Help! Lost All Messages In Inbox!

[Guest]

Hi...

I've lost all the messages in my Outlook Express 6 inbox, didn't know that I
could create some sort of back file to retrieve them when things like this
happen, and I'm wondering if there is any way I can get my messages back...
hopefully a way that's not too complicated for me to understand : )

I still have all the messages that were in my drafts and sent folders, and
still have my address book, it was just the messages in the inbox that
disappeared... and there were a lot of them!

This is what led up to them disappearing. My computer had just come out of
stand-by mode and I opened Outlook Express and clicked on a new message I had
received. The little hourglass appeared on my screen and the message didn't
open, so I figured Outlook Express had froze and I opened up task manager to
do the "end task" procedure. That didn't appear to be working either, perhaps
I was just being impatient and didn't give it enough time to do it's thing,
and thinking that my entire computer was frozen I flipped the switch on the
power bar to shut everything down. When I turned my computer back on again
and opened Outlook Express, all my messages were gone.

Are there any steps I can take to try to retreive them? Some of the messages
were important so I'm in a panic at the moment!

 

[Claymore]

Hi...

I've lost all the messages in my Outlook Express 6 inbox, didn't know that I
could create some sort of back file to retrieve them when things like this
happen, and I'm wondering if there is any way I can get my messages back...
hopefully a way that's not too complicated for me to understand : )

I still have all the messages that were in my drafts and sent folders, and
still have my address book, it was just the messages in the inbox that
disappeared... and there were a lot of them!

This is what led up to them disappearing. My computer had just come out of
stand-by mode and I opened Outlook Express and clicked on a new message I had
received. The little hourglass appeared on my screen and the message didn't
open, so I figured Outlook Express had froze and I opened up task manager to
do the "end task" procedure. That didn't appear to be working either, perhaps
I was just being impatient and didn't give it enough time to do it's thing,
and thinking that my entire computer was frozen I flipped the switch on the
power bar to shut everything down. When I turned my computer back on again
and opened Outlook Express, all my messages were gone.

Are there any steps I can take to try to retreive them? Some of the messages
were important so I'm in a panic at the moment!

Hi,

They may have been lost if folder compaction was running when you shut
down. Look in the Recycle Bin for any .bak (backup) files. These are
created during folder compaction. In particular, you're looking for a
file named Inbox.bak

 

[Guest]

Hi Claymore...

Thank you so much for replying to my post! I tried what you suggested and
searched for .bak files, but didn't find any. However, I'm a mental midget
when it comes to computers so perhaps I didn't search for them the right way.

But, I did read something about Outlook Express and .dbx files and managed
to find those. All of the files had today's date and some were titled "Inbox"
and a couple appeared to be very large files. I had a lot of messages in my
inbox at the time they went missing, so I'm wondering if one of those large
files contains my messages.

I was hoping to open the files to see what they were exactly, but I can't
locate them. It says they are located at C:\Documents and Settings\my
name\Application Data\Identities\ and then a bunch of numbers and letters.

When I click on My Computer and then Local Disk (C it takes me to the
Document and Settings folder, and then to the folder with my name, but there
is no Application Data folder after that. Am I searching for the folders the
wrong way???

I hate to ask for your help a second time, but can you assist me?

Thanks...
The Blushing Island Chick

 

[Guest]

Oops! Local Settings was supposed to be in between my name and Application
Data, and that's the folder I can't find after opening the folder with my
name. I hope this all makes sense!

 

[Ricky]

Copied from an OE newsgroup..

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/community/columns/filecorruption.mspx

Recovery tools:

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

To restore a bak folder to the message store folder, first close OE and
locate the Message Store in Windows Explorer.

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 Explorer, you must enable Show Hidden Files and Folders under
Start
| Control Panel | 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.

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 future:

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.

Backup and Restore:

http://www.insideoutlookexpress.com/backup/

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

And this good one click backup program.

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB):

http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx

 

[Claymore]

Oops! Local Settings was supposed to be in between my name and Application
Data, and that's the folder I can't find after opening the folder with my
name. I hope this all makes sense!












- Show quoted text -

Hello,

I'm reading that some of these e-mails are very important. I suggest
that before doing anything risky, you attempt to extract any
recoverable mail from the Inbox.dbx folder.
There may be other freeware programs out there, and there are some
that are more sophisticated, but this program that I've used in the
past will do it. It used to be free, but now it's 7 bucks:

dbExtract
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtract/Default.aspx

You e-mails are extracted to the folder of your choice as
readable .eml files. If you have more than one e-mail Account in
Outlook Express, just check that the program has selected the correct
Account.

 

[Guest]

Hi Claymore...

You posted your message as I was going through all the steps Ricky was kind
enough to post for me.

I got a little confused by the step that says... 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

I wasn't sure what folder I was supposed to be looking for or where to look
for it.
If it's the Inbox folder, it was still there, along with the Outbox, Sent,
Deleted, and Drafts folders. I tried to create a new folder called Inobox
anyways and it was empty when I opened it.

As the directions said, I moved on to the Recycle Bin. I don't know how to
look for bak files. The only thing I could think to do is click on the
Folders tab and then Desktop, and that made the Inbox file I dragged to my
desktop appear. When I right clicked on it, there was no Restore option.

Seeing as how I'm a mental midget when it comes to computers, I'm sure I did
something, probably many things, wrong while following the steps.

Just out of curiosity, I opened that large Inbox.dbx file I found with Word
Pad, and most of what I saw made no sense, but I did see a few sentences and
email addresses from some old messages that were in my Inbox, so that's given
me some hope.

I guess the only option left is to try the dbExtract and DBXpress programs
you and Ricky have suggested, but seeing as how I found Ricky's simple
directions a challenge and don't know if I followed them correctly or not, I
fear I'll have the same problem with the programs. It's a worth a shot though!

Thank you, both, so much for your help! I really, really appreciate you
taking the time to help me... it means more to me than you know!!!

Hugs...
Island Chick

 

[Claymore]

Hi Claymore...

You posted your message as I was going through all the steps Ricky was kind
enough to post for me.

I got a little confused by the step that says... 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

I wasn't sure what folder I was supposed to be looking for or where to look
for it.
If it's the Inbox folder, it was still there, along with the Outbox, Sent,
Deleted, and Drafts folders. I tried to create a new folder called Inobox
anyways and it was empty when I opened it.

As the directions said, I moved on to the Recycle Bin. I don't know how to
look for bak files. The only thing I could think to do is click on the
Folders tab and then Desktop, and that made the Inbox file I dragged to my
desktop appear. When I right clicked on it, there was no Restore option.

Seeing as how I'm a mental midget when it comes to computers, I'm sure I did
something, probably many things, wrong while following the steps.

Just out of curiosity, I opened that large Inbox.dbx file I found with Word
Pad, and most of what I saw made no sense, but I did see a few sentences and
email addresses from some old messages that were in my Inbox, so that's given
me some hope.

I guess the only option left is to try the dbExtract and DBXpress programs
you and Ricky have suggested, but seeing as how I found Ricky's simple
directions a challenge and don't know if I followed them correctly or not, I
fear I'll have the same problem with the programs. It's a worth a shot though!

Thank you, both, so much for your help! I really, really appreciate you
taking the time to help me... it means more to me than you know!!!

Hugs...
Island Chick





- Show quoted text -

Hello again,

The method of restoring a backup only works if you have the backup
files (normally in the Recycle Bin). You would check if these exist
before proceeding. Double-click on the Recycle Bin on your desktop.
Presuming you are set to see file extensions (Explorer => Tools =>
Folder Options => View), look for files with this extension in the
Recycle Bin.

As for the program dbExtract, it's a no-brainer and worth the 7
dollary-doos. At least you'll be able to - hopefully - get your e-
mails back - the ones that can be recovered.

Luck!

p.s. You can't view the contents of a .dbx file with a word processor.
It's not that easy I'm afraid.

 

[Guest]

Hello...

When it comes to the recycle bin, I'm still unsure about it. It's always
empty when I open in it and when I click on the various headings and things
within the recycle bin, it doesn't display any files. Under Folder Options
and View, the "show hidden files and folders" option is checked off... I
don't know if that means I'm set to see file extensions or not??? Am I
hopeless or what... lol : )

I'll try dbExtract. It's a shame there isn't a free extraction device I can
download, not that $7 is a lot of money, getting my messages back is
certainly worth that much, I'm just nervous about making online payments...
it's something I've avoided doing up until now.

Thanks, again, for your help... you're a doll : )

 

[Claymore]

Hello...

When it comes to the recycle bin, I'm still unsure about it. It's always
empty when I open in it and when I click on the various headings and things
within the recycle bin, it doesn't display any files. Under Folder Options
and View, the "show hidden files and folders" option is checked off... I
don't know if that means I'm set to see file extensions or not??? Am I
hopeless or what... lol : )

I'll try dbExtract. It's a shame there isn't a free extraction device I can
download, not that $7 is a lot of money, getting my messages back is
certainly worth that much, I'm just nervous about making online payments...
it's something I've avoided doing up until now.

Thanks, again, for your help... you're a doll : )








- Show quoted text -

Hi again,

If the Recycle Bin is empty then the recovery isn't an option. It was
abit of a long shot anyway - if you had interrupted the folder
compaction routine.
As for dbExtract, I can well understand you being nervous about giving
out your private info over the net. I have an old (several years)
freeware version that's a "standalone", i.e. requires no actual
installation, and runs from the file itself. It's only 72 KB and still
functions without the bells and whistles. If I had an e-mail address I
could send it. It should work OK. You would want to disguise your e-
mail address, and use a "throw-away" address, like hotmail or
something, so that it would look something like myname_at_hotmail.com.

 

[Ricky]

You have to be careful opening a DBX file in word..if you change
anything in the file while open it will make it unusable.

 

[Guest]

Hi Ricky...

Thank you for the tip... I'll keep that in mind for now on. When I had Word
Pad open, I just scrolled down the page a little and then closed it...
hopefully that didn't damage the file in any way.

Thank you for the detailed steps you provided this morning and advice!

 

[Guest]

Claymore... I sent you an email : )

Hi again,

If the Recycle Bin is empty then the recovery isn't an option. It was
abit of a long shot anyway - if you had interrupted the folder
compaction routine.
As for dbExtract, I can well understand you being nervous about giving
out your private info over the net. I have an old (several years)
freeware version that's a "standalone", i.e. requires no actual
installation, and runs from the file itself. It's only 72 KB and still
functions without the bells and whistles. If I had an e-mail address I
could send it. It should work OK. You would want to disguise your e-
mail address, and use a "throw-away" address, like hotmail or
something, so that it would look something like myname_at_hotmail.com.

 

[Ricky]

You're welcome..and good luck!

Hi Ricky...

Thank you for the tip... I'll keep that in mind for now on. When I had
Word
Pad open, I just scrolled down the page a little and then closed it...
hopefully that didn't damage the file in any way.

Thank you for the detailed steps you provided this morning and advice!