important
business email I can't access. This is very important. A System
Restore
didn't help. How do I open that compressed folder called "backup" and
retrieve those messages that were in the inbox?

TIA

http://tinypic.com/m/ir27wn/4




I'm sure there is a proper way to do it
but for any type of mail program I've ever used I found that the data
base can be opened in a text reader and all the text portions of the
email will be readable.


You can copy the file and rename it to end with .doc and open it in
Word.

No formatting will be intact but you can at least read the emails.


Emails are not stored in Windows Mail database..it is just an index
(think of it as a table of contents that tells the program where to
find something and the status/flag of a respective item). Opening it
any other application will not yield messages, just a bunch of
gibberish and gobbledygook.

Emails in Vista Windows Mail are stored as individual *.eml files...if
not present when viewing in Windows Explorer on Vista or Win7 (or File
Explorer on Win8) ....then two possibilities immediately come to mind
- emails were deleted (user manually, user in Windows Mail, or other
3rd party program)
- corrupt data or sector on hard drive.

Compacting the database is not coded to delete anything that has not
previously been set as deleted *and* emptied/purged.

I found the suckers. They're in WindowsMail itself, down under Local
Folders. There are 3 Local Folders. They were under the first one. Now
I get to work half the night.




Glad you got it...

R.H. Breener wrote:

"Stormin' Norman" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 3 Mar 2015 03:11:30 -0500, "R.H. Breener"
wrote:


Compressing emails should not remove emails.

The WMutil utility might help you repair your Windows Mail store.

There are no stuck messages but the compacted messages are a mess. I
have
service pack 2 on here.

1. I am not sure if you tried the utility to repair your mail index?

2. Have you located your .eml files? There is an individual .eml file
for each
email.

Here are instructions for finding them:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/18923...ail_store.html

Let us know if you find the .eml files.

3. The utility is not only for stuck messages. It will allow you to
easily
clear zero byte .eml files and to easily repair the database file used
by WLM.
My experience has been this utility will re-index all your existing
.eml files.

I would delete the zero byte files before using the repair option.

4. MAKE A BACKUP COPY OF YOUR EXISTING .eml FILES AND YOUR
.MSmessagestore file
BEFORE USING THIS UTILITY. MAKE SURE WLM IS NOT RUNNING WHEN YOU
EXECUTE THIS
UTILITY.

And it's OK to use it on *WindowsMail*? I don't have WindowsLiveMail
which is a different email program. I found the missing emails in a
second Inbox in Local Folders under Recovered Messages. Under all the
other folders in WM. Every day another empty folder is added under
recovered messages.


I thought the idea was, the .MSmessagestore file has pointers to
the individual .eml files.

..MSmessagestore --- 1.eml
--- 2.eml
--- 3.eml

The .MSmessagestore is a database, which keeps the pointers
to the files, while at the same time, displaying the info
in your various boxes for you.

The forensics site I referenced, shows a dump of one entry
in the database. In this example, the first message in the
Inbox is the file "270729C9-00000001.eml". The database
exists, to keep track of the .eml files kept in a
separate folder.

http://www.forensicfocus.com/images/...s-260610-1.gif

Databases can work two ways. They can store *all* of the data
in the database file. This tends to cause problems
when the database grows to 2GB/4GB or larger. As far as
I know, the version of mail you use, uses .MSmessagestore
for control, plus there are a set of folders containing
all the .eml files, stored separately. The pointer in
the database entry, maps "#1 message in Inbox", to
"270729C9-00000001.eml".

When you "compact" .MSmessagestore, it should be
removing references to .eml that are no longer
relevant (i.e. you deleted them).

I can't "see" the contents of your machine from
here, so I have no idea what happened to it.

*******

Ways to move email:

1) Conversion. Use a tool that converts a large unified
database (an all-in-one file), into a new format.
It is up to the new email tool, to offer a converter
for the old format. This doesn't happen too often.
And if the old database is corrupted, such a
conversion may fail.

2) OLE method. Some tools have Object Linking and Embedding
support. You use the old computer. You install a new
email tool. The new email tool "pulls messages one at a time",
using an interchange format. It "talks" to the old email
tool, and says "Give me message #1 from the Inbox".
This works best if the old machine is fully functional.
Since the old email tool reads its own database,
less can go wrong.

3) Move the folders to the new machine and use the
same email tool.

Once the email is on the new machine, what can go wrong ?

1) Email account login details are not right.

2) Windows account information doesn't match, and
for some reason, this is important. Maybe the response,
prevents you from reading someone elses mail.

3) You changed protocols. Maybe something was using
POP3 (emails removed from server), and something
else was MAPI (emails left on the server). Attempting
to sync or compact, no emails on server, then the
database gets "emptied".

I don't know what you've done, and even offering my
noobie view about email above, I think you can see
there are lots of things that could go wrong. A moments
inattention, forgetting some tiny details, and *kaboom*.

Always have backups or System Restore points set,
while you're doing stuff where you don't know
what the outcome will be (i.e. disaster expected).

I certainly wouldn't work an email problem, without
my "safety net" present. In the case of a POP3
account, I'd try to move the emails to my local
store, before moving the account. I don't know
what the most sane way is of handing MAPI.

*******

To give you proof how hard moving emails is,
our IT department at work did a stellar job.

A certain email tool was being discontinued.
They worked for *a solid year*, writing a
transfer tool. The idea was, users were allowed
to move the mail, to any one of four different
(new) email programs. You did the transfer when
you wanted to (so you could work around your
own work schedule, and not come into work in
the morning to find busted email). I didn't get
*any* reports of lost email from colleagues.

This left me... impressed.

Lots of other email transfer projects take
less than a year, but with a lot of collateral
damage. Like the kind you're experiencing right
now. And our IT department had *everything* backed
up. Even all the boot drives are backed up, even
though centralized accounts are being used.
No email could get lost anyway. But I was impressed
that the whole process was tested so well, that
there were no teary-eyed employees. You know, the
people who keep 5000 emails from the year 1922.

Paul

On Tue, 03 Mar 2015 15:50:45 +0000, Stormin' Norman wrote:

On Tue, 03 Mar 2015 09:44:29 -0600, Char Jackson wrote:

On Mon, 2 Mar 2015 22:44:41 -0500, "R.H. Breener"
wrote:

I found the suckers. They're in WindowsMail itself, down under Local
Folders. There are 3 Local Folders. They were under the first one. Now I
get to work half the night.

You might want to check around in your local community to see what kinds of
computer classes are available since you seem to have trouble on a regular
basis. Check the library, the YMCA, the senior centers, and of course the
community colleges. Be creative. Hire a friend or teenager, if necessary.

Hummm, my wife would see right through that kind of diplomacy..... :-)

Speaking of coffee, I'm glad I wasn't drinking mine when you said that
:-)

Not drinking coffee when laughing is better for the keyboard, I always
say.

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)

On Mon, 2 Mar 2015 21:16:32 -0500, R.H. Breener wrote:

They're under WindowsMail/backup/new There is no file extension. It's just
called: WindowsMail.MSMEssageStore.

".MSMEssageStore" is the file extension. Note the dot...

If you were hiding extensions, the real extension would be hidden after
that. Except that isn't true here - the above is a legitimate extension.

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)

Char Jackson wrote:
On Tue, 03 Mar 2015 15:50:45 +0000, Stormin' Norman
wrote:

On Tue, 03 Mar 2015 09:44:29 -0600, Char Jackson wrote:

On Mon, 2 Mar 2015 22:44:41 -0500, "R.H. Breener"
wrote:

I found the suckers. They're in WindowsMail itself, down under Local
Folders. There are 3 Local Folders. They were under the first one. Now I
get to work half the night.

You might want to check around in your local community to see what kinds of
computer classes are available since you seem to have trouble on a regular
basis. Check the library, the YMCA, the senior centers, and of course the
community colleges. Be creative. Hire a friend or teenager, if necessary.

Hummm, my wife would see right through that kind of diplomacy..... :-)

Guilty as charged, but hopefully also helpful. ;-)

This guy needs help of the basic variety before he should be tackling
grafting an old email program onto a new OS. You can tell where a person is
at by the questions they ask, and this guy is at 'Start'. That's not
necessarily a bad thing. Everyone starts somewhere.

Just saying....this entire episode on multiple topics with repeated
responses could be just a drive-by charade. From my vantage point, the
members of this group have been quite altruistic....thus at this stage,
any more responses might just keep feeding enough info to generate other
locally created scenarios that may or may not even exist in reality.

--
....winston
msft mvp consumer apps

"Char Jackson" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 3 Mar 2015 10:38:10 -0500, "R.H. Breener"
wrote:

What good is compacting them if the contents are removed?

Compacting doesn't remove contents.

...winston explained what compacting does (and doesn't do).


That worked. It found them all and the contents are there. ;-) I'm saving
those instructions in case this happens again.

"Stormin' Norman" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 3 Mar 2015 10:28:16 -0500, "R.H. Breener"
wrote:


"Stormin' Norman" wrote in message
. ..
On Tue, 3 Mar 2015 03:11:30 -0500, "R.H. Breener"
wrote:


Compressing emails should not remove emails.

The WMutil utility might help you repair your Windows Mail store.

There are no stuck messages but the compacted messages are a mess. I
have
service pack 2 on here.

1. I am not sure if you tried the utility to repair your mail index?

2. Have you located your .eml files? There is an individual .eml file
for
each
email.

Here are instructions for finding them:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/18923...ail_store.html

Let us know if you find the .eml files.

3. The utility is not only for stuck messages. It will allow you to
easily
clear zero byte .eml files and to easily repair the database file used
by
WLM.
My experience has been this utility will re-index all your existing .eml
files.

I would delete the zero byte files before using the repair option.

4. MAKE A BACKUP COPY OF YOUR EXISTING .eml FILES AND YOUR
.MSmessagestore file
BEFORE USING THIS UTILITY. MAKE SURE WLM IS NOT RUNNING WHEN YOU
EXECUTE
THIS
UTILITY.

And it's OK to use it on *WindowsMail*? I don't have WindowsLiveMail which
is a different email program. I found the missing emails in a second Inbox
in Local Folders under Recovered Messages. Under all the other folders in
WM. Every day another empty folder is added under recovered messages.

The utility is specifically for Windows Mail, not live mail. If you make
a
backup copy of your email related files, you cannot do any harm.

The default storage location for WM email files is a hidden folder,
located at:

C:\users\(user-name)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Mail\Local Folders

I am not trying to twist your arm, do what you are comfortable with.
Sounds
like you have a bit of a cluster-**** on your hands.

I would probably also run CHKDSK /f on my drive before doing anything
else.

Out of curiosity, what precipitated this problem? Was there a pivotal
event? Do
you have a backup of the machine? How old is it?

I did this and it worked. I found the emails with contents intact. I found
those I needed. I also checked show hidden files and folders. Makes things
easier to find. I have personal files backed up but the backup DVD is long
gone. It was probably throw out accidently with old PC mags or software
bought and no longer useful. It has a D: drive where the OS is saved but I
would have to find out how to do a Recovery that way. PCs of the past always
asked for the installation disk.

Every few weeks I run chkdsk C: /f/r.

The problem started with the popup to compress the email, I can't remember
the wording but that started it all. It worked 100% fine until then. This LT
was bought in the summer of 2008. Never a problem with it. It's a Gateway
w/Vista sp2/32-bit.

"Paul" wrote in message
...
R.H. Breener wrote:

"Stormin' Norman" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 3 Mar 2015 03:11:30 -0500, "R.H. Breener"
wrote:


Compressing emails should not remove emails.

The WMutil utility might help you repair your Windows Mail store.

There are no stuck messages but the compacted messages are a mess. I
have
service pack 2 on here.

1. I am not sure if you tried the utility to repair your mail index?

2. Have you located your .eml files? There is an individual .eml file
for each
email.

Here are instructions for finding them:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/18923...ail_store.html

Let us know if you find the .eml files.

3. The utility is not only for stuck messages. It will allow you to
easily
clear zero byte .eml files and to easily repair the database file used
by WLM.
My experience has been this utility will re-index all your existing .eml
files.

I would delete the zero byte files before using the repair option.

4. MAKE A BACKUP COPY OF YOUR EXISTING .eml FILES AND YOUR
.MSmessagestore file
BEFORE USING THIS UTILITY. MAKE SURE WLM IS NOT RUNNING WHEN YOU
EXECUTE THIS
UTILITY.

And it's OK to use it on *WindowsMail*? I don't have WindowsLiveMail
which is a different email program. I found the missing emails in a
second Inbox in Local Folders under Recovered Messages. Under all the
other folders in WM. Every day another empty folder is added under
recovered messages.


I thought the idea was, the .MSmessagestore file has pointers to
the individual .eml files.

.MSmessagestore --- 1.eml
--- 2.eml
--- 3.eml

The .MSmessagestore is a database, which keeps the pointers
to the files, while at the same time, displaying the info
in your various boxes for you.

The forensics site I referenced, shows a dump of one entry
in the database. In this example, the first message in the
Inbox is the file "270729C9-00000001.eml". The database
exists, to keep track of the .eml files kept in a
separate folder.

http://www.forensicfocus.com/images/...s-260610-1.gif

Databases can work two ways. They can store *all* of the data
in the database file. This tends to cause problems
when the database grows to 2GB/4GB or larger. As far as
I know, the version of mail you use, uses .MSmessagestore
for control, plus there are a set of folders containing
all the .eml files, stored separately. The pointer in
the database entry, maps "#1 message in Inbox", to
"270729C9-00000001.eml".

When you "compact" .MSmessagestore, it should be
removing references to .eml that are no longer
relevant (i.e. you deleted them).

I can't "see" the contents of your machine from
here, so I have no idea what happened to it.

*******

Ways to move email:

1) Conversion. Use a tool that converts a large unified
database (an all-in-one file), into a new format.
It is up to the new email tool, to offer a converter
for the old format. This doesn't happen too often.
And if the old database is corrupted, such a
conversion may fail.

2) OLE method. Some tools have Object Linking and Embedding
support. You use the old computer. You install a new
email tool. The new email tool "pulls messages one at a time",
using an interchange format. It "talks" to the old email
tool, and says "Give me message #1 from the Inbox".
This works best if the old machine is fully functional.
Since the old email tool reads its own database,
less can go wrong.

3) Move the folders to the new machine and use the
same email tool.

Once the email is on the new machine, what can go wrong ?

1) Email account login details are not right.

2) Windows account information doesn't match, and
for some reason, this is important. Maybe the response,
prevents you from reading someone elses mail.

3) You changed protocols. Maybe something was using
POP3 (emails removed from server), and something
else was MAPI (emails left on the server). Attempting
to sync or compact, no emails on server, then the
database gets "emptied".

I don't know what you've done, and even offering my
noobie view about email above, I think you can see
there are lots of things that could go wrong. A moments
inattention, forgetting some tiny details, and *kaboom*.

Always have backups or System Restore points set,
while you're doing stuff where you don't know
what the outcome will be (i.e. disaster expected).

I certainly wouldn't work an email problem, without
my "safety net" present. In the case of a POP3
account, I'd try to move the emails to my local
store, before moving the account. I don't know
what the most sane way is of handing MAPI.

*******

To give you proof how hard moving emails is,
our IT department at work did a stellar job.

A certain email tool was being discontinued.
They worked for *a solid year*, writing a
transfer tool. The idea was, users were allowed
to move the mail, to any one of four different
(new) email programs. You did the transfer when
you wanted to (so you could work around your
own work schedule, and not come into work in
the morning to find busted email). I didn't get
*any* reports of lost email from colleagues.

This left me... impressed.

Lots of other email transfer projects take
less than a year, but with a lot of collateral
damage. Like the kind you're experiencing right
now. And our IT department had *everything* backed
up. Even all the boot drives are backed up, even
though centralized accounts are being used.
No email could get lost anyway. But I was impressed
that the whole process was tested so well, that
there were no teary-eyed employees. You know, the
people who keep 5000 emails from the year 1922.

Paul

Wow. Interesting. I would like to have that tool. The method that was
suggested to me found email from 2008! It's a monster load of email - all
intact. Now I need to see if I can move them to a backup Flash drive and go
through them as time allows, discarding those of no interest now. Old
business emails, people I no longer have contact with etc.

"Char Jackson" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 2 Mar 2015 22:44:41 -0500, "R.H. Breener"
wrote:

I found the suckers. They're in WindowsMail itself, down under Local
Folders. There are 3 Local Folders. They were under the first one. Now I
get to work half the night.

You might want to check around in your local community to see what kinds
of
computer classes are available since you seem to have trouble on a regular
basis. Check the library, the YMCA, the senior centers, and of course the
community colleges. Be creative. Hire a friend or teenager, if necessary.


Did that some time back and all they teach is the basics. How to use email.
Searching the web. Virus protection. Burning disks. Some info on Forums
and chats. They cover the real basics. Nothing beyond what most newbie
already know who manages to get online. They're geared for someone who just
bought a PC and is afraid to unbox it. Those with no experience at all,or
very little. Learning about MS software is not a big part of the what's
taught.