OE Help Needed

I am trying to help a new friend recover Many lost messages in OE, following
a Compaction process that somehow failed. It seems to have destroyed all of
her saved Inbox messages. We have found the OE .dbx & .bak files by
following directions on this site:
http://email.about.com/od/outlookexp...compact_oe.htm
However, we've not been able to get either of those files to open & allow us
to recover her messages. She has many, many messages stored in there, & I
worry that the Inbox was/is corrupt.

Is there a way to verify whether or not the .dbx &/or .bak files are good?
How would one complete the recovery process? I am communicating with this
lady via telephone, & she seems able to follow my instructions........but
Does seem a bit intimidated by the PC, which is a 2 yr old built-to-order
system running WinXP.

TIA,
Carol2

Have you tried the experts in the OE newsgroups?

"Carol2" wrote in message
...
:I am trying to help a new friend recover Many lost messages in OE,
following
: a Compaction process that somehow failed. It seems to have destroyed all
of
: her saved Inbox messages. We have found the OE .dbx & .bak files by
: following directions on this site:
: http://email.about.com/od/outlookexp...compact_oe.htm
: However, we've not been able to get either of those files to open & allow
us
: to recover her messages. She has many, many messages stored in there, & I
: worry that the Inbox was/is corrupt.
:
: Is there a way to verify whether or not the .dbx &/or .bak files are good?
: How would one complete the recovery process? I am communicating with this
: lady via telephone, & she seems able to follow my instructions........but
: Does seem a bit intimidated by the PC, which is a 2 yr old built-to-order
: system running WinXP.
:
: TIA,
: Carol2
:
:

Have you tried the experts in the OE newsgroups?

"Carol2" wrote in message
...
:I am trying to help a new friend recover Many lost messages in OE,
following
: a Compaction process that somehow failed. It seems to have destroyed all
of
: her saved Inbox messages. We have found the OE .dbx & .bak files by
: following directions on this site:
: http://email.about.com/od/outlookexp...compact_oe.htm
: However, we've not been able to get either of those files to open & allow
us
: to recover her messages. She has many, many messages stored in there, & I
: worry that the Inbox was/is corrupt.
:
: Is there a way to verify whether or not the .dbx &/or .bak files are good?
: How would one complete the recovery process? I am communicating with this
: lady via telephone, & she seems able to follow my instructions........but
: Does seem a bit intimidated by the PC, which is a 2 yr old built-to-order
: system running WinXP.
:
: TIA,
: Carol2
:
:

Carol

Cross posting to Outlook Express newsgroup

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Carol2 wrote:
I am trying to help a new friend recover Many lost messages in OE,
following a Compaction process that somehow failed. It seems to have
destroyed all of her saved Inbox messages. We have found the OE .dbx
& .bak files by following directions on this site:
http://email.about.com/od/outlookexp...compact_oe.htm
However, we've not been able to get either of those files to open &
allow us to recover her messages. She has many, many messages stored
in there, & I worry that the Inbox was/is corrupt.

Is there a way to verify whether or not the .dbx &/or .bak files are
good? How would one complete the recovery process? I am
communicating with this lady via telephone, & she seems able to
follow my instructions........but Does seem a bit intimidated by the
PC, which is a 2 yr old built-to-order system running WinXP.

TIA,
Carol2

Carol

Cross posting to Outlook Express newsgroup

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Carol2 wrote:
I am trying to help a new friend recover Many lost messages in OE,
following a Compaction process that somehow failed. It seems to have
destroyed all of her saved Inbox messages. We have found the OE .dbx
& .bak files by following directions on this site:
http://email.about.com/od/outlookexp...compact_oe.htm
However, we've not been able to get either of those files to open &
allow us to recover her messages. She has many, many messages stored
in there, & I worry that the Inbox was/is corrupt.

Is there a way to verify whether or not the .dbx &/or .bak files are
good? How would one complete the recovery process? I am
communicating with this lady via telephone, & she seems able to
follow my instructions........but Does seem a bit intimidated by the
PC, which is a 2 yr old built-to-order system running WinXP.

TIA,
Carol2

First, check the obvious. Go to the Inbox and click View | Current View |
Show All Messages.

If that was checked, then read on.

The two most common reasons for what you describe is disruption of the
compacting process, (never touch anything until it's finished), or bloated
folders. More on that below.

Why does OE insist on compacting folders when I close it?:
http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/why.htm#compact

Why Mail Disappears:
http://www.insideoe.com/problems/bugs.htm#mailgone

About File Corruption:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/...orruption.mspx

Recovery tools:

If you are running XP/SP2, or SP3, and are fully patched, then you should
have a backup of your dbx files in the Recycle Bin, (or possibly the message
store), copied as bak files.

To restore a bak folder to the message store folder, first find the location
of the Message Store.

Tools | Options | Maintenance | Store Folder will reveal the location of
your Outlook Express files. Write the location down and navigate to it in
Windows Explorer or, copy and paste it into Start | Run.

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.

Close OE and then 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.

First, check if there is a bak file already in the message store. If there
is, and you removed the dbx file, go ahead and rename it to dbx.

If it isn't already in the message store, 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.

If you do not have bak copies of your dbx files in the Recycle Bin, then:

DBXpress run in Extract From Disk Mode is the best chance to recover
messages:
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

And see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#4

A general warning to help avoid this in the futu

Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually become
corrupted. Create your own user defined folders for storing mail and move
your mail to them. Empty Deleted Items folder regularly. Keep user created
folders under 100MB, and Default folders as empty as is feasible.

Turn off e-mail scanning in your anti-virus program. It is a redundant layer
of protection that eats up CPUs, slows down sending and receiving, and
causes a multitude of problems such as time-outs, account setting changes
and has even been responsible for lose of messages. Your up-to-date A/V
program will continue to protect you sufficiently. For more, see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3

And backup often.

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB Freeware)
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--

Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA



Carol2 wrote:
I am trying to help a new friend recover Many lost messages in OE,
following a Compaction process that somehow failed. It seems to have
destroyed all of her saved Inbox messages. We have found the OE .dbx
& .bak files by following directions on this site:
http://email.about.com/od/outlookexp...compact_oe.htm
However, we've not been able to get either of those files to open &
allow us to recover her messages. She has many, many messages stored
in there, & I worry that the Inbox was/is corrupt.

Is there a way to verify whether or not the .dbx &/or .bak files are
good? How would one complete the recovery process? I am
communicating with this lady via telephone, & she seems able to
follow my instructions........but Does seem a bit intimidated by the
PC, which is a 2 yr old built-to-order system running WinXP.

TIA,
Carol2

First, check the obvious. Go to the Inbox and click View | Current View |
Show All Messages.

If that was checked, then read on.

The two most common reasons for what you describe is disruption of the
compacting process, (never touch anything until it's finished), or bloated
folders. More on that below.

Why does OE insist on compacting folders when I close it?:
http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/why.htm#compact

Why Mail Disappears:
http://www.insideoe.com/problems/bugs.htm#mailgone

About File Corruption:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/...orruption.mspx

Recovery tools:

If you are running XP/SP2, or SP3, and are fully patched, then you should
have a backup of your dbx files in the Recycle Bin, (or possibly the message
store), copied as bak files.

To restore a bak folder to the message store folder, first find the location
of the Message Store.

Tools | Options | Maintenance | Store Folder will reveal the location of
your Outlook Express files. Write the location down and navigate to it in
Windows Explorer or, copy and paste it into Start | Run.

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.

Close OE and then 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.

First, check if there is a bak file already in the message store. If there
is, and you removed the dbx file, go ahead and rename it to dbx.

If it isn't already in the message store, 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.

If you do not have bak copies of your dbx files in the Recycle Bin, then:

DBXpress run in Extract From Disk Mode is the best chance to recover
messages:
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

And see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#4

A general warning to help avoid this in the futu

Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually become
corrupted. Create your own user defined folders for storing mail and move
your mail to them. Empty Deleted Items folder regularly. Keep user created
folders under 100MB, and Default folders as empty as is feasible.

Turn off e-mail scanning in your anti-virus program. It is a redundant layer
of protection that eats up CPUs, slows down sending and receiving, and
causes a multitude of problems such as time-outs, account setting changes
and has even been responsible for lose of messages. Your up-to-date A/V
program will continue to protect you sufficiently. For more, see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3

And backup often.

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB Freeware)
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--

Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA



Carol2 wrote:
I am trying to help a new friend recover Many lost messages in OE,
following a Compaction process that somehow failed. It seems to have
destroyed all of her saved Inbox messages. We have found the OE .dbx
& .bak files by following directions on this site:
http://email.about.com/od/outlookexp...compact_oe.htm
However, we've not been able to get either of those files to open &
allow us to recover her messages. She has many, many messages stored
in there, & I worry that the Inbox was/is corrupt.

Is there a way to verify whether or not the .dbx &/or .bak files are
good? How would one complete the recovery process? I am
communicating with this lady via telephone, & she seems able to
follow my instructions........but Does seem a bit intimidated by the
PC, which is a 2 yr old built-to-order system running WinXP.

TIA,
Carol2

[ick]

Gerry wrote:
Carol

Cross posting to Outlook Express newsgroup


Carol2 wrote:
I am trying to help a new friend recover Many lost messages in OE,
following a Compaction process that somehow failed. It seems to have
destroyed all of her saved Inbox messages. We have found the OE .dbx
& .bak files by following directions on this site:
http://email.about.com/od/outlookexp...compact_oe.htm
However, we've not been able to get either of those files to open &
allow us to recover her messages. She has many, many messages stored
in there, & I worry that the Inbox was/is corrupt.

Is there a way to verify whether or not the .dbx &/or .bak files are
good? How would one complete the recovery process? I am
communicating with this lady via telephone, & she seems able to
follow my instructions........but Does seem a bit intimidated by the
PC, which is a 2 yr old built-to-order system running WinXP.

TIA,
Carol2

[ick]

Gerry wrote:
Carol

Cross posting to Outlook Express newsgroup


Carol2 wrote:
I am trying to help a new friend recover Many lost messages in OE,
following a Compaction process that somehow failed. It seems to have
destroyed all of her saved Inbox messages. We have found the OE .dbx
& .bak files by following directions on this site:
http://email.about.com/od/outlookexp...compact_oe.htm
However, we've not been able to get either of those files to open &
allow us to recover her messages. She has many, many messages stored
in there, & I worry that the Inbox was/is corrupt.

Is there a way to verify whether or not the .dbx &/or .bak files are
good? How would one complete the recovery process? I am
communicating with this lady via telephone, & she seems able to
follow my instructions........but Does seem a bit intimidated by the
PC, which is a 2 yr old built-to-order system running WinXP.

TIA,
Carol2

I can't help you with recovering your lost email
but if someone else does get back you lost OE
messages what I can suggest is a simple utility
which I use to backup my OE folders/messages
prior to compacting them. This way if the compact
process should fail you will have a complete set of
good .dbx files to recover from.

A simple utility named SyncToy to backup your messages:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

Just create a new folder on your hard drive and configure
SyncToy to backup (Left to Right with Right being the new
folder you created). Choose SyncToy's "Contribute" option
to perform the backup.

Just remember to run a SyncToy backup prior to compacting!
--
JS
http:/www.pagestart.com


"Carol2" wrote in message
...
I am trying to help a new friend recover Many lost messages in OE,
following a Compaction process that somehow failed. It seems to have
destroyed all of her saved Inbox messages. We have found the OE .dbx &
.bak files by following directions on this site:
http://email.about.com/od/outlookexp...compact_oe.htm
However, we've not been able to get either of those files to open & allow
us to recover her messages. She has many, many messages stored in there, &
I worry that the Inbox was/is corrupt.

Is there a way to verify whether or not the .dbx &/or .bak files are good?
How would one complete the recovery process? I am communicating with this
lady via telephone, & she seems able to follow my instructions........but
Does seem a bit intimidated by the PC, which is a 2 yr old built-to-order
system running WinXP.

TIA,
Carol2

I can't help you with recovering your lost email
but if someone else does get back you lost OE
messages what I can suggest is a simple utility
which I use to backup my OE folders/messages
prior to compacting them. This way if the compact
process should fail you will have a complete set of
good .dbx files to recover from.

A simple utility named SyncToy to backup your messages:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

Just create a new folder on your hard drive and configure
SyncToy to backup (Left to Right with Right being the new
folder you created). Choose SyncToy's "Contribute" option
to perform the backup.

Just remember to run a SyncToy backup prior to compacting!
--
JS
http:/www.pagestart.com


"Carol2" wrote in message
...
I am trying to help a new friend recover Many lost messages in OE,
following a Compaction process that somehow failed. It seems to have
destroyed all of her saved Inbox messages. We have found the OE .dbx &
.bak files by following directions on this site:
http://email.about.com/od/outlookexp...compact_oe.htm
However, we've not been able to get either of those files to open & allow
us to recover her messages. She has many, many messages stored in there, &
I worry that the Inbox was/is corrupt.

Is there a way to verify whether or not the .dbx &/or .bak files are good?
How would one complete the recovery process? I am communicating with this
lady via telephone, & she seems able to follow my instructions........but
Does seem a bit intimidated by the PC, which is a 2 yr old built-to-order
system running WinXP.

TIA,
Carol2

"Carol2" wrote in message
...

I am trying to help a new friend recover Many lost messages in OE,
following
a Compaction process that somehow failed. It seems to have destroyed all
of
her saved Inbox messages. We have found the OE .dbx & .bak files by
following directions on this site:
http://email.about.com/od/outlookexp...compact_oe.htm
However, we've not been able to get either of those files to open & allow
us
to recover her messages. She has many, many messages stored in there, & I
worry that the Inbox was/is corrupt.

Simplest solution:
1. First search for all DBX files and print the list (with filepaths)
2. Confirm OE appears to run OK.
3. Create a new folder OOUTBOX and use OE's
/ File / Import / Messages
to import into it all messages in OUTBOX.DBX
4. If this proceeds OK, do the same for all other
email folders under new names IINBOX, SSENT ITEMS,
DDRAFT etc.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

"Carol2" wrote in message
...

I am trying to help a new friend recover Many lost messages in OE,
following
a Compaction process that somehow failed. It seems to have destroyed all
of
her saved Inbox messages. We have found the OE .dbx & .bak files by
following directions on this site:
http://email.about.com/od/outlookexp...compact_oe.htm
However, we've not been able to get either of those files to open & allow
us
to recover her messages. She has many, many messages stored in there, & I
worry that the Inbox was/is corrupt.

Simplest solution:
1. First search for all DBX files and print the list (with filepaths)
2. Confirm OE appears to run OK.
3. Create a new folder OOUTBOX and use OE's
/ File / Import / Messages
to import into it all messages in OUTBOX.DBX
4. If this proceeds OK, do the same for all other
email folders under new names IINBOX, SSENT ITEMS,
DDRAFT etc.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

Thanks, Gerry. 8^)

Carol2

"Gerry" wrote in message
...
Carol

Cross posting to Outlook Express newsgroup

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Carol2 wrote:
I am trying to help a new friend recover Many lost messages in OE,
following a Compaction process that somehow failed. It seems to have
destroyed all of her saved Inbox messages. We have found the OE .dbx
& .bak files by following directions on this site:
http://email.about.com/od/outlookexp...compact_oe.htm
However, we've not been able to get either of those files to open &
allow us to recover her messages. She has many, many messages stored
in there, & I worry that the Inbox was/is corrupt.

Is there a way to verify whether or not the .dbx &/or .bak files are
good? How would one complete the recovery process? I am
communicating with this lady via telephone, & she seems able to
follow my instructions........but Does seem a bit intimidated by the
PC, which is a 2 yr old built-to-order system running WinXP.

TIA,
Carol2

Thanks, Gerry. 8^)

Carol2

"Gerry" wrote in message
...
Carol

Cross posting to Outlook Express newsgroup

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Carol2 wrote:
I am trying to help a new friend recover Many lost messages in OE,
following a Compaction process that somehow failed. It seems to have
destroyed all of her saved Inbox messages. We have found the OE .dbx
& .bak files by following directions on this site:
http://email.about.com/od/outlookexp...compact_oe.htm
However, we've not been able to get either of those files to open &
allow us to recover her messages. She has many, many messages stored
in there, & I worry that the Inbox was/is corrupt.

Is there a way to verify whether or not the .dbx &/or .bak files are
good? How would one complete the recovery process? I am
communicating with this lady via telephone, & she seems able to
follow my instructions........but Does seem a bit intimidated by the
PC, which is a 2 yr old built-to-order system running WinXP.

TIA,
Carol2