Emails gone??

mercman1969

Hi all,

A couple of weeks ago i got the usual prompt that outlook express wanted to compact my folders..... i clicked yes to it and left it be

we then suffered a power cut part way through the procedure....since then some of my folders are missing the emails that they used to contain???

Can anybody shed any light on this please and is it possible to get them back?

Regards

Pete

JonnyThunder

OK, I don't know how much you know about computers so i'm gonna explain this as easy as possible. If your mail data store is corrupt, it may not be fixable - but this is how i'd go about it (assuming you have XP)...

Backing up your mail store

1. Go to my computer

2. Browse to C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR_USERNAME\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{BIG_ID_HERE}\Microsoft\Outlook Express

3. Copy all of the files in this folder to some other place on your PC (like C:\Temp)


Attempting import of store directory

1. Open Outlook Express

2. Go to File Menu -> Import -> Messages

3. Choose Microsoft Outlook Express 6. Click Next

4. Choose "import mail from an OE6 store directory". Click OK

5. Click Browse and find the file where you made your copy. Click Next

6. Choose All Folders. Click Next, then finish.


If all has worked out for the best, then you should have imported your mail back into the database. If however it's beyond repair then you may need a specialist tool to do the job, or indeed it may be beyond repair.

I hope this helps you out though.

mercman1969

hi,

Thanks for the info.....i did find the files as you suggested (dbx files) althought there is clearly data within these folders it does not show when i imported it into outlook express

I have a folder called orders, when i browse to it, it is showing some 450 kb as a dbx file

When i try to import it and look at it with outlook express it says there is no data to display?


Regards


Pete

JonnyThunder

If you followed the instructions from above and weren't able to use the copy to restore your data, then im afraid I don't know what else you can do. The method I showed you here is how you would backup your mail data before a format or whatever. I expect because yours is corrupt, it's too late to do that. But it was worth a shot.

I did find this site, which claims to have a tool for repairing DBX files - but I've no idea how legitimate it is. It does have a download though.

Good luck though.

JonnyThunder

UPDATE!!!!

Just found this on Microsoft site. Didn't read through, but it may contain info which could help you out....

Microsoft article on corruption in OE

Hope this helps!

Chippy_Minton

Are there any .bak files in the Store Folder?

If so, close OE, create a copy of the corresponding .dbx file for safekeeping (if it exists), rename the .bak file as .dbx, open OE and see if the missing emails have been restored.

Also, check your Recycle Bin for <mailFolder>.bak files, though a .bak file which ends up in the Recycle Bin is the result of successful compaction of that particular folder.

JonnyThunder

Oh why couldn't Microsoft have stuck to DBX files in Vista! :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

mercman1969

Hi all,

thanks for your help on this....

I have found all the bak folders in my recycle bin......you state this only happens upon succesful compactation of that file? i still have at least 6 folders with OE that states contain no data?

How is it best to tackle this?

Regards

Pete

Update: have checked all the dbx files for the folders that are missing data and they are all showing as 58.7KB

I assume this is just the size of the dbx folder? and that the data is no longer there?

Where would it have gone to and is it recoverable...the BAK file for the same folder in the recyle bin is 384KB will that contain the data?

Regards

Pete

Chippy_Minton

The .bak files are copies of the .dbx files before compaction, and if successful they are deleted.

59 KB is about the size of an empty folder, so a 348 KB .bak file probably contains lots of emails.

To recover a .bak file, e.g. myMail.bak:

1. Close OE.
2. Open the OE Store Folder in Windows Explorer. If myMail.dbx exists, create a copy of it. If not, say so and stop! (You'll have to delete the Folders.dbx file - but don't do this yet).
3. Restore myMail.bak from Recycle Bin.
4. In OE Store Folder, delete myMail.dbx if it exists. Then rename myMail.bak as myMail.dbx
5. Open OE.
6. If the folder now contains emails, delete copy of myMail.dbx, and repeat these steps for the other folders with no data.