Importing OE files from CD-RW

[BigRedWingsFan]

My PC recently crashed and the end result was a new hard drive and moving to
XP from ME. I had previously saved all my pictures and e-mail files to a
CD-RW disk. I have now copied the files to my hard drive and had no
problems with the pictures (most were either .jpg or .bmp files) but I am
not able to access the e-mail files (.dbx) so that they can be loaded into
OE. They are currently located in C:\Documents and Settings\Marty\Local
Settings\Application
Data\Identities\{198xxxxxxxlotsmorenumbers}\Microsoft\Outlook Express along
with all of the other OE files, including the newsgroups I am subscribed to
but I cannot get them to import into my OE folders. Any and all advice will
be greatly appreciated.

Marty

 

[shakey]

I have seen this addressed many times in
microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress
If you don't get cure here I suggest you post there.

 

[Joan Archer]

Now I know why you didn't come back to answer my question Marty <g> hope
you can get things sorted sorry I can't help.
Joan

 

[BigRedWingsFan]

Now I know why you didn't come back to answer my question Marty <g> hope
you can get things sorted sorry I can't help.

Thanks, Joan, this new OS has me baffled, but I'm gettin' there I think.
Still have to load some peripherals but wanted to at least have e-mail back
the way I had it. I'm still looking in on you folks, I got a lot of great
help in the ME groups and enjoy the company so I'll stick around. Almost
time that time of the year for some "chili discussions" with Herr Loon and I
wouldn't miss that!!

Marty

 

[Sharon F]

My PC recently crashed and the end result was a new hard drive and moving to
XP from ME. I had previously saved all my pictures and e-mail files to a
CD-RW disk. I have now copied the files to my hard drive and had no
problems with the pictures (most were either .jpg or .bmp files) but I am
not able to access the e-mail files (.dbx) so that they can be loaded into
OE. They are currently located in C:\Documents and Settings\Marty\Local
Settings\Application
Data\Identities\{198xxxxxxxlotsmorenumbers}\Microsoft\Outlook Express along
with all of the other OE files, including the newsgroups I am subscribed to
but I cannot get them to import into my OE folders. Any and all advice will
be greatly appreciated.

After copying the *.dbx files to the hard drive, did you remove the
read-only attribute that turns up on files that are copied from a CD? I
believe that has to be removed before OE can use the files.

 

[BigRedWingsFan]

After copying the *.dbx files to the hard drive, did you remove the
read-only attribute that turns up on files that are copied from a CD? I
believe that has to be removed before OE can use the files.

When they copied over, the "Read only" box was unchecked (and still is). I
even tried changing all the files to "Read only", applying that, closing the
folder, then went back in and changed them all back to having the box marked
unchecked. Still no luck, even after following all of the instructions from
www.insideoe.tomsterdam.com/faqs/how.htm#importOE5. I did notice one thing
though. All of the file types are now "Outlook Express", rather than .dbx,
to include all of the current files.

Marty

Marty

 

[Sharon F]

My PC recently crashed and the end result was a new hard drive and moving to
XP from ME. I had previously saved all my pictures and e-mail files to a
CD-RW disk. I have now copied the files to my hard drive and had no
problems with the pictures (most were either .jpg or .bmp files) but I am
not able to access the e-mail files (.dbx) so that they can be loaded into
OE. They are currently located in C:\Documents and Settings\Marty\Local
Settings\Application
Data\Identities\{198xxxxxxxlotsmorenumbers}\Microsoft\Outlook Express along
with all of the other OE files, including the newsgroups I am subscribed to
but I cannot get them to import into my OE folders. Any and all advice will
be greatly appreciated.

Marty,
I think you've missed a step somewhere in getting those old *.DBX files to
be used.

Substituting old *.dbx files to be used in place of new *.dbx files: You
can drop a group of files to the Application Data\...\Outlook Express
folder but there shouldn't be any other files there but the ones you drop
in. The Folders.dbx file has to go with the bunch or the folder structure
won't rebuild to what it was originally.

Importing vs the substitute method: Put the old *.dbx files into their own
folder. Then use the Import function under File in OE to pull in those
messages. (Oversimplifying the steps here but you've seen the long
explanation at the Inside OE site.)

However, I don't know where it's going wrong from your short description
here. Sorry.

A long way about to get those old messages back into OE but it will work.
Get DBXtract (http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtract/Default.aspx) and use it to
pull your messages out of each old DBX files. Extract them to their own
folder. Open OE, drag and drop the messages into the various OE folders.
They will "merge" with the existing message store.

DBXtract is written and maintained by an OE MVP. It was free for years but
I see at the page it is now $5. I've used it in the past to rescue messages
from DBX files and it has always worked perfectly for me.

 

[Kath Adams]

When they copied over, the "Read only" box was unchecked (and still
is). I even tried changing all the files to "Read only", applying
that, closing the folder, then went back in and changed them all back
to having the box marked unchecked. Still no luck, even after
following all of the instructions from
www.insideoe.tomsterdam.com/faqs/how.htm#importOE5. I did notice one
thing though. All of the file types are now "Outlook Express",
rather than .dbx, to include all of the current files.
Marty

All folders from OE (5+) should be dbx.
For an import to work, Folders.dbx should be included in the backup.
Simple steps if Folders.dbx is included -
Copy the folders to your current hard drive (for ease of use a new
folder on your desktop), remove the "read only" attribute and use
File>Import>Messages>Outlook Express 6 (same as version 5 for our
purposes)>Import from an OE store... pointing to the new folder on your
desktop.

If Folders.dbx is NOT included in the backup, you will have to use a
workaround. Create a folder in your current OE with the exact same name
as one of your old folders. Move any old message to this new folder.
Close OE. In Windows Explorer, MOVE the backup folder to the OE message
store and it will ask if you want to overwrite (the folder the with the
same name you just created), say yes. Do this for each folder. Open OE
and all should be well.

 

[BigRedWingsFan]

All folders from OE (5+) should be dbx.
For an import to work, Folders.dbx should be included in the backup.
Simple steps if Folders.dbx is included -
Copy the folders to your current hard drive (for ease of use a new folder
on your desktop), remove the "read only" attribute and use
File>Import>Messages>Outlook Express 6 (same as version 5 for our
purposes)>Import from an OE store... pointing to the new folder on your
desktop.

If Folders.dbx is NOT included in the backup, you will have to use a
workaround. Create a folder in your current OE with the exact same name as
one of your old folders. Move any old message to this new folder. Close
OE. In Windows Explorer, MOVE the backup folder to the OE message store
and it will ask if you want to overwrite (the folder the with the same
name you just created), say yes. Do this for each folder. Open OE and all
should be well.

Thank you, Kath, but this didn't work either. When I copied the e-mail
files to the CD-RW disk, I did not copy individual messages, rather I copied
the entire file for each of my personal file folders (those that I created,
not OE system file folders). I assumed (wrong answer, I know) that it would
be similar to copying and pasting "normal" file folders, in that the folder
would be duplicated with all of the files inside of it. I am not the most
experienced of users, unfortunately, and I may be I am missing something in
your response because of that.

Marty

 

[BigRedWingsFan]

Marty,
I think you've missed a step somewhere in getting those old *.DBX files to
be used.

Substituting old *.dbx files to be used in place of new *.dbx files: You
can drop a group of files to the Application Data\...\Outlook Express
folder but there shouldn't be any other files there but the ones you drop
in. The Folders.dbx file has to go with the bunch or the folder structure
won't rebuild to what it was originally.

Importing vs the substitute method: Put the old *.dbx files into their own
folder. Then use the Import function under File in OE to pull in those
messages. (Oversimplifying the steps here but you've seen the long
explanation at the Inside OE site.)

However, I don't know where it's going wrong from your short description
here. Sorry.

A long way about to get those old messages back into OE but it will work.
Get DBXtract (http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtract/Default.aspx) and use it to
pull your messages out of each old DBX files. Extract them to their own
folder. Open OE, drag and drop the messages into the various OE folders.
They will "merge" with the existing message store.

DBXtract is written and maintained by an OE MVP. It was free for years but
I see at the page it is now $5. I've used it in the past to rescue
messages
from DBX files and it has always worked perfectly for me.

This may be my only alternative, Sharon, as I can't get any of either your
or Kath's suggestions to work. Thank you for your help though, it's greatly
appreciated.

Marty

 

[Sharon F]

This may be my only alternative, Sharon, as I can't get any of either your
or Kath's suggestions to work. Thank you for your help though, it's greatly
appreciated.

DBXtract is the long way around, Marty, but has always worked for me. I
hope it works for you too.

 

[Kath Adams]

Thank you, Kath, but this didn't work either. When I copied the
e-mail files to the CD-RW disk, I did not copy individual messages,
rather I copied the entire file for each of my personal file folders
(those that I created, not OE system file folders). I assumed (wrong
answer, I know) that it would be similar to copying and pasting
"normal" file folders, in that the folder would be duplicated with
all of the files inside of it. I am not the most experienced of
users, unfortunately, and I may be I am missing something in your
response because of that.
Marty

OK, let's start again. I know you did not copy individual messages. I am
talking about Inbox.dbx, Sent Items.dbx, Personal.dbx etc. These are
folders of messages, and is how OE stores them.
If you already MOVED the folders to OE and you are saying that OE does
not recognise them, then that is true. You can't just put them back into
OE. If this is what you did, move them back out again. Then use the
second method I outlined, creating a folder of the same name in OE
before overwriting with the "correct" folder. If the folders have the
extension of dbx and you follow the instructions, it WILL work!

Kath

 

[BigRedWingsFan]

OK, let's start again. I know you did not copy individual messages. I am
talking about Inbox.dbx, Sent Items.dbx, Personal.dbx etc. These are
folders of messages, and is how OE stores them.
If you already MOVED the folders to OE and you are saying that OE does not
recognise them, then that is true. You can't just put them back into OE.
If this is what you did, move them back out again. Then use the second
method I outlined, creating a folder of the same name in OE before
overwriting with the "correct" folder. If the folders have the extension
of dbx and you follow the instructions, it WILL work!

Kath -

Thank you so much for your patience! I finally figured out what you were
saying - D"OHHH! I now have all of my old e-mail back in their respective
folders. Sometimes you just gotta type real slow and hit the keys really
hard to get it across to me but I'll get it, eventually! XP is totally new
to me and some of its little quirks are rather different than ME and I think
I may be getting flustered still. I really appreciate your help, Kath!

Marty

 

[BigRedWingsFan]

DBXtract is the long way around, Marty, but has always worked for me. I
hope it works for you too.

Sharon - Kath's instructions finally sunk in this tired, old brain of mine
and I have my saved e-mails back! Thank you for all of your help and
suggestions!

Marty

 

[Sharon F]

Sharon - Kath's instructions finally sunk in this tired, old brain of mine
and I have my saved e-mails back! Thank you for all of your help and
suggestions!

Marty

You're welcome and am glad to hear all is well now.

 

[Kath Adams]

Kath -

Thank you so much for your patience! I finally figured out what you
were saying - D"OHHH! I now have all of my old e-mail back in their
respective folders. Sometimes you just gotta type real slow and hit
the keys really hard to get it across to me but I'll get it,
eventually! XP is totally new to me and some of its little quirks
are rather different than ME and I think I may be getting flustered
still. I really appreciate your help, Kath!
Marty

You're welcome! Perseverance DOES pay off sometimes!
(And the workings of OE haven't changed in essence, whatever OS you
use).
Glad all is now well.
Regards
Kath