Outlook corrupted files

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sam
  • Start date Start date
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Sam

Before reformatting my hard drive my Outlook 2002 (PST)
file was saved as 10 separate Outlook Express (DBX)
files. This wasn't my idea, but I believe it was done
because the Outlook PST file was very large and wouldn't
fit on one CD. Now they don't read correctly with either
Outlook or Outlook Express but the data appears to be in
the files. The inbox.dbx for example is 99 mg but OE
reads only some old files over 2 years ago. Any idea how
I can get these back into Outlook? I have tried
exporting from Outlook Express. Is there a program to
analyze and correct the files? Or put them back together
as a PST file?
 
Did someone actually put the data into .DBX files? There's no reason why
such a thing would happen automatically, that's why I'm asking. Are you
sure there are no .PST files on your system?

--
Jocelyn Fiorello
MVP - Outlook

*** Messages sent to my e-mail address will NOT be answered -- please
reply only to the newsgroup to preserve the message thread. ***


In
 
I'm really not sure exactly how exactly they got
into .DBX files and there are no .PST files anymore.
This happened because someone reformatted my hard drive
and because of the size of the Outlook .PST file he saved
the Outlook data in .DBX files. But as to how exactly he
did this I don't know and he doesn't seem to know
either. When I load them in Outlook Express they only
appear to contain some very old 2002 email yet the files
are very large (99 meg for the inbox.dbx). It looks like
the data is there, I just don't know how to retrieve it.
(I was on vacation so didn't answer sooner.) Thanks for
any help.

Sam
 
I'm really not sure exactly how exactly they got
into .DBX files and there are no .PST files anymore.
This happened because someone reformatted my hard drive
and because of the size of the Outlook .PST file he saved
the Outlook data in .DBX files.
Click to expand...

Can't be done. Those are strictly Outlook Express files and can't be
referenced by Outlook. Without the old PST file, your messages are toast.
Did you search for a PST file, making sure to enable hidden files and
folders in Windows Explorer's Folder view options?
 
Yes, all of the about plus tried changing the extension
to .PST. Since the files are very large, far larger than
representative of the small number of Outlook Express
messages etc., I'm wondering if he could have attached
the .PST files to the end of the .DBX files. Isn't there
some kind of program to repair the files. I could strip
off part of the file but I wouldn't know which bytes the
remove. I have backups, but still am missing a month's
worth of information. I'm just hoping that there's a way
to retrieve the information. Thanks much for any help.
 
What Windows version are you using? If you're using Windows 2000 or XP,
make sure you are searching in hidden and system folders as well as in
regular folders, as sometimes .PST files are created in hidden/system
folders. If you still can't find any, unfortunately, your newer data may be
gone. You can't open .DBX files in Outlook, so if you don't see the data
when you open the files in Outlook Express, I don't know where it would be.
You might also try poking around at http://insideOE.tomsterdam.com -- it's
an OE website and they may have tips for making sure the .DBX files didn't
get corrupted somehow.

--
Jocelyn Fiorello
MVP - Outlook

*** Messages sent to my e-mail address will NOT be answered -- please
reply only to the newsgroup to preserve the message thread. ***


In
 
Yes, all of the about plus tried changing the extension
to .PST. Since the files are very large, far larger than
representative of the small number of Outlook Express
messages etc., I'm wondering if he could have attached
the .PST files to the end of the .DBX files.
Click to expand...

If he used the DOS-emulated APPEND command to attach the PST to the end of a
DBX, both are toast. Otherwise, I don't know what you mean by "attached the
PST to the DBX."
--
Brian Tillman
Smiths Aerospace
3290 Patterson Ave. SE, MS 1B3
Grand Rapids, MI 49512-1991
Brian.Tillman is the name, smiths-aerospace.com is the domain.

I don't speak for Smiths, and Smiths doesn't speak for me.
 
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