Lost Windows Mail to Outlook Express

[retiredbiker]

I bought a new HP desktop running Vista, and used a cable to transfer files,
contacts, etc. from my old XP machine.

Vista's Windows Mail worked fine for a couple of weeks, then suddenly, for
no reason, XP's Outlook Express appeared, and Windows Mail disappeared.

Every email, including those that I had deleted in XP going back to January
'09 showed up; and now when I send an email, it doesn't show up in the "sent"
box. I suspect Windows Mail is running in the background, and my sent emails
are being saved there

Where is my Windows Mail, and how to I get it to become my default email
again? My desktop icon still says "Windows Mail," but when I open it Outlook
Express shows up.

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

How makes you think that "Outlook Express shows up"?
Outlook Express can't run on a Vista computer. There are
distinct differences in appearance between the two programs, so even
if the title was wrong, you can tell what you have running by looking at
the various features and styling.

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

Sorry, that first word should be 'What'.

--
Gary VanderMolen, MS-MVP (Mail)
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/VanderMolen


How makes you think that "Outlook Express shows up"?
Outlook Express can't run on a Vista computer. There are
distinct differences in appearance between the two programs, so even
if the title was wrong, you can tell what you have running by looking at
the various features and styling.

 

[Steve Cochran]

When you click on the Help button, does it say About Microsoft Outlook
Express or does it say About Windows Mail or does it say something else?

steve

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Did you just do the required upgrade to Windows Live Messenger v14.0.8089?
If so, did you opt-out of installing Windows Live Mail and any other
*prechecked* Windows Live application you didn't want or need?

=================
[1] cf.
http://messengergeek.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!E3785B1281BBDA1!3800.entry

 

[retiredbiker]

How makes you think that "Outlook Express shows up"?
Outlook Express can't run on a Vista computer. There are
distinct differences in appearance between the two programs, so even
if the title was wrong, you can tell what you have running by looking at
the various features and styling.

 

[retiredbiker]

I bought a new HP desktop running Vista, and used a cable to transfer files,
contacts, etc. from my old XP machine.

Vista's Windows Mail worked fine for a couple of weeks, then suddenly, for
no reason, XP's Outlook Express appeared, and Windows Mail disappeared.

Every email, including those that I had deleted in XP going back to January
'09 showed up; and now when I send an email, it doesn't show up in the "sent"
box. I suspect Windows Mail is running in the background, and my sent emails
are being saved there

Where is my Windows Mail, and how to I get it to become my default email
again? My desktop icon still says "Windows Mail," but when I open it Outlook
Express shows up.

 

[retiredbiker]

Did you just do the required upgrade to Windows Live Messenger v14.0.8089?
If so, did you opt-out of installing Windows Live Mail and any other
*prechecked* Windows Live application you didn't want or need?

=================
[1] cf.
http://messengergeek.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!E3785B1281BBDA1!3800.entry
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Client - since 2002
www.banthecheck.com

I bought a new HP desktop running Vista, and used a cable to transfer
files,
contacts, etc. from my old XP machine.

Vista's Windows Mail worked fine for a couple of weeks, then suddenly, for
no reason, XP's Outlook Express appeared, and Windows Mail disappeared.

Every email, including those that I had deleted in XP going back to
January
'09 showed up; and now when I send an email, it doesn't show up in the
"sent" box. I suspect Windows Mail is running in the background, and my
sent emails are being saved there

Where is my Windows Mail, and how to I get it to become my default email
again? My desktop icon still says "Windows Mail," but when I open it
Outlook
Express shows up.

I already tried upgrading to Windows Live Mail and nothing changed. With reference to an earlier posted reply, I used Outlook Express for at least ten years, and know what it looks like, as opposed to the newer Wndows Mail, which worked fine for almost a month before the mysterious switch. The title bar at the top says "Outlook Express", and when I click on the Help button it says About Microsoft Windows Mail"

No one has addressed the fact that my sent email messages are not showing up
in the sent mailbox. The must be going to the sent box in Windows Mail

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Did you just do the required upgrade to Windows Live Messenger
v14.0.8089?
If so, did you opt-out of installing Windows Live Mail and any other
*prechecked* Windows Live application you didn't want or need?

=================
[1] cf.
http://messengergeek.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!E3785B1281BBDA1!3800.entry
--

No one has addressed the fact that my sent email messages are not showing
up
in the sent mailbox. The must be going to the sent box in Windows Mail

Wanna answer my questions?

How did you migrate the OE data to Windows Mail?

PS: "via cable transfer" is not a sufficiently detailed or appropriate
answer

 

[retiredbiker]

Did you just do the required upgrade to Windows Live Messenger
v14.0.8089?
If so, did you opt-out of installing Windows Live Mail and any other
*prechecked* Windows Live application you didn't want or need?

=================
[1] cf.
http://messengergeek.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!E3785B1281BBDA1!3800.entry
--

No one has addressed the fact that my sent email messages are not showing
up
in the sent mailbox. The must be going to the sent box in Windows Mail

Wanna answer my questions?

How did you migrate the OE data to Windows Mail?

PS: "via cable transfer" is not a sufficiently detailed or appropriate
answer

I bought a Belkin cable, installed its software, and followed the on-screen directions. I transferred all my contacts, music, photos (very big files), and my email and other programs. Everything worked great for about a month when Windows Mail disappeared, and Outlook Express showed up, along with about six months of deleted email on Outlook Express. There are no problems with any other programs and data transferred with the cable.

With reference to other responses: I know the difference between the
appearance and features of Windows Mail and Outlook Express, and I am
definitely seeing the Outlook Express screen, and my sent emails are still
disappearing, or at least not showing up in my sent box.

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

Well, we can't even begin to address specific issues until we know
for sure which email program you are running.
As I suspected, the title bar has the wrong program name, but you can trust
the accuracy of the program name you see when clicking on Help, About...

Are you running more than one email program? The sent messages should
leave a copy in the Sent Items folder of whatever mail program you are
sending from, Windows Mail or Windows Live Mail.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

:
Did you just do the required upgrade to Windows Live Messenger
v14.0.8089?
If so, did you opt-out of installing Windows Live Mail and any other
*prechecked* Windows Live application you didn't want or need?

=================
[1] cf.
http://messengergeek.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!E3785B1281BBDA1!3800.entry
--
No one has addressed the fact that my sent email messages are not
showing
up
in the sent mailbox. The must be going to the sent box in Windows Mail

Wanna answer my questions?

How did you migrate the OE data to Windows Mail?

PS: "via cable transfer" is not a sufficiently detailed or appropriate
answer

I bought a Belkin cable, installed its software, and followed the
on-screen directions. I transferred all my contacts, music, photos (very
big files), and my email and other programs. Everything worked great for
about a month when Windows Mail disappeared, and Outlook Express showed
up, along with about six months of deleted email on Outlook Express.
There
are no problems with any other programs and data transferred with the
cable.

With reference to other responses: I know the difference between the
appearance and features of Windows Mail and Outlook Express, and I am
definitely seeing the Outlook Express screen, and my sent emails are still
disappearing, or at least not showing up in my sent box.

Still don't know what "instructions" you followed by if you used Windows
Easy Transfer to migrate the OE data, you screwed the pooch.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Windows Mail Extended & Permanent "Will
Not Fix" beta!

HOW TO Migrate from Outlook Express to Windows Mail
http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx#oe2wm or...
http://www.vista4beginners.com/Migrate-from-Outlook-Express-to-Windows-Mail

 

[Peter Foldes]

retiredbiker

Had a poster a long time ago who transferred all his files from Windows 98 to XP via
a cable just as you did. He also ran into something similar and as it turned out he
transferred all of his Windows 98 to XP . He had 2 Operating Systems on his machine
albeit only XP was working. He also wondered how he got a lot of Windows 98 on his
system.
So can you tell us exactly the steps you took to transfer your XP files over to your
new Vista machine.

Also when you start your boot does a screen come up at the beginning where you
select the Operating System to open. It is a DOS looking screen

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

... So can you tell us exactly the steps you took to transfer your XP
files
over to your new Vista machine.

Maybe you'll have better luck than me, Peter.

 

[Steve Cochran]

He's not dual boot. He says Help | About Windows Mail is what he gets, but
the Title bar says OE.

Very weird.

steve

 

[Steve Cochran]

This is a very strange situation. In the folder list, right click on the
sent items folder and choose Properties and what is the listed path to the
folder. If you truly have OE, and the path shows to a dbx file, then its
likely the sent items folder got corrupted and you need to move all the
messages to another folder and close whatever program it is (OEWM) that is
running and then reopen it to create a new sent items folder.

However that is not going to fix the mixed up program you are using. I have
no idea how it happened or what exactly happened. You can go to Help |
About and in OE it will shows the files and their versions, but in WinMail
it won't. So to fix the issue, you might try running

SFC /scannow

and see if that restores the WinMail files.

I'm sure plenty of people would like to know how you got OE to run in Vista.
Do you have a C:\Program Files\Outlook Express directory with msimn.exe in
it? Is msimn.exe in the Program Files\Windows Mail directory?

steve

:
Did you just do the required upgrade to Windows Live Messenger
v14.0.8089?
If so, did you opt-out of installing Windows Live Mail and any other
*prechecked* Windows Live application you didn't want or need?

=================
[1] cf.
http://messengergeek.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!E3785B1281BBDA1!3800.entry
--
No one has addressed the fact that my sent email messages are not
showing
up
in the sent mailbox. The must be going to the sent box in Windows Mail

Wanna answer my questions?

How did you migrate the OE data to Windows Mail?

PS: "via cable transfer" is not a sufficiently detailed or appropriate
answer

I bought a Belkin cable, installed its software, and followed the
on-screen directions. I transferred all my contacts, music, photos (very
big files), and my email and other programs. Everything worked great for
about a month when Windows Mail disappeared, and Outlook Express showed
up, along with about six months of deleted email on Outlook Express.
There are no problems with any other programs and data transferred with
the cable.

With reference to other responses: I know the difference between the
appearance and features of Windows Mail and Outlook Express, and I am
definitely seeing the Outlook Express screen, and my sent emails are still
disappearing, or at least not showing up in my sent box.

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

The wording on title bars is easily changed. I wouldn't pay much attention
to what the title bar says.

http://windowsxp.mvps.org/ie/ispunbrand.htm
Although that article addresses OE, I believe the same principle applies to WM.

 

[retiredbiker]

Maybe you'll have better luck than me, Peter.

Thanks to all who responded with suggestions on how to remedy my problem. I've been away for a few days, and haven't had a chance to try all the suggestions.

In answer to Peter Foldes question, I no longer have the old desktop that I
transferred the XP programs from (including my email info.), so all I can say
in response is that I used a Belkin transfer cable and the software that came
with it, and I don't remember the specific steps involved. It took about 20
hours to transfer all the data, as I had huge photo and music files; and the
only problem I encountered was the OE/Windows Mail glitch, which didn't
appear until several weeks after the transfer. Prior to this, Windows Mail
was running perfectly, and I did nothing to my email accounts that might have
initiated the strange appearance of OE.

I have an HP laptop running Vista sitting next to my new HP desktop with the
problem. The two email screens are obviously different, with OE running on
the desktop machine. The title bar says "outlook Express," and all of the
pull-down menus are those of OE. So, those who think that Vista won't run OE
might have to reconsider the issue.

I have set up my email accounts so I can send and receive email, but my sent
email messages do not show up in the sent box, leading me to believe that
Windows Mail is still running somewhere in the background.

 

[retiredbiker]

retiredbiker

Had a poster a long time ago who transferred all his files from Windows 98 to XP via
a cable just as you did. He also ran into something similar and as it turned out he
transferred all of his Windows 98 to XP . He had 2 Operating Systems on his machine
albeit only XP was working. He also wondered how he got a lot of Windows 98 on his
system.
So can you tell us exactly the steps you took to transfer your XP files over to your
new Vista machine.

Also when you start your boot does a screen come up at the beginning where you
select the Operating System to open. It is a DOS looking screen



--
Peter

Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.



I've done a thorough search of my desktop, and MS XP OS is nowhere to be found. It appears that all the Belkin cable and software did (as advertised) was transfer the files, not the XP OS.

 

[Sam Hobbs]

Do you have the original packaging and/or the documentation for the Belkin
cable? You should, and you should use that or those to provide a description
that is more specific than "Belkin cable". If you cannot, then you sure are
in the dark about what you did.

You can't expect to find anything saying it is "MS XP OS", but the problem
is not likely you have XP. It seems possible that the transfer mistakenly
transferred some files from OE. Since WinMail is a modified version of OE,
it seems possible that WinMail might mistakenly use parts of OE.

I don't know how to do a repair install of Vista or if it is even possible
but that might help.