Transferring Win98 OE 5.0 .dbx files to WinXP OE 6.0

[Janice]

I purchased a new computer with Windows XP, Outlook
Express version 6.0. My old system had Windows 98,
Outlook Express version 5.0. Using a USB Jump Drive, I
transferred my old system's .dbx files onto my new
system's hard drive. I've tried importing the messages
and come up with an error saying there are no messages in
the specified folder to import (which there are). It only
shows OE v4 and OE v6 to import from. I've tried both.
Neither works. I have a very slow internet connection and
don't want to spend the multiple hours it's going to take
to download Internet Explorer 6.0 (which contains the OE
v6 component)onto my old machine, just to end up finding
out it still won't import the messages. Does anyone have
a simpler solution here? I'm beyond frustrated.

 

[Tee]

I purchased a new computer with Windows XP, Outlook
Express version 6.0. My old system had Windows 98,
Outlook Express version 5.0. Using a USB Jump Drive, I
transferred my old system's .dbx files onto my new
system's hard drive. I've tried importing the messages
and come up with an error saying there are no messages in
the specified folder to import (which there are). It only
shows OE v4 and OE v6 to import from. I've tried both.
Neither works. I have a very slow internet connection and
don't want to spend the multiple hours it's going to take
to download Internet Explorer 6.0 (which contains the OE
v6 component)onto my old machine, just to end up finding
out it still won't import the messages. Does anyone have
a simpler solution here? I'm beyond frustrated.

I've always just copied my old .dbx files into my new OE folder. First I
rename the "new" existing files rather than overwriting them. When you open
OE6 it should then read the files. In XP you have to do it in your personal
folder: Documents & Settings/Your Name/Local
Settings/Identities/Microsoft/Outlook Express

Wait for someone else to verify though because I'm suddenly having OE6
problems and wish I could have OE5 back. I've done the above several times
before but for some reason this particular install of OE6 on the new machine
isn't working properly.

 

[Ron Sommer]

Did you remove the Read Only attribute from the dbx files?
Are the files in a separate folder?
Did you include the folders.dbx file?

OE 5 and OE 6 files are the same.

 

[PA Bear]

References:

Backup & Restore OE Data
http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/backup/index.htm

OE Files & Settings
http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/files/index.htm

Importing OE Data
http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/faqs/how.htm#importOE5
http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/faqs/how.htm#importdbx

OE Freebie Backup
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx

Using WinXP's FAST Wizard (Gary Woodruff, MVP)
http://aumha.org/win5/a/fast.htm
--
OE6-specific newsgroup:
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress

HTH...Please post back to this thread

~Robear Dyer (aka PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE), AH-VSOP

Protect Your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/default.asp