Problem restoring Outlook Express files from backup

[H]

Well I may be hosed. My wife uses OE but I use Eudora so am not too
familiar with Outlook. Both she and I have User Accounts on her
computer under our names. I needed to restore my wife's computer and
reinstall the operating system, so I backed up all the folders and
files from Documents and Setting under her and my user ID folder
separately to an external drive, and then restored the drive to
original condition which of course flushed all its contents. After
hours of updating I finally have Windows XP ready to go, but I can't
find her Outlook Express data files to restore. I looked in the
Applications Data Identities GUID Identifier Microsoft Outlook Express
folder but it is empty. Surely backing up all the data in her User ID
folder saved the data --- but I can't find any of the .dbx files. What
gives???? -Harry

[Ron Sommer]

Are you looking in Local Settings\Application Data\Identities?
OE files are hidden. Are you viewing hidden files?
--
Ronald Sommer

"H" <he...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:c9867418-d170-4320...@i24g2000prf.googlegroups.com...

[H]

Yes, I'm viewing hidden files in Local Settings\Application Data
\Identities\AE807328-9B18...\Microsoft\Outlook Express\ and AH-HA!
THERE THEY ARE! There is a God, and his name is Ronald. I copied all
the files over and all is well. Thank you! -Harry

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Please state your full Windows version (e.g., WinXP SP3; Vista SP1).

What OE data did you back-up? Have you transferred it from the external
drive to the machine in question yet? If so, where does it reside?

Backup & Restore OE Data
http://www.insideoe.com/backup/
http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx <=includes info on Windows Mail in Vista

Importing OE Data (all DBX files, including Folders.dbx)
http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/how.htm#importOE5

Importing a single DBX file
http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/how.htm#importdbx
http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx (paragraph before the Windows Mail
section)
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Desktop Experience - since 2002
AumHa VSOP & Admin http://aumha.net
DTS-L http://dts-l.net/

[H]

Win XP SP3. I copied all all info in Documents and Settings\User Name\
to an external drive. I copied back all the hidden files to Local
Settings\Application Data
\Identities\AE807328-9B18...\Microsoft\Outlook Express\ and now all
the messages are there but I don't know where to find the Contacts and
the Account settings (user name, password, etc). Of course I could
create a new account, but then the Contacts are lost. So.... Where do
the Contacts and Account Settings live? Thanks very much, -Harry

PS: I looked at the websites mentioned, but couldn't find the info I
needed

On Aug 26, 7:48 am, "PA Bear [MS MVP]" <PABear...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Please state your full Windows version (e.g., WinXP SP3; Vista SP1).
>
> What OE data did you back-up? Have you transferred it from the external
> drive to the machine in question yet? If so, where does it reside?
>

> Backup & Restore OE Datahttp://www.insideoe.com/backup/http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx<=includes info on Windows Mail in Vista
>
> Importing OE Data (all DBX files, including Folders.dbx)http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/how.htm#importOE5
>
> Importing a single DBX filehttp://www.insideoe.com/faqs/how.htm#importdbxhttp://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx(paragraph before the Windows Mail

> section)
> --
> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
> MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Desktop Experience - since 2002
> AumHa VSOP & Adminhttp://aumha.net

> DTS-Lhttp://dts-l.net/

[Michael Santovec]

The contacts where most likely in a WAB file (if you have the Office
Outlook installed it's also possible that OE was set to share the
Outlook contacts instead of using a WAB file.) The WAB file is not
normally in the same location as the DBX files.

The Windows Address Book (WAB)
http://www.insideoe.com/files/wab.htm

The account information is stored in the registry. Unless you did an
export of the registry to a text file before reformatting, that
information is lost.

--

Mike - http://pages.prodigy.net/michael_santovec/techhelp.htm

"H" <he...@hotmail.com> wrote in message

news:0c3598ed-adcb-4a42...@p10g2000prf.googlegroups.com...

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

> ...I copied all all info in Documents and Settings\User Name\

> to an external drive. I copied back all the hidden files to Local
> Settings\Application Data
> \Identities\AE807328-9B18...\Microsoft\Outlook Express\ and now all
> the messages are there

If you truly Copied the data back into Windows (versus importing it), count
yourself as /extremely/ lucky that this data survived!

> ...I don't know where to find the Contacts and

> the Account settings (user name, password, etc).

If the back-up didn't include the Address Book (NAME.WAB or NAME.WAB~),
there's no way to recover its contents. (As Michael points out, if MS
Outlook had also been installed and it was "sharing" the Address Book data,
things get even more complicated.)

If you didn't export & save the Account(s) settings to IAF file(s), there's
no way to recover them.

--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Desktop Experience - since 2002

AumHa VSOP & Admin http://aumha.net
DTS-L http://dts-l.net/

[hef2k]

To: microsoft.public.windows.
Thanks to all who tried to help, and it appears that I was fortunate
to be able to recover even the messages. Pardon me for speaking
bluntly here, but this is f****** lunacy that saving all the files in
an identity including "local settings" doesn't save everything you
need to restore an identity's information. The people who architect
this stuff should be professionally crucified. At the least, all of
this data should be in a clearly identified folder just like Photos
and Music,and no bloody hidden files. Gmail, here we come! And thanks
*again* to all those who helped out with their advice. Seems to me
that the best long term advice is, "Don't use Outlook or Express" -
Harry

On Aug 28, 3:18 pm, "PA Bear [MS MVP]" <PABear...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > ...I copied all all info in Documents and Settings\User Name\
> > to an external drive. I copied back all the hidden files to Local
> > Settings\Application Data
> > \Identities\AE807328-9B18...\Microsoft\Outlook Express\ and now all
> > the messages are there
>
> If you truly Copied the data back into Windows (versus importing it), count
> yourself as /extremely/ lucky that this data survived!
>
> > ...I don't know where to find the Contacts and
> > the Account settings (user name, password, etc).
>
> If the back-up didn't include the Address Book (NAME.WAB or NAME.WAB~),
> there's no way to recover its contents. (As Michael points out, if MS
> Outlook had also been installed and it was "sharing" the Address Book data,
> things get even more complicated.)
>
> If you didn't export & save the Account(s) settings to IAF file(s), there's
> no way to recover them.
> --
> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
> MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Desktop Experience - since 2002

> AumHa VSOP & Adminhttp://aumha.net
> DTS-Lhttp://dts-l.net/
>
> H wrote:
> > Win XP SP3. I copied all all info in Documents and Settings\User Name\
> > to an external drive. I copied back all the hidden files to Local
> > Settings\Application Data
> > \Identities\AE807328-9B18...\Microsoft\Outlook Express\ and now all
> > the messages are there but I don't know where to find the Contacts and
> > the Account settings (user name, password, etc). Of course I could
> > create a new account, but then the Contacts are lost. So.... Where do
> > the Contacts and Account Settings live? Thanks very much, -Harry
>
> > PS: I looked at the websites mentioned, but couldn't find the info I
> > needed
>
> > On Aug 26, 7:48 am, "PA Bear [MS MVP]" <PABear...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> Please state your full Windows version (e.g., WinXP SP3; Vista SP1).
>
> >> What OE data did you back-up? Have you transferred it from the external
> >> drive to the machine in question yet? If so, where does it reside?
>
> >> Backup & Restore OE
> >> Datahttp://www.insideoe.com/backup/http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx<=includes
> >> info on Windows Mail in Vista
>
> >> Importing OE Data (all DBX files, including
> >> Folders.dbx)http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/how.htm#importOE5
>
> >> Importing a single DBX

> >> filehttp://www.insideoe.com/faqs/how.htm#importdbxhttp://www.oehelp.com/b...

> >> before the Windows Mail section) --
> >> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
> >> MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Desktop Experience - since 2002
> >> AumHa VSOP & Adminhttp://aumha.net
> >> DTS-Lhttp://dts-l.net/
>
> >> H wrote:
> >>> Well I may be hosed. My wife uses OE but I use Eudora so am not too
> >>> familiar with Outlook. Both she and I have User Accounts on her
> >>> computer under our names. I needed to restore my wife's computer and
> >>> reinstall the operating system, so I backed up all the folders and
> >>> files from Documents and Setting under her and my user ID folder
> >>> separately to an external drive, and then restored the drive to
> >>> original condition which of course flushed all its contents. After
> >>> hours of updating I finally have Windows XP ready to go, but I can't
> >>> find her Outlook Express data files to restore. I looked in the
> >>> Applications Data Identities GUID Identifier Microsoft Outlook Express
> >>> folder but it is empty. Surely backing up all the data in her User ID
> >>> folder saved the data --- but I can't find any of the .dbx files. What
> >>> gives???? -Harry

---
* Synchronet * The Whitehouse BBS --- whitehouse.hulds.com --- check it out free usenet!
--- Synchronet 3.15a-Win32 NewsLink 1.92
Time Warp of the Future BBS - telnet://time.synchro.net:24

[Bruce Hagen]

The identity information is in the registry, not the message store.

This freeware tool backs up everything in OE in seconds. All identities,
accounts, rules, even your customized toolbars settings. I reformatted last
month and restoring three identities with four addresses to the exact way
they were took less than ten minutes.

Disregard what is written in red. That is referring to a different program.

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB):
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--

Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA

"H" <he...@hotmail.com> wrote in message

news:d94d8a46-db93-4e9c...@v13g2000pro.googlegroups.com...

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

OE's been an odd, bug-ridden app ever since it was released over a decade
ago, and all further development was stopped in June 2006. (We suspect that
the guy who wrote OE has been permanently confined in a lunatic asylum and
wearing a straightjacket for years.)

It's best to learn what OE does and how it does it instead of trying make OE
do what you think it should do. (Your blood pressure will be much lower,
too, I can assure you.)
--
~PAŢ

[hef2k]

To: microsoft.public.windows.
Well I agree about the BP tactics, but I think it's best to just jump
ship to something that's logical and currently being maintained. I
don't want to spend my mental MIPS to learn something like that.Thanks
again for all your sage advice. Over and out. -Harry

On Aug 29, 11:17 am, "PA Bear [MS MVP]" <PABear...@gmail.com> wrote:
> OE's been an odd, bug-ridden app ever since it was released over a decade

> ago, and all further development was stopped in June 2006. (We suspect t=
hat
> the guy who wrote OE has been permanently confined in a lunatic asylum an=
d

> wearing a straightjacket for years.)
>

> It's best to learn what OE does and how it does it instead of trying make=

OE
> do what you think it should do. (Your blood pressure will be much lower,
> too, I can assure you.)
> --

> ~PA=DE

>
> H wrote:
> > Thanks to all who tried to help, and it appears that I was fortunate
> > to be able to recover even the messages. Pardon me for speaking
> > bluntly here, but this is f****** lunacy that saving all the files in
> > an identity including "local settings" doesn't save everything you
> > need to restore an identity's information. The people who architect
> > this stuff should be professionally crucified. At the least, all of
> > this data should be in a clearly identified folder just like Photos
> > and Music,and no bloody hidden files. Gmail, here we come! And thanks
> > *again* to all those who helped out with their advice. Seems to me
> > that the best long term advice is, "Don't use Outlook or Express" -
> > Harry
>
> > On Aug 28, 3:18 pm, "PA Bear [MS MVP]" <PABear...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>> ...I copied all all info in Documents and Settings\User Name\
> >>> to an external drive. I copied back all the hidden files to Local
> >>> Settings\Application Data
> >>> \Identities\AE807328-9B18...\Microsoft\Outlook Express\ and now all
> >>> the messages are there
>
> >> If you truly Copied the data back into Windows (versus importing it),
> >> count
> >> yourself as /extremely/ lucky that this data survived!
>
> >>> ...I don't know where to find the Contacts and
> >>> the Account settings (user name, password, etc).
>

> >> If the back-up didn't include the Address Book (NAME.WAB or NAME.WAB~)=

,
> >> there's no way to recover its contents. (As Michael points out, if MS
> >> Outlook had also been installed and it was "sharing" the Address Book
> >> data,
> >> things get even more complicated.)
>
> >> If you didn't export & save the Account(s) settings to IAF file(s),
> >> there's
> >> no way to recover them.
> >> --
> >> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
> >> MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Desktop Experience - since 2002
> >> AumHa VSOP & Adminhttp://aumha.net
> >> DTS-Lhttp://dts-l.net/
>
> >> H wrote:

> >>> Win XP SP3. I copied all all info in Documents and Settings\User Name=

\
> >>> to an external drive. I copied back all the hidden files to Local
> >>> Settings\Application Data
> >>> \Identities\AE807328-9B18...\Microsoft\Outlook Express\ and now all

> >>> the messages are there but I don't know where to find the Contacts an=

d
> >>> the Account settings (user name, password, etc). Of course I could

> >>> create a new account, but then the Contacts are lost. So.... Where d=

o
> >>> the Contacts and Account Settings live? Thanks very much, -Harry
>
> >>> PS: I looked at the websites mentioned, but couldn't find the info I
> >>> needed
>
> >>> On Aug 26, 7:48 am, "PA Bear [MS MVP]" <PABear...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>> Please state your full Windows version (e.g., WinXP SP3; Vista SP1).
>
> >>>> What OE data did you back-up? Have you transferred it from the
> >>>> external
> >>>> drive to the machine in question yet? If so, where does it reside?
>
> >>>> Backup & Restore OE
> >>>> Datahttp://www.insideoe.com/backup/http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx=

<=3Dincludes

> >>>> info on Windows Mail in Vista
>
> >>>> Importing OE Data (all DBX files, including
> >>>> Folders.dbx)http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/how.htm#importOE5
>
> >>>> Importing a single DBX

> >>>> filehttp://www.insideoe.com/faqs/how.htm#importdbxhttp://www.oehelp.=

com/b...
> >>>> before the Windows Mail section) --
> >>>> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
> >>>> MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Desktop Experience - since 2002
> >>>> AumHa VSOP & Adminhttp://aumha.net
> >>>> DTS-Lhttp://dts-l.net/
>
> >>>> H wrote:
> >>>>> Well I may be hosed. My wife uses OE but I use Eudora so am not too
> >>>>> familiar with Outlook. Both she and I have User Accounts on her

> >>>>> computer under our names. I needed to restore my wife's computer an=

d
> >>>>> reinstall the operating system, so I backed up all the folders and
> >>>>> files from Documents and Setting under her and my user ID folder
> >>>>> separately to an external drive, and then restored the drive to
> >>>>> original condition which of course flushed all its contents. After

> >>>>> hours of updating I finally have Windows XP ready to go, but I can'=

t
> >>>>> find her Outlook Express data files to restore. I looked in the

> >>>>> Applications Data Identities GUID Identifier Microsoft Outlook Expr=
ess
> >>>>> folder but it is empty. Surely backing up all the data in her User =
ID
> >>>>> folder saved the data --- but I can't find any of the .dbx files. W=