How to go back to OE from Vista Mail ?

[Bubey]

I haven't gotten a reply back on the lost messages that I posted, but some
of the important ones are still here in OE. So I would like to come back to
my OE. I've had it with Vista.
How can I do an export from Vista's Windows Mail and then import them back
into Outlook Express ? I saw PA Bears note about doing a drag and drop of
".eml files but how do they convert to the .dbx format for OE ? I've been
searching the internet on how to but haven't found anything.
Thanks in advance for the help !

 

[Steve Cochran]

Create a new folder in OE. Then open the folder so that it shows an empty
message list. Then drag an eml file overtop the empty message list and drop
it and it will become incorporated into the OE folder. Once you figure that
out, you can select all the eml files and drag and drop them at once. But
make sure its only eml files or it won't work.

My OEX program (www.oehelp.com/OEX/) will also let you import eml files into
OE folders with a button click.

steve

 

[Bubey]

Thanks for the reply Steve.
The Vista Mail and Outlook Express programs are on different laptops. So
are you saying to make a copy of the messages in eml format and then copy
them to OE ?
By copying them over will the eml file be readable in OE ? or Will it
convert to dbx format ? and I assume I then would manually sort them back
into the folders they were stored in ?
I've got a lot of them saved.

re: Disappeared messages in Vista Mail....How can I find them on the hard
drive? Some were important and I really need to get them back.

Thanks for the help !

Create a new folder in OE. Then open the folder so that it shows an empty
message list. Then drag an eml file overtop the empty message list and drop
it and it will become incorporated into the OE folder. Once you figure that
out, you can select all the eml files and drag and drop them at once. But
make sure its only eml files or it won't work.

My OEX program (www.oehelp.com/OEX/) will also let you import eml files into
OE folders with a button click.

steve

 

[Steve Cochran]

Yes. Copy the eml files from Vista and then drag them and drop them into OE
and they will be incorporated into the OE folders. You don't need to mess
with dbx files. If you lost messages in Vista, the only thing you can do is
to search for *.eml and make sure you include hidden files and folders in
the search options and enable showing them under Control Panel | Folder
Options | View.

steve

 

[Bubey]

Thanks for the response. Steve, do you have a how to on your MVP website?
I'm confused about copy and drag them, drop them into OE. Are you saying
do a search for all "eml" files and then copy them to a file which I would
move to the other laptop ? Where would I drop them ? Manually put them
into their folders ?

I did an export of Vista Mail, all folders, and saved it to my external hard
drive but when I opened it there were only 4 folders and no messages ??

It's puzzling that Windows Mail and Outlook Express are suppose to be the
same, so why the change in the file extension ? Makes it difficult for the
users if they want to go back.

Yes. Copy the eml files from Vista and then drag them and drop them into OE
and they will be incorporated into the OE folders. You don't need to mess
with dbx files. If you lost messages in Vista, the only thing you can do is
to search for *.eml and make sure you include hidden files and folders in
the search options and enable showing them under Control Panel | Folder
Options | View.

steve

 

[Steve Cochran]

No, its not on my website. Its right here:

Create a new folder in OE. Then open the folder so that it shows an empty
message list. Then drag an eml file overtop the empty message list and
drop
it and it will become incorporated into the OE folder. Once you figure
that
out, you can select all the eml files and drag and drop them at once. But
make sure its only eml files or it won't work.

Its very simple to do and if you try it once you will see.

The file extensions were not changed. The dbx file format was abandoned
because so many people were losing their messages in OE, so WinMail now has
a separate database and individual eml message files instead of having
everything lumped into a single file that is easily corrupted.

steve

 

[Bubey]

I guess I'm dumb Steve. I can't understand the "drag & drop" process.
Would I be doing this from explorer? So that I take the "eml" files that
are on disk and drag them to the empty OE folder ? Thanks for your
patience.

No, its not on my website. Its right here:

Create a new folder in OE. Then open the folder so that it shows an empty
message list. Then drag an eml file overtop the empty message list and
drop
it and it will become incorporated into the OE folder. Once you figure
that
out, you can select all the eml files and drag and drop them at once. But
make sure its only eml files or it won't work.

Its very simple to do and if you try it once you will see.

The file extensions were not changed. The dbx file format was abandoned
because so many people were losing their messages in OE, so WinMail now has
a separate database and individual eml message files instead of having
everything lumped into a single file that is easily corrupted.

steve

 

[Dave]

Drag and drop is a very basic Windows feature that every Windows user should
know..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag-and-drop

 

[slk759]

This is what he's telling you to do . . . .
Open Outlook Express - the email client.
See the "Inbox" in the far left list? Right click over there to create a
new folder - name it anything meaningful to you or this process.
Now, open that folder - there are no messages in it so the right side of the
window should be blank (empty).
Now find your list of ".eml" files - I believe you found those using Windows
Explorer. Highlight them (a few, many, or all) and using the mouse, "drag"
them over to the Outlook Express window - to the blank, empty area of that
new folder you just created.
When you release the mouse, the .eml files should be "dropped" into that new
folder and displayed in the previously blank / empty list area.

 

[Bubey]

Thanks SLK
I know drag & drop if you're going from one drive to another, but in my case
I'm going from one pc to another.

I didn't use Internet Explorer to get all the eml files. I did a search and
copied them to a folder on my external hard drive so I could drag and drop
them somewhere on the pc that has Outlook Express. That's the reason for my
question about how to drop them into Outlook Express.

When you drop the eml files onto OE, will the convert to dbx or can OE read
both file formats ?

At this point I'm wonder if I should just forward them to me and then
they'll automatically end up in OE and as a dbx file.


This is what he's telling you to do . . . .
Open Outlook Express - the email client.
See the "Inbox" in the far left list? Right click over there to create a
new folder - name it anything meaningful to you or this process.
Now, open that folder - there are no messages in it so the right side of the
window should be blank (empty).
Now find your list of ".eml" files - I believe you found those using Windows
Explorer. Highlight them (a few, many, or all) and using the mouse, "drag"
them over to the Outlook Express window - to the blank, empty area of that
new folder you just created.
When you release the mouse, the .eml files should be "dropped" into that new
folder and displayed in the previously blank / empty list area.

 

[Bubey]

Yes, Drag & Drop is a basic thing we learn in the beginning, however no one
has ever shown me how you can Drag & Drop from one PC to another PC. Have
you ever done this move ?

Drag and drop is a very basic Windows feature that every Windows user should
know..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag-and-drop

 

[slk759]

They're on an external drive that is attached to the OE PC now, right? You
may have to copy the folder onto the actual PC - I'm not sure. But, if you
can access them via Windows Explorer, drag and drop a few to see what it
does, and stop wondering ! Then get back to us with the next issue - if
any.

 

[Dave]

Network.

Yes, Drag & Drop is a basic thing we learn in the beginning, however no
one
has ever shown me how you can Drag & Drop from one PC to another PC. Have
you ever done this move ?

Drag and drop is a very basic Windows feature that every Windows user
should
know..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag-and-drop

 

[Dave]

USB drive.

Yes, Drag & Drop is a basic thing we learn in the beginning, however no
one
has ever shown me how you can Drag & Drop from one PC to another PC. Have
you ever done this move ?

Drag and drop is a very basic Windows feature that every Windows user
should
know..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag-and-drop

 

[Dave]

Floppy disk.
CD.
DVD.

Yes, Drag & Drop is a basic thing we learn in the beginning, however no
one
has ever shown me how you can Drag & Drop from one PC to another PC. Have
you ever done this move ?

Drag and drop is a very basic Windows feature that every Windows user
should
know..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag-and-drop

 

[Bubey]

Yes, I copied them to the external hard drive assuming I could somehow drop
them into the OE program. I'm assuming once there I still have to sort them
to their correct folders ?

How would I access them by Windows Explorer and then send them via email so
they end up on the other PC ?

They're on an external drive that is attached to the OE PC now, right? You
may have to copy the folder onto the actual PC - I'm not sure. But, if you
can access them via Windows Explorer, drag and drop a few to see what it
does, and stop wondering ! Then get back to us with the next issue - if
any.

 

[Bubey]

Thanks ! Don't have a network, but as I said they're on my external hard
drive. So how do I drop them into the OE program.
See my other reply to SLK759

Floppy disk.
CD.
DVD.

 

[slk759]

Okay, so the external hard drive is not connected to the same PC where OE is
installed and you don't have a network. You have to get the files onto that
PC. You are correct - they are not going to just jump over there by
themselves. As Dave suggested, can you put the folder on a USB drive, a CD
/ DVD? Just copy the whole folder on some such medium and insert it into
the OE PC. If you copy them onto a CD / DVD I think you will have to copy
that folder onto a place on the OE PC's hard drive, I'm not sure about the
USB. But, don't make this harder than it is - copy / paste to medium, plug
in or insert medium in OE PC, open folder and highlight - drag - drop. If
that doesn't work, copy the files from that medium to the hard drive and
then try the highlight - drag - drop.

 

[Steve Cochran]

Create a folder on your Desktop. Copy the eml files to that folder. Open
up that folder so you see the directory of eml files. Then open OE. Then
create new folder in OE. Then open that folder in OE so that it shows no
messages. Then highlight an eml file in the directory of eml files and drag
the eml file overtop the message list in OE and drop it.

steve