Opening backed up emails

derrick

Exo wrote: »

If you opened the dbx folder then you must have been using a dbx viewer.
I have already given you a link to one such program.

I suppose we all do things differently and each to their own but I just wonder why you have created a OE backup and then deleted the messages from OE itself. Would it not be easier to create additional folders within OE in order to store the older messages or move them to another OE Identity. That will save the hassle of needing a dbx viewer.

Exo

Have never had a dbx viewer until about 20 minutes ago.

I have used the link and/or espresso's, and downloaded it as I have said above.

I have not created an OE back up folder then deleted them,(well actually I have, but that was to move old emails from the relevant boxes so I did not have to many emails in said boxes, but as some of the emails might be relevant for reference I just put them in folders on the desktop and on a pen drive in case I ever lost them, I do this about once a month,which includes all current emails as well, as couple of years ago I lost all of my emails through OE compacting and deleting ALL of the emails, and I did not want that to happen again.)

If I moved them to another folder within OE and I lost them,(OE crashed/compacted & deleted), then I would not have the back up that I have now by saving them to desktop/pendrive. And we are always being told to back up, there is no point backing up to the system that can and has failed.

Exo

Hi,

To open/read a dbx folder, you require a dbx reader.
If you managed to open previous backups without a dbx viewer, then they were not saved in the dbx format.
The OE Store Folder (which retains all mail folders/messages), is the normal folder used to create a copy/backup, and is in the dbx format.

By default, OE will create 5 folders, these being Inbox, Send, Delete, Drafts and Outbox.
If OE encounters a problem, then it is these folders that are likely to lose their contents. If you created your own personal folders within OE, then these normally remain intact.

I agree that you should backup your mail folders. It appears you are creating a backup and then deleting the original from OE which I can't understand. If you have not deleted the original, then why are you attempting to retrieve a mail message from the backup?

As your backups are not the OE Store folder, how do you backup your mail messages?
I am not being critical, just trying to understand what you are doing.

Compacting messages is necessary in order to recover disc space. Do not interfere with the compacting process or attempt to do anything with OE during the compacting process or a corrupt OE or lost messages will result

Exo

derrick

Exo wrote: »

Hi,

To open/read a dbx folder, you require a dbx reader.
If you managed to open previous backups without a dbx viewer, then they were not saved in the dbx format.
The OE Store Folder (which retains all mail folders/messages), is the normal folder used to create a copy/backup, and is in the dbx format.

By default, OE will create 5 folders, these being Inbox, Send, Delete, Drafts and Outbox.
If OE encounters a problem, then it is these folders that are likely to lose their contents. If you created your own personal folders within OE, then these normally remain intact.

I agree that you should backup your mail folders. It appears you are creating a backup and then deleting the original from OE which I can't understand. If you have not deleted the original, then why are you attempting to retrieve a mail message from the backup?

As your backups are not the OE Store folder, how do you backup your mail messages?
I am not being critical, just trying to understand what you are doing.

Compacting messages is necessary in order to recover disc space. Do not interfere with the compacting process or attempt to do anything with OE during the compacting process or a corrupt OE or lost messages will result

Exo

I have explained in my reply #22 what and why I do what I do.

I back up emails and save them on a desktop folder and on a USB pen drive by doing the following,(I have done what yolko suggested in #8, but that only worked for me twice, after that for whatever reason it would not work); -
OE> tools >options> maintenance > store folder> in store location window, copy path to folder location, paste into I E browser, erase the "outlookexpress" from the end of the path, press go, copy and paste the folder into my back up source.

The above in blue works every time.

I am not deleting emails I need to keep, only ones that I feel I do not need any more, but as I back up monthly, some of the deleted emails are saved, it was one of those that I think I saved a few months ago that I wanted to look at, I assumed it would be in either a sent or deleted folder from one of those months, but as I could not open them I could not find it.

As far as letting OE compact folders, I only did that once and OE lost/deleted ALL of my emails, including folders I had created, ever since then when OE asks do I want to compact folders, I say no then do it manually, that way I am in control, not OE, and I have never lost an email doing that.