This is a Office Outlook newsgroup. You should repost this to the Outlook Express newsgroup.
Meanwhile here is a snip from a post by Bruce Hagen MVP-OE
<snip>
The bak files are created in the Recycle Bin when you compact,
OE uses dbx files which are the ones backed up as bak files. .
If you are using OE, this is how to restore dbx (bak) files.
All e-mail items may be missing when you start Outlook Express 6 Service
Pack 1:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918069
To restore a bak folder to the message store folder, first locate the
Message Store in Windows Explorer.
In OE: Tools | Options | Maintenance | Store Folder will reveal the location
of your Outlook Express files. Press the Tab key to highlight the folder
location, then Ctrl+C. Close OE, then Start | Run | Ctrl+V will put the
location in the box - Click OK and you'll see the OE files. Otherwise, write
the location down and navigate to it in Windows Explorer.
In WinXP, the dbx files are by default marked as hidden. To view these files
in Windows Explorer, you must enable Show Hidden Files and Folders under
Start | Control Panel | Folder Options Icon | View, or in Windows Explorer |
Tools | Folder Options | View.
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.
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.
<end snip>
