Can't import MSG files into Vista Windows Mail

[scs0]

My old PC had Outlook (or Outlook Express) and I saved off the emails
by selecting them all and dragging them to a folder on my network.
Doing this creates an msg file for each email. Now, like I've done
many times in the past, I would like to import them into the email
program of a new laptop. So I dragged the msg files into Vista
Windows Mail and instead of importing the messages it creates a brand
new email with these msg files as attachments!


The only reason I save email in this manner is because Microsoft
really dropped the ball when it came to transferring email from one PC
to another. I forget which it was but either Outlook or Outlook
Express was so bad it was a disaster. This method always worked so
this is what I've decided to do. Now it looks like Microsoft's found
a way to f*** this up too.

Thanks for any help.

 

[DL]

Well that was never the reccommended method to move your OE msg store to
Mail on Vista, nor was it the way to move mail from OE on one PC to OE on a
new PC
Since Outlook Express and Outlook are two completely different programs its
kinda important to know which one you were using, and thus the correct
method of moving msgs from one PC to another
Basically your fudge was just that.

 

[Hal Hostetler [MVP P/I]]

..MSG files usually come from Microsoft Outlook; that being the case, it has
never been possible to take a .MSG file from Outlook and drop it into an
Outlook Express (or any other email client's) folder and have it show up as
a message just like its never been possible to take an Outlook Express .EML
file, drop it into a Eudora folder and have it show up as a message. By
contrast, you can drop a .MSG file into an Outlook folder and it works and
you can drop an .EML file into an Outlook Express folder and succeed. So,
we have to go apples to apples and cannot go apples to oranges. Going from
Microsoft Outlook on one PC (apples) to Windows Mail on a different one
(oranges) is doing two different processes:

1. Transferring data from one PC to another.
2. Converting that date from one email application to a format the other
application can use.

In the case of Microsoft Outlook on the old (Windows 98, 2000, or XP) PC
going to a Vista PC and Windows Mail, you have two choices:

1. Install Outlook on your new Vista PC. With Outlook closed on the old PC,
make a COPY of your Personal Folders (.PST) file. Take this copy to your
Vista machine and place it in a folder. DO NOT OVERWRITE the .PST file
created with the Outlook install. Make sure the copy is NOT set Read Only.
Open Outlook, go to 'File|Open|Outlook Data File' and navigate to the .PST
copy. Open the file. You'll now have access to all your old email,
contacts, calendars, tasks, etc.; you can either continue to use Outlook, or
import mail and addresses from it with Windows Mail's Import feature.

2. Export everything in Outlook on your old PC to Outlook Express on your
old PC. Make copies of all your Outlook Express .DBX files (including
Folders.dbx) and your .WAB file and place them in a folder on your Vista PC.
Use these instructions to import your email from OE to WM:

http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx#oe2wm

To import contacts from the .WAB file, double click it and follow the import
wizard prompts.

Hal
--
Hal Hostetler, CPBE -- (e-mail address removed)
Senior Engineer/MIS -- MS MVP-Print/Imaging -- WA7BGX
http://www.kvoa.com -- "When News breaks, we fix it!"
KVOA Television, Tucson, AZ. NBC Channel 4
Live at Hot Licks - www.badnewsbluesband.com

 

[scs0]

If Microsoft had a recommended way of doing this I wouldn't have had
to resort to a fudge method (which is a label I disagree with but
anyway) Back around 2000 or so I had several times where I had to
move email from one system to another and it's a joke. I remember one
export feature was actually implemented so that it didn't even request
a location and filename for the export file! Allowing the user to
specify the name and location is the primary behavior any import/
export feature should have and Microsoft fouled it up! With that
level of engineering, is it any surprise that I resorted to saving
emails as individual MSG files instead of playing games with
Microsoft's fouled up import/export functionality?

And, yes, Outlook Express and Outlook are different programs and
that's a huge part of the problem. It is totally irresponsible for
Microsoft to have two largely-incompatible programs with practically
the same name that perform the same function. On the one hand they
adopt the drag-n-drop intra-application compatibility of their Office
Suite and then do the exact opposite with their email programs that
SHARE THE SAME NAME!

Now they have another email program, Windows Mail, that maintains this
poor level if compatibility with their other software. Not only is it
idiotic to break the compatibility paradigm they honor so well with
Office when it comes to simple email tools, but it's flat-out stupid
to waste all those resources in having three teams developing 3
completely different apps to handle email.


This is just another example of Microsoft dropping the ball (and
having people come out and apologize for their ineptitude)

 

[scs0]

I won't be able to do this because the old PC is already gone and I
don't have access to whatever version of Outlook was running on the
system. It sounds like I should probably look into getting a 3rd
party email client since Microsoft clearly have no interest in making
an email application that *PROPERLY* supports the concept of moving
email from one system to another. Just like how people have finally
abandoned their piss-poor browser for Firefox, I think I'm going to
need to give Mozilla's email tool a look.

 

[Sinner]

I won't be able to do this because the old PC is already gone and I
don't have access to whatever version of Outlook was running on the
system. It sounds like I should probably look into getting a 3rd
party email client since Microsoft clearly have no interest in making
an email application that *PROPERLY* supports the concept of moving
email from one system to another. Just like how people have finally
abandoned their piss-poor browser for Firefox, I think I'm going to
need to give Mozilla's email tool a look.

Ya, it'll probably be much easy to import Mozilla's mail into Outlook.

You always have the Mac and/or Linux options.

I'm fairly certain no duress was applied when you purchased your systems and
software.

 

[DL]

The correct way to move OL data from PC to PC is given in the OL groups on a
daily basis, or can be found by a simple google search
The only function of OE & OL that is the same is the ability to send /
receive mail, OL does far more.
Just as a Works db is a completly different app to an Access db

 

[DL]

Moving mail is properly supported, if you do it correctly, which you didnt,
niether do you seem to have any interest in in learning the correct method

 

[Hal Hostetler [MVP P/I]]

Simple enough, download the Office 20007 Trial version (Outlook 2007 will
read your old .PST and .MSG files just fine), use it long enough to do the
transfer into Windows Mail, then dump it. Moving data from machine to
machine is, and always has been, easy to do, provided you're using the same
email client on both machines. Outlook on XP to Outlook on Vista is a piece
of cake and so is Outlook Express on XP to Windows Mail on Vista. It gets
dicey when you're not only moving data, but also converting it for use by a
different application. You'd face exactly he same dilemma if you were going
from Eudora on one machine to Thunderbird on another, the CONVERSION is
always the rub, the transfer is the easy part.

Hal
--
Hal Hostetler, CPBE -- (e-mail address removed)
Senior Engineer/MIS -- MS MVP-Print/Imaging -- WA7BGX
http://www.kvoa.com -- "When News breaks, we fix it!"
KVOA Television, Tucson, AZ. NBC Channel 4
Live at Hot Licks - www.badnewsbluesband.com