Outlook Express Corrupted DBX Files

[JB]

I have lost a bunch of email folders in Outlook Express 6. I see the files
in the folders directory but OE will not read them.

I believe they got corrupted when the machine was shutdown while it was
compacting messages.

Any way to recover the email files other than using some old backups I have?
Any magical tool out there?

JB

[Bruce Hagen]

Interrupting compacting will do that.

The two most common reasons for what you describe is disruption of the
compacting process, (never touch anything until it's finished), or bloated
folders. More on that below.

Why does OE insist on compacting folders when I close it?:
http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/why.htm#compact

Why Mail Disappears:
http://www.insideoe.com/problems/bugs.htm#mailgone

About File Corruption:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/community/columns/filecorruption.mspx

Recovery tools:

If you are running XP/SP2, or SP3, and are fully patched, then you should
have a backup of your dbx files in the Recycle Bin, (or possibly the message
store), copied as bak files.

To restore a bak folder to the message store folder, first find the location
of the Message Store.

Tools | Options | Maintenance | Store Folder will reveal the location of
your Outlook Express files. Write the location down and navigate to it in
Windows Explorer or, copy and paste it into Start | Run.

In WinXP, the .dbx files are by default marked as hidden. To view these
files in Explorer, you must enable Show Hidden Files and Folders under Start
| Control Panel | Folder Options | View.

Close OE and then in Windows Explorer, click on the dbx file for the
missing, or empty, folder and drag it to the Desktop. It can be deleted
later once you have successfully restored the bak file. Minimize the Message
Store.

Open OE and, if the folder is missing, create a folder with the *exact* same
name as the bak file you want to restore but without the .bak. Eg: If the
file is Saved.bak, the new folder should be named Saved. Open the new folder
and then close OE. If the folder is there, but just empty, continue on to
the next step.

First, check if there is a bak file already in the message store. If there
is, and you removed the dbx file, go ahead and rename it to dbx.

If it isn't already in the message store, open the Recycle bin and right
click on the bak file for the folder in question and click Restore. Open the
message store back up and change the file extension from .bak to .dbx. Close
the message store and open OE. The messages should now be back in the
folder.

If the messages are successfully restored, you can go ahead and delete the
old dbx file that you moved to the Desktop.

If you do not have bak copies of your dbx files in the Recycle Bin, then:

DBXpress run in Extract From Disk Mode is the best chance to recover
messages:
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

And see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#4

A general warning to help avoid this in the future:

Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually become
corrupted. Create your own user defined folders for storing mail and move
your mail to them. Empty Deleted Items folder regularly. Keep user created
folders under 100MB, and Default folders as empty as is feasible.

Turn off e-mail scanning in your anti-virus program. It is a redundant layer
of protection that eats up CPUs, slows down sending and receiving, and
causes a multitude of problems such as time-outs, account setting changes
and has even been responsible for lose of messages. Your up-to-date A/V
program will continue to protect you sufficiently. For more, see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3

And backup often.

Backup and Restore:

http://www.insideoutlookexpress.com/backup/

And this good one click backup program.

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB):

http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA

"JB" <J...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:18AA09EF-8592-42CA...@microsoft.com...

[JB]

Bruce,

Awesome!!! I had read something on the net about backed up files being in
the recycle bin but thought I was not at the right version/patch level for
that fix. I didn't event check the recycle bin until your response.

Thanks so much!

JB

[Bruce Hagen]

You're welcome.

--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA

"JB" <J...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:8BD4B49A-BB0E-4227...@microsoft.com...

[Chris]

[Chris]

Bruce: Your advice might be a lifesaver--I've seen it posted in several
places. I have the problem of lost emails, but also the problem that stumped
you in one pasting: renaming the /bak file to .dbx will not change the FILE
TYPE from bak to dbx. I have tried properties and all other sorts of tricks,
to no avail.

How do I get the file type altered from bak to dbx?

I need your help--you seem to be the expert on OE6 repair.....

Thanks!

CEP

[Bruce Hagen]

Stumped me???

1: How did you get the bak file into the message store? You should have just
used Restore while in the Recycle Bin.

2: Did you drag the corresponding dbx file out of the message store before
trying to rename the dbx file? You can't have two files with the same name.

If your message store view is set to Tile, you will see a different icon for
the bak file. If you right click on it and Rename, you should see xxx.bak.
just change the bak to dbx.

--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA

"Chris" <Ch...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:CCEA05E9-A18E-4E5B...@microsoft.com...

[Chris]

I seem to have insulted you; sorry. I saw your advice on this matter posted
somewhere--I can't find it now--where you appeared befuddled that even after
renaming the file from .bak to .dbx would not allow it to open....and that's
my very same impediment.

In direct reply:

1. Yes, I put the bak file into the message store using "restore." Just to
clarify, it is the default inbox.

2. Yes, I dragged the original inbox.dbx out of the message store. So, now I
have no inbox.dbx there. I renamed inbox.bak as inbox.dbx. The file is there,
but it is there with the file extension .bak.

I have tried changing the file association to OE; no luck.

There must, I assume, be a way to change the file type other than by the
file name process.....??

Thanks for your help.

CEP

[Bruce Hagen]

I'm not insulted.

I have no idea however why it won't let you delete the letters bak and type
in dbx.

Are you sure OE is completely closed when you do this?

Try this. Drag the Inbox.bak file to the Desktop. Can you rename it to Saved
Mail.dbx? If you can:

Open OE and create a folder with the *exact* same name as the one on the
Desktop, (Saved Mail). Open the new folder and then close OE. (You must do
this). Go to Windows Explorer and locate the Message Store folder for your
OE identity, but don't open it. Click on the Desktop and drag the file from
the Desktop in the right hand pane to the OE store folder in the left pane.
Prompt - "Do you want to overwrite......."? Click Yes.

*Note* If you have moved the Outlook Express store folder from it's default
location on drive C to another drive, drag the dbx file to a location on
that drive and not the Desktop.

--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA

"Chris" <Ch...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:F1AF40F1-BD3F-44FB...@microsoft.com...

[Chris]

One more thing....evidently a .bak file is a DOS or OS/2 file. Am I mistaken,
or shouldn't that make it relatively simple to convert to another form? cep

[Bruce Hagen]

You shouldn't have to convert anything. I did a test earlier since I haven't
actually done this since SP2 came out. I created a folder and copied
messages to it. I compacted and then deleted the messages in the folder. I
closed OE and went to the message store and deleted the dbx file for the
folder I created. I opened the Recycle Bin and restored the bak file. Back
in the message store I right clicked | Rename. xxx.bak was highlighted in
blue. I removed the bak and typed in dbx. The icon changed to match the
others. Closed the message store and opened OE. The messages were back in
the folder.

--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA

"Chris" <Ch...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:01117637-EAB5-4479...@microsoft.com...

[Chris]

Bruce: I tried your advice. Twice. I dragged the file out; I was able to
rename the file as Saved Mail, and created a folder of the precise same name.
I did not get the "Overwrite" prompt, which makes me think there was a
variation from the procedure you described, but I followed it exactly.
Regrettably, no luck.

To clarify: the .bak file at issue, inbox.bak, whether viewed in Tiles or
Details View, appears only as "Inbox." It does not show a file extension. But
when I right click for Properties, under file type it reads ".bak". I cannot
alter this field. If I rename the file, as you haev suggested, it reads as
Inbox.dbx, but in the Properties Dialog Box it still shows a file type of
.bak. It shows a default file association of Notepad.

cep

[Bruce Hagen]

After you created the folder in OE, (without the dbx), did you open the
folder and then close OE? You won't get the prompt if you didn't.

Here is another variation for doing basically the same thing.

How to restore individual dbx files:
http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx#imp1

--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA

"Chris" <Ch...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:F1434433-193C-4D26...@microsoft.com...

[Chris]

Curious. XP Home?

Well, I did manage to get it to work. I saw a file called inbox.dbx.bak. I
eliminated the .bak and voila it worked.

I am grateful for your patient coaching, and pleased we were able to get it
to work, even if it was not entirely as planned.

I've read your General Cautions carefully, and will change my practice going
forward accordingly....

Thanks a million.

cep

[Bruce Hagen]

Yes, XP Home.

You're welcome & glad you got it sorted out. As you can imagine, it would be
a lot easier if I had your machine in front of me. A lot can be lost in the
translation when posting, and that goes both ways. OE will always keep you
on your toes. <w>

Good luck for the future.

--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA

"Chris" <Ch...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:E1351149-AEA7-43BD...@microsoft.com...

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

All would have been well had you enabled 'Show Hidden Files and Folders' [1]
before you started to restore the BAK files as per Bruce's instructions in
the first reply to this thread [2] (which was started by someone else; yet
another reason to always begin your own new thread).
==========================
[1] www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial62.html
[2]
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.outlookexpress.general/msg/12e7d4284affac96
--
~PA Bear

[Weaver@discussions.microsoft.com Dean Weaver]

I recently 'emptied' my deleted items folder in OE, but in addition to
clearing the folder it also deleted several other (user created) folders. The
'dbx' files are no longer there....
I purchased DBXpress & selected 'Recover Mode' but it only seems to have
found the contents of the 'deleted items' folder - is there any way I can
recover my folders ?

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Please begin a new thread about your issues, Dean. State your full Windows
version (e.g., WinXP SP3) in your first post.
--
~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/

[Twayne]

In news:ea3c2fdb-c3db-4982...@googlegroups.com,
garyge...@gmail.com <garyge...@gmail.com> typed:
> Hi
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Good to know. Another way is to temporarily create a new Identity
with all the setting of the original, and check your mail. Since
it won't know anythinig about Read/Unread, it'll download all
messages left on the server. It's usually a lot more than you
think it is, even if you have Delete after readiing checked.
Delete, Read, etc. all seem to be related to your computer and
not your actual ISP's files. Always my first try.

The other thing is to figure out WHY those files became
corrupted; Since OE came out I've never had a corrupted dbx file.
I've heard others say it can happen though if you stop OE's
compacting process in midstream or don't allow it to tun at all.
It's defaulted to offer to compact in something like every 100
openings of OE.

HTH,

Twayne`

[garyge...@gmail.com]

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