retrieving lost emails after compacting outlook express v 6

[Danarchism]

Today i performed the compacting function of my outlook express. Upon
re-opening outlook express my sent folder no longer has a batch of email from
december 07 until lunchtime today.

Does anyone know how to retrieve these ?

On a side note not sure if related but after the compacting my recycle bin
was full of .bak files all of which were named after my subsidiary folders
within outlook.

Any help advice much appreciated ?

[Michael Santovec]

The BAK files your OE folders before compacting. They are copied there
as a precaution in case something goes wrong with the compacting.

1) Look in OE at Tools, Options, Maintenance, Store Folder for the
location of your Store Folder. Then close OE.

2) Go to Recycle Bin and restore the most recent Sent Items.bak file.
That will put it in OE Store folder, but still as a BAK file.

3) Open the Windows File Explorer and look at the store folder you found
in step 1. (You may need to enable the the display Hidden and System
files in Tools, Folder Options, View as well as uncheck the option to
Hide extensions of known file types. You should see both a Sent
Items.dbx file as well as the Sent Items.bak. Rename the Sent Items.DBX
to Sentold.dbx and then rename Sent Items.Bak to Sent Items.DBX. When
you open OE, your Sent Items messages should be restored.

--

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

"Danarchism" <Danar...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:16AED4DE-F2D7-48D6...@microsoft.com...

[lisbon]

I lost a year's supply of inbox mails after compacting. Your post saved me.

Many thanks

[Michael Santovec]

You are welcome and thanks for posting back.

--

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

"lisbon" <lis...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8FB56F25-59B1-4097...@microsoft.com...

[cherbien]

Your post was extremely helpful, but for some reason when I found the emails
for the folder that I thought I had lost, I lost the all the new emails from
today, where would I find those?

[Michael Santovec]

The most recent BAK file will have messages up to the last time you did
a compact. Any messages received between that compact and when you
restored the BAK file won't be there.

Assuming this problem was with your Sent Items as the example was and
that you had renamed it to Sentold.dbx, then do the following

1) Create a new folder under Local Folders in OE. Call it for example
Restore. Click on the folder. It should be empty (no messages
displayed)
2) Close OE.
3) Go to the store folder as used before and delete the Restore.DBX (or
whatever you called the folder). NOTE: The DBX file should be
approximately 59 KB if it is empty. If larger, you have the folder
file.
4) Rename Sentold.dbx file to Restore.DBX (or whatever file you deleted
in step 3.
5) Open OE. The Restore folder should now have all the messages that
were there before you did the original restore of the BAK file. You can
then copy the most recent messages from this folder to current Sent
Items folder. When you happy that you have everything you can delete
the Restore folder in OE.

--

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

"cherbien" <cher...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:34C1E2A5-2A72-4E92...@microsoft.com...

[JillM]

Mike, The information you have providedis quite useful.

I have a related question that I would appreciate your insight on.

I had a Local folder called House in OE 6.0 that is no longer showing up.
I do see it as House.dbx in my Store location (size 1278 kb, last update
5/28/08)

I accidentally may have in the past 2 months hit 'yes' to the compact pop up
& then interrupted in the middle (I don't remember for sure). I do know that
I emptied my Recycle Bin a few days ago so there are no *.bak files in there
to restore.

Is there any way to at least get what is in House.dbx back in Outlook Express?
I'll take what I can get.

Thanks in advance for any help,
Jill

[Michael Santovec]

If you have the DBX file but OE is not showing it as existing, then you
have a somewhat different problem. The folders.dbx file is what tracks
the other DBX files.

What you can do is create a new folder with a different name. For
example call it House2. The access the folder in OE. There will be
nothing there. Close OE and then in the store folder delete the
House2.dbx file. If should be about 59 KB in size for being an empty OE
folder. If it's larger than that, don't delete it, you have the wrong
folder. Then rename House.dbx to House2.dbx. When you open OE it
should show the messages in the House2 folder.

If you still have problems, you'll need to run some recovery utilities
on the DBX file.

DBXtract - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtract/Default.aspx
DBXpress - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx
DBXtend - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtend/Default.aspx

OEX Enhancements - Import/Export/Resend/Duplicates/Attachments, etc.
http://www.oehelp.com/OEX/Default.aspx

--

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

"JillM" <Ji...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A1DBEF0C-E6BC-4213...@microsoft.com...

[JillM]

Splendid!! It fixed the problem. Thanks so much!!!!

[Michael Santovec]

You are welcome and thanks for posting back.

--

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

"JillM" <Ji...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:6382FF61-6E4B-47F1...@microsoft.com...

[wallabyceleborn]

Hi,

I just tried your solution and it worked. Thanks! It saved us a bunch of
trouble as this was my boss's computer.

But here's a note.

I noticed that for the folder that needed restoring, the old .bak file was
larger than the current .dbx file. I'm not sure if that's true for all
situations. Before restoring the emails, we were only missing about 20 most
recent days of emails out of a total of over 2 years worth. The solution
didn't cause me to lose any emails since we noticed the problem and searched
for a solution quickly.

Hopefully that information is useful to someone else.

Thanks again!

[T. Abraham@discussions.microsoft.com Sobi T. Abraham]

Dear Micheal,

I found your contact from the microsoft communities. I was searching in
google on how to retrieve lost emails on Outlook express. My problem is this :

I have about 39 folders on my OE local folders. Today strangely when i
accessed some folders, almost 9 of them had no mails inside. i lost all the
mails in them. Not knowing what to do next, and fearing i might loose all my
official mails of past 1 year, i tried taking a back up and in that attempt i
compacted the OE all folders.,which after reading your postnow, i understand
was a mistake to do.

All the 9 folders which are empty had lots of mails in them. I restored all
the .bak files from the recycle bin to the store folder. and tried renaming
them as explained above. i still couldnt get back the lost files.

Is there still hope ?

[Michael Santovec]

The BAK file in the recycle bin is a copy of the DBX file before
compacting. So it often would be larger than the DBX file you are
replacing.

--

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

"wallabyceleborn" <wallaby...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:639D9447-271C-4199...@microsoft.com...

[Michael Santovec]

How large are the files? Any "empty" DBX file is about 59 KB. If
larger than that, there are likely some messages in it.

Depending on how often you do compacts and how large your recycle bin
is, you might older BAK files in the recycle bin. But they wouldn't
have any messages newer than the date on them.

There are some recovery utilities that might be able to recover some of
your messages.

DBXtract - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtract/Default.aspx
DBXpress - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx
DBXtend - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtend/Default.aspx

--

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

"Sobi T. Abraham" <Sobi T. Abr...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:E86DA807-685B-4A89...@microsoft.com...

[rg_sp]

Hi,

yesterday my outlook started to compact all the folders. It finished without
problem but I don't have email from may to now (August). I don't have bak
files in the recicly bin and DBXtract show the same email I can read in
Outlook.

Any help will be wellcome. Thnks for this great log. RG

[Michael Santovec]

What version of Windows do you have? The update for OE to copy files to
the Recycle bin before compacting came out over 6 months ago for XP SP2.
If you are running an older version of Windows, such as Win98, I don't
believe that update is available.

And I'm guessing that you haven't made any manual backups.

In that case, about your only hope is trying this program which MIGHT be
able to recover SOME of your missing messages.

DBXpress - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

--

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

"rg_sp" <rg...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8BF421BE-576D-4C11...@microsoft.com...

[Erumaa]

"Michael Santovec" wrote:

Thanks to this post..
It really helps me retrieve those messages after compacting ...
really saves trouble..

[rg_sp]

I have XP Pro SP2 but the recycle bin is empty. I have tried with undelete
programms but the baks have gone.

You right, no backups at this time..

[Michael Santovec]

The update for creating the BAK files in the recycle bin came out after
SP2. If you haven't visited Windows Update recently, you may not have
the latest version.

--

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

"rg_sp" <rg...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:6E1A28F6-5E7A-41E2...@microsoft.com...

[rg_sp]

It could be. Any chance to recover the lost emails? Thnks

[Michael Santovec]

If you don't have the BAK files and you didn't make any manual backups
yourself, your only chance is a recovery utility that MIGHT recover SOME
messages.

DBXpress - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

--

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

"rg_sp" <rg...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:F4ACECC9-1E24-4D43...@microsoft.com...

[alice]

Hi Michael, this worked perfectly - thank you.

[Michael Santovec]

You are welcome and thanks for posting back.

--

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

"alice" <al...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:40E72BD6-822F-475E...@microsoft.com...

[dennisbuwaa]

Thanks Michael - I managed to recover my folders and some of my messages
using your advice.

What can I do where there are no .bak files for the .dbx files or where
there is more than one file with the same name except for a number in
brackets eg. Inbox (1).dbx and Inbox (2).dbx? Both contain a large amount of
messages going by the file size. Changing the name of one excludes the other
from Outlook Express.

[Michael Santovec]

When OE gets into trouble with a DBX file it creates a new one with a
number added. The highest numbered one is most likely the most recent.
Look at the date on the file to be sure.

The non-current ones are likely corrupted.

If you want to make both of them available to OE, you can try a
variation of this procedure:
How to import a single mail folder (*.dbx)
http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/how.htm#importdbx
For an alternate description, see the last paragraph here:
http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx

--

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

"dennisbuwaa" <denni...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:19139C16-C3E3-4428...@microsoft.com...

[R@discussions.microsoft.com Richard R]

Hi,
You seem to have helped a lot of people and..
I have a similar problem with lost emails from outlook express ( 2 months
worth dissapeared from inbox yesterday after I must have activated
compacting) and I've been trying to follow the solution but....
There's nothing in my recycle bin but I do have a deleteditems.dbx file
which looks about the right time in my email storage location (about
47,000kb). Anything I can do with this to get them back?

Best,

Richard

[Michael Santovec]

To have the BAK files in the recycle bin, you have to running Windows XP
and be reasonably up-to-date on your Windows updates.

The Deleted Items.dbx file contains messages that you deleted. If the
problem is due to compacting, the missing messages won't be there.

If you weren't making backups of your data and you don't have the BAK
files in the recycle bin, then your only option is to try a recovery
utility.

DBXtract - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtract/Default.aspx
DBXpress - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx
DBXtend - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtend/Default.aspx

--

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

"Richard R" <Richard R...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:62468539-4600-4B72...@microsoft.com...

[Frank Saunders MS-MVP IE,OE/WM]

"Richard R" <Richard R...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:62468539-4600-4B72...@microsoft.com...

Move the restored DBX (BAK) file to a different Windows folder.
Rename it to Restore1.dbx
Open OE.
Make an OE folder named Restore1.
Open that folder (Restore1).
Close OE.
In OE's store folder delete Restore1.dbx.
Move the one you renamed back to OE's store folder.
Open OE and open Restore1 in OE.

--
Frank Saunders MS-MVP IE,OE/WM
Do not reply with email

[andy]

I had the compact screen come up and so i hit yes. Now i have lost email
folders and alot of emails. My recycle bin is set to delete files auto so no
bak files are in there or in the stored file. However the missing folders are
in the stored file but i can not import them back?
"

[Michael Santovec]

If you are seeing a single DBX file for a folder (e.g. just the
Inbox.dbx for the Inbox folder), then there is nothing to import. OE is
already using it, and the file is likely corrupted.

If you are also seeing a DBT file (e.g. Inbox.DBT) or more than one DBX
file with a number included (e.g. Inbox(1).DBX and Inbox(2).DBX), then
it's possible that one files MIGHT have SOME of your messages and could
be imported.

How to import a single mail folder (*.dbx)
http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/how.htm#importdbx
For an alternate description, see the last paragraph here:
http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx

However, if none of those are available, and you don't have any manual
backups, about all you can try is some recovery utilities on the
existing DBX files.

DBXtract - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtract/Default.aspx
DBXpress - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx
DBXtend - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtend/Default.aspx

--

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

"andy" <an...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:D9DAF084-4E7A-4292...@microsoft.com...

[Kumar MC@discussions.microsoft.com Kiran Kumar MC]

Hi

I am facing a different problem with OE. Last two months mails are missing
from my inbox suddenly. Two hours before everything was there. what will be
the problem. I have not received any message from OE before it happening.
Please hep me out. Please send me your reply to my mail ID :
kirank...@gmail.com.

Thank you very much and expecting your reply at the earliest.

Kiran Kumar MC

"Michael Santovec" wrote:

> The BAK files your OE folders before compacting. They are copied there
> as a precaution in case something goes wrong with the compacting.
>
> 1) Look in OE at Tools, Options, Maintenance, Store Folder for the
> location of your Store Folder. Then close OE.
>
> 2) Go to Recycle Bin and restore the most recent Sent Items.bak file.
> That will put it in OE Store folder, but still as a BAK file.
>
> 3) Open the Windows File Explorer and look at the store folder you found
> in step 1. (You may need to enable the the display Hidden and System
> files in Tools, Folder Options, View as well as uncheck the option to
> Hide extensions of known file types. You should see both a Sent
> Items.dbx file as well as the Sent Items.bak. Rename the Sent Items.DBX
> to Sentold.dbx and then rename Sent Items.Bak to Sent Items.DBX. When
> you open OE, your Sent Items messages should be restored.
>
>
>

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

[Michael Santovec]

See:
Messages in Inbox or other mail folders disappear
http://www.insideoe.com/problems/bugs.htm#mailgone
Recovering lost messages
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#4

For further help use the following newsgroup for questions or problems
with OE
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.outlookexpress.general

You can also get to the Outlook Express newsgroups via this web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/default.mspx
There select Internet Explorer, then Outlook Express.

You will find out information about issues affecting Outlook Express 5/6
at:
http://www.oehelp.com/
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Bay/6386/IE_ng_notes.htm
http://home.attbi.com/~jimpickering/
http://www.insideoe.com/
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_oe.htm

--

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

"Kiran Kumar MC" <Kiran Kumar M...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:72CA9C25-6AAC-412A...@microsoft.com...

[nilocp]

There seem to be a number of very clever people on this discusion!

Can someone tell me why OE wants to compact my messages, when I am
only using about 5% of my hard drive?

I have already lost a batch of emails during a compacting session, and
I fear it is going to happen again, as I am 10 minutes into compacting
my Inbox.

What can I do to stop this compacting?

Thanks

[David]

I have read through the posts above but have not been able to resolve my
problem, being that 1.5 yrs worth of emails in one of my folders has
disappeared after a compacting.

The folder does not seem to appear in the recycle bin either or in windows
explorer with whatever extension.

I note you give links to a DBXtarct, DBXpress & DBXtend downloads, will any
of these resolve my problem and if so, which one?

thanks

David

[Michael Santovec]

You get prompted to compact after 100 closings of OE and every one after
that until you compact.

Although it does save some disk space, it's also necessary maintenance.
The larger the DBX files get the more prone to corruption they are. We
generally recommend keeping them under 100 MB each. The design limit is
2 GB. If a DBX file every gets to that size, OE will no longer be able
to access it.

Losing messages during compacting can indicate that the file was already
corrupted. Other causes of losing messages during compacting is
interrupting the process due to power loss, PC shutdown.

For further help use the following newsgroup for questions or problems
with OE
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.outlookexpress.general

You can also get to the Outlook Express newsgroups via this web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/default.mspx
There select Internet Explorer, then Outlook Express.

You will find out information about issues affecting Outlook Express 5/6
at:
http://www.oehelp.com/
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Bay/6386/IE_ng_notes.htm
http://home.attbi.com/~jimpickering/
http://www.insideoe.com/
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_oe.htm

--

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

"nilocp" <co...@firenet.uk.net> wrote in message
news:c4febcc8-9b6b-40da...@l33g2000pri.googlegroups.com...

[Michael Santovec]

The 3 programs are by the same author. The more expensive ones run
faster and do a better job of recovering messages.

But there's no guarantee.

For further help use the following newsgroup for questions or problems
with OE
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.outlookexpress.general

You can also get to the Outlook Express newsgroups via this web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/default.mspx
There select Internet Explorer, then Outlook Express.

You will find out information about issues affecting Outlook Express 5/6
at:
http://www.oehelp.com/
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Bay/6386/IE_ng_notes.htm
http://home.attbi.com/~jimpickering/
http://www.insideoe.com/
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_oe.htm

--

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

"David" <Da...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:305A6F37-D2D8-4C6E...@microsoft.com...

[David]

Thank you for answering. I will check it all out and let you know how I get on.

[Rob]

Hi. I've had my entire sent items directory disappear after compacting. I
didn't delete it. I followed your advice but there was nothing in my Recycle
bin to restore and I couldn't see any .BAK files in the store folder, only
.DBX. Also no hidden files etc. So I'm at a loss to know what to do. Any
ideas? Many thanks

"Michael Santovec" wrote:

> The BAK files your OE folders before compacting. They are copied there
> as a precaution in case something goes wrong with the compacting.
>
> 1) Look in OE at Tools, Options, Maintenance, Store Folder for the
> location of your Store Folder. Then close OE.
>
> 2) Go to Recycle Bin and restore the most recent Sent Items.bak file.
> That will put it in OE Store folder, but still as a BAK file.
>
> 3) Open the Windows File Explorer and look at the store folder you found
> in step 1. (You may need to enable the the display Hidden and System
> files in Tools, Folder Options, View as well as uncheck the option to
> Hide extensions of known file types. You should see both a Sent
> Items.dbx file as well as the Sent Items.bak. Rename the Sent Items.DBX
> to Sentold.dbx and then rename Sent Items.Bak to Sent Items.DBX. When
> you open OE, your Sent Items messages should be restored.
>
>
>

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

[Frank Saunders MS-MVP IE,OE/WM]

"Rob" <R...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F58D2EE2-DF3B-46AE...@microsoft.com...

In order to have the BAK files you would have to have WinXP SP2

[@discussions.microsoft.com Yvette]

Hi Michael - You seem to be the only person who knows how to help all of us -
I read this email you posted back in June but it seems to apply to retrieving
"sent" emails that have been compacted..I'm trying to retrieve my "inbox"
emails that were accidentally compacted when I lost power on Jan 1 - can you
help? Thanks - I hope you're having a better start to 2009 than I am -
Yvette

[Michael Santovec]

The same procedure applies to any mail folder in Outlook Express.

Instead of "Sent Items.dbx" and "Sent Items.Bak" you work with
"Inbox.dbx" and "Inbox.bak".

The reason you aren't seeing many responses from others is that this
newsgroup microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie55.outlookexpress
is largely obsolete. Not many people are using OE version 5.5.

For a more active newsgroup use
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.outlookexpress.general'
which applies to all versions of OE.

You can also get to the Outlook Express newsgroups via this web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/default.mspx
There select Internet Explorer, then Outlook Express.

--

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

"Yvette" <Yvette @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:20F08A96-16F1-4751...@microsoft.com...

[B@discussions.microsoft.com Steve B]

Thank you Mike. This worked for me when OE lost 4 months of mail in my inbox
while compacting. I just substituted the inbox folder for the sent folder in
your instructions below. Should I refuse an OE offer to compact my files in
the future? This was scary. I'm not a whiz at doing this and it took me a
l-o-n-g time. Also, another question: often, when I'm searching for old
emails, expecially when sorted by sender, they're not in my inbox. Other
emails from the same person are there. Just some are missing. Why is that
and is there a way to restore my inbox to 100% of what was originally there?

Thanks, Steve

[Michael Santovec]

Compacting is necessary maintenance. Not doing it will eventually lead
to problems as well.

Make sure that when you do compact that it let it run to completion and
don't shutdown the PC until I completes.

If you have repeated problems with a folder that could indicate that you
some corruption in the DBX file. In that case I would do the following:

- Create a new mail folder (e.g. Mytemp)
- Copy (not Move) the existing Inbox messages to the new mail folder
(Mytemp)
- Close Outlook Express
- Locate the file Inbox.dbx in the mail directory and rename it (e.g.
Inboxold.dbx) You can use Start, Find (or Search), Files or Folders,
Inbox.dbx to find it. On Win2000 you need enable the display of Hidden
or System files in the folder options and XP you need to use the
advanced options to find Hidden or System files. (You can also
determine the location by looking in OE at Tools, Options, Maintenance,
Store Folder.)
- Open Outlook Express again.
- It will create a new empty Inbox. Copy the messages back from the
Mytemp folder. You can now delete the Mytemp folder.

--

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

"Steve B" <Steve B...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:99731360-D067-40DE...@microsoft.com...

[user@discussions.microsoft.com devastated user]

I tried to follow your steps but when i went to the recycle bin there was
no Sent Items. bak. could it be that it was hidden?

devastated user

[Michael Santovec]

It could be that you have an older version of OE. You need to be using
OE6 on Windows XP and be reasonably up-to-date on applying updates. The
update to create the BAK files came out a couple of years ago.

If you don't have the BAK files, then see:

Messages in Inbox or other mail folders disappear
http://www.insideoe.com/problems/bugs.htm#mailgone
Recovering lost messages
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#4

For further help use the following newsgroup for questions or problems
with OE
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.outlookexpress.general

You can also get to the Outlook Express newsgroups via this web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/default.mspx
There select Internet Explorer, then Outlook Express.

--

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

"devastated user" <devastated us...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:409D89B5-01A3-489D...@microsoft.com...

[raynbow]

"Michael Santovec" wrote:

This same thing happened to me today. I've done everything you said to do,
but I can't find the file named in my Store Folder in order to rename and
restore my inbox emails. Is there something else I can do? Remember, I've
done every step up to opening the "store folder" which I've got the name
for. (I've searched all files in my system. Nothing comes up even though I
have the complete name for it)

[Michael Santovec]

Did you also do this?

You may need to enable the the display Hidden and System
files in Tools, Folder Options, View as well as uncheck the option to
Hide extensions of known file types

--

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

"raynbow" <ray...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:6897D878-C24A-4D66...@microsoft.com...

[johnboy23467]

Help please!

I have tried to follow some of the instructions below but appear to have got
a little confused.

Like others here, I inadvertantly pressed the yes button and subsequently
have lost all of my messages in my inbox from this year. I have managed to
locate the bak files in my recycle bin. I then tried to restore both the sent
and the inbox folders. However, when i reopened my outlook express my emails
were still missing. Can anyone help?

Many thanks
JOhn

"rg_sp" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> yesterday my outlook started to compact all the folders. It finished without
> problem but I don't have email from may to now (August). I don't have bak
> files in the recicly bin and DBXtract show the same email I can read in
> Outlook.
>
> Any help will be wellcome. Thnks for this great log. RG
>
> "Michael Santovec" wrote:
>
> > The BAK file in the recycle bin is a copy of the DBX file before
> > compacting. So it often would be larger than the DBX file you are
> > replacing.

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

> > "wallabyceleborn" <wallaby...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
> > message news:639D9447-271C-4199...@microsoft.com...
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > I just tried your solution and it worked. Thanks! It saved us a bunch
> > > of
> > > trouble as this was my boss's computer.
> > >
> > > But here's a note.
> > >
> > > I noticed that for the folder that needed restoring, the old .bak file
> > > was
> > > larger than the current .dbx file. I'm not sure if that's true for
> > > all
> > > situations. Before restoring the emails, we were only missing about
> > > 20 most
> > > recent days of emails out of a total of over 2 years worth. The
> > > solution
> > > didn't cause me to lose any emails since we noticed the problem and
> > > searched
> > > for a solution quickly.
> > >
> > > Hopefully that information is useful to someone else.
> > >
> > > Thanks again!
> >
> >
> >

[albert]

Yesterday I cancelled the compact process of the outlook mailboxes. The
mailbox inbox was quite big (more than 1 GB) and the recycle bin was disable.
I lost 100s of mails. There is no .bak file.
any help?

"Michael Santovec" wrote:

> The BAK files your OE folders before compacting. They are copied there
> as a precaution in case something goes wrong with the compacting.
>
> 1) Look in OE at Tools, Options, Maintenance, Store Folder for the
> location of your Store Folder. Then close OE.
>
> 2) Go to Recycle Bin and restore the most recent Sent Items.bak file.
> That will put it in OE Store folder, but still as a BAK file.
>
> 3) Open the Windows File Explorer and look at the store folder you found
> in step 1. (You may need to enable the the display Hidden and System
> files in Tools, Folder Options, View as well as uncheck the option to
> Hide extensions of known file types. You should see both a Sent
> Items.dbx file as well as the Sent Items.bak. Rename the Sent Items.DBX
> to Sentold.dbx and then rename Sent Items.Bak to Sent Items.DBX. When
> you open OE, your Sent Items messages should be restored.
>
>
>

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

[Michael Santovec]

I'm assuming you haven't been doing your own backups, so your only
option would be a DBX recovery program.

DBXtract - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtract/Default.aspx
DBXpress - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx
DBXtend - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtend/Default.aspx

The above programs are by the same author. The more expensive ones do a
better job of recovery (faster and recover more messages).

--

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

"albert" <alb...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:C4C7F4AE-B100-4B6D...@microsoft.com...

[Talwar@discussions.microsoft.com Amit Talwar]

Dear Michael,
i was going through your suggestions to solving the problem.

my OE6 got compact today..there was a heavy mail being downloaded..it
stopped in middle i don;t know why.

than it asked to compact to free the disk space.i clicked yes.

My Inbox had 9770 emails ..after compacting got finished it only had 770
emails left..i lost my 7 months data.

i searched .bak files also..it was not there..re cycle bin was empty
i am not able to get my emails in INbox back.

please help my getting it back as these emails are very important to me..

also in the store folder size of inbox is now reduced i.e it is as per 770
emails not like before.
i searched whole system ..i am not able to locate where it might have store..
please help..

regards
amit

[Michael Santovec]

If you don't find the BAK files in the Recycle Bin, then you either have
an older version of OE that does not make the BAK files before
compacting or something emptied your recycle bin.

And since you presumably have not been making manual backups or your
data yourself, you will have to rely on a recovery program to try to
recover SOME of your messages. You probably won't get them all back.

DBXpress - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

--

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

"Amit Talwar" <Amit Tal...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:C9FB3BF6-254B-4514...@microsoft.com...

[flamelil]

[Confused]

Mike, I went to where you stated in 3) but once there did not see the
SentItems.dbxfile or the SentItems.bak so I could not rename what I did not
see. Could you walk me through it as I have OE Express and maybe there is
something different. I have had this to happened to me twice, the first time,
I was able to retrieve most of my emails from Recycle Bin. This time I saw
all there. Clicked Restore to all events today, and NOTHING came back to my
OE emails/sent or out box.

Sarah

[MS]

Hi Thanks for your mails I am able to restore all my mails in Inbox Folder
using the same steps as you described for Sent Folder.

But I would like to ask that how I can prevent my files in future. What if
OE would like to compact more files what should I do or I have to follow same
procedure all the times.

Please reply.

"JillM" wrote:

> Mike, The information you have providedis quite useful.
>
> I have a related question that I would appreciate your insight on.
>
> I had a Local folder called House in OE 6.0 that is no longer showing up.
> I do see it as House.dbx in my Store location (size 1278 kb, last update
> 5/28/08)
>
> I accidentally may have in the past 2 months hit 'yes' to the compact pop up
> & then interrupted in the middle (I don't remember for sure). I do know that
> I emptied my Recycle Bin a few days ago so there are no *.bak files in there
> to restore.
>
> Is there any way to at least get what is in House.dbx back in Outlook Express?
> I'll take what I can get.
>
> Thanks in advance for any help,
> Jill
>
> "Michael Santovec" wrote:
>
> > The most recent BAK file will have messages up to the last time you did
> > a compact. Any messages received between that compact and when you
> > restored the BAK file won't be there.
> >
> > Assuming this problem was with your Sent Items as the example was and
> > that you had renamed it to Sentold.dbx, then do the following
> >
> > 1) Create a new folder under Local Folders in OE. Call it for example
> > Restore. Click on the folder. It should be empty (no messages
> > displayed)
> > 2) Close OE.
> > 3) Go to the store folder as used before and delete the Restore.DBX (or
> > whatever you called the folder). NOTE: The DBX file should be
> > approximately 59 KB if it is empty. If larger, you have the folder
> > file.
> > 4) Rename Sentold.dbx file to Restore.DBX (or whatever file you deleted
> > in step 3.
> > 5) Open OE. The Restore folder should now have all the messages that
> > were there before you did the original restore of the BAK file. You can
> > then copy the most recent messages from this folder to current Sent
> > Items folder. When you happy that you have everything you can delete
> > the Restore folder in OE.

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

> > "cherbien" <cher...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > news:34C1E2A5-2A72-4E92...@microsoft.com...
> > > Your post was extremely helpful, but for some reason when I found the
> > > emails
> > > for the folder that I thought I had lost, I lost the all the new
> > > emails from
> > > today, where would I find those?
> > >
> > > "Michael Santovec" wrote:
> > >
> > >> You are welcome and thanks for posting back.

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

> > >> "lisbon" <lis...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > >> news:8FB56F25-59B1-4097...@microsoft.com...
> > >> > I lost a year's supply of inbox mails after compacting. Your post
> > >> > saved me.
> > >> >
> > >> > Many thanks

[Michael Santovec]

Regular compacting is a normal and necessary function.

Most people never have any problems with it.

A power outage during compacting can be expected to cause. problems. A
power outage any time any file is being updated by any application has
the potential to cause problems.

Shutting down Windows while the compacting is still running can cause
problems. Let the compacting complete.

Allowing the DBX files to get too big before compacting makes them more
prone to corruption. It's best to try to deep them under a couple of
hundred MB each.

High use folders (e.g. Inbox, Sent Items) are more prone to corruption.
It's best to create user folders for long term storage of messages.

--

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

"MS" <M...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:38520746-AF6F-4374...@microsoft.com...

[KareninSt.Louis]

Michael, I tried your solution because of a similar problem with OE, but I
lost 10 months of inbox mail rather than sent mail, so where you mentioned
"sent" in your example, I substituted Inbox. However, after renaming the
files, etc., not only did my missing mail not get restored, but I lost ALL of
my inbox contents. So then I tried creating a new folder and renaming the
file with that name to see if it would show up there, but it still hasn't. I
know the files are still out there; I just can't get them to restore to my
inbox. What am I doing wrong? Thanks.

[KareninSt.Louis]

I am following up on my own post here. I solved the problem myself! I
figured out (after unchecking the option to hide extensions of known file
types) that I had failed to correctly label the new Inbox file. It had both
a dbx and bak extension. I feel so great about this because I learned so
much in the process. THANK YOU, MICHAEL!

[Michael Santovec]

You are welcome and thanks for posting back.

--

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

"KareninSt.Louis" <Karenin...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:3DF7D169-C993-49D0...@microsoft.com...

[Karen]

ATTN MICHAEL SANTOVIC

I JUST LOST THE LAST 2 WEEKS WORTH OF EMAILS FROM 30 JUNE TO DATE FROM MY
INBOX OF OUTLOOK EXPRESS VERSION 6. HELP, DO YOU OR ANYINE KNOW HOW TO GET
THEM BACK??

REGARDS

[Michael Santovec]

Did this happen when you Compacted your e-mail? If so, the compacting
process when bad but there should be a backup made just before the
compact in your Recycle Bin. Look in the Recycle bin for a file named
Inbox.BAK that shows as deleted at the time of the most recent compact.
There may be others from previous compacting. Note the folder that it
shows as being deleted from. Restore the Inbox.BAK file. Then go to
the folder with Windows Explorer. Make sure that OE is closed.

Rename the Inbox.DBX file to Inboxold.dbx. Then rename the Inbox.bak
file to Inbox.dbx. Restart OE and you should have the messages that
were there prior to the compact.

For further help use the following newsgroup for questions or problems
with OE
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.outlookexpress.general

You can also get to the Outlook Express newsgroups via this web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/default.mspx
There select Internet Explorer, then Outlook Express.

You will find out information about issues affecting Outlook Express 5/6

at:
http://www.oehelp.com/
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Bay/6386/IE_ng_notes.htm
http://home.attbi.com/~jimpickering/
http://www.insideoe.com/
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_oe.htm

--

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

"Karen" <Ka...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:0DE869F7-E224-4B4B...@microsoft.com...

[myrtle]

I have the same problem as danarchism but my store folder already contains
Sent Items.bak, Sent Items.dbx and Sentold.dbx. What do I need to do, please.

"Michael Santovec" wrote:

> The BAK files your OE folders before compacting. They are copied there
> as a precaution in case something goes wrong with the compacting.
>
> 1) Look in OE at Tools, Options, Maintenance, Store Folder for the
> location of your Store Folder. Then close OE.
>
> 2) Go to Recycle Bin and restore the most recent Sent Items.bak file.
> That will put it in OE Store folder, but still as a BAK file.
>
> 3) Open the Windows File Explorer and look at the store folder you found
> in step 1. (You may need to enable the the display Hidden and System
> files in Tools, Folder Options, View as well as uncheck the option to
> Hide extensions of known file types. You should see both a Sent
> Items.dbx file as well as the Sent Items.bak. Rename the Sent Items.DBX
> to Sentold.dbx and then rename Sent Items.Bak to Sent Items.DBX. When
> you open OE, your Sent Items messages should be restored.
>
>
>

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

[Michael Santovec]

Rename to something else.

When you restore the Sent Items.BAK file from the Recycle Bin it needs
to be that name. If it won't restore, then rename the Sent Items.bak in
the store folder to something else first, such as Sent Items2.bak.

As for renaming Sent Items.dbx to Sentold.dbx, rename to Sentold2.dbx.

The basic process is that the Sent Items.Bak in the Recycle bin needs to
end up as Sent Items.DBX in the store folder.

Once you are happy that the message are back, you can delete the "old"
files.

--

Mike - http://TechHelp.Santovec.us

"myrtle" <myr...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:7925947B-665F-4D44...@microsoft.com...

[myrtle]

Dear Michael,
thanks for your prompt reply,very much appreciated. Unfortunately it did not
work (or perhaps I did not make it work, I am an enthusiastic but usually
confused novice).
I think I lost the sent emails on 4th june 09 during a compacting (a 210MB
file). Before trying to retrieve them I had a batch of emails between 1st May
and 3rd June and another batch dated from 25th June to current in my sent
box. After going through the retrieval process you outlined I ended up not
restoring any and also losing the batch 25th June to current. I have reversed
the retrieval process and have regained the 25th June to current batch.
Any further suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Michael Santovec]

If you go through the restore process, your folder will be exactly as it
was before the compact. That means that any e-mails since then will be
lost.

If you are missing messages up to June 25th, that would suggest that the
problem occurred on or about just June 25th, not June 4th.

Do you have a Sent Items.Bak file in the Recycle Bin from around June
25th?

Since you have newer messages that you want to keep. I would create a
new folder (call it something like MyTemp). Then COPY (not move) any
message from the Sent Items folder to the MyTemp folder. Then do the
restore procedure to the Sent Items. Once you get the old missing
messages back, you can copy the MyTemp messages back to the Sent Items
folder.

If you can't find a suitable BAK file, you can try a recovery utility on
Sent Items.DBX file. Maybe it will find some of the missing messages.

DBXtract - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtract/Default.aspx
DBXpress - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx
DBXtend - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtend/Default.aspx

Those are all by the same author. The more expensive versions run
faster and do a better recovery job with more options.

--

Mike - http://TechHelp.Santovec.us

"myrtle" <myr...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:6A92ECAF-8166-4395...@microsoft.com...

[Walton@discussions.microsoft.com Matt Walton]

Thanks very much. I actually applied it to the inbox files as these were the
ones that had gone. I had some real important emails that were lost and this
article saved me. Thanks very much

[Kothari@discussions.microsoft.com Vinod Kothari]

I am using OE6 as well. I had the same problem that the posts below indicate
- the program automatically went into compacting mode, and at the end of it,
several folders became blank. However, I do not see .bak folders in my
recycle bin.

Is it possible to resolve this?

best
Vinod Kothari

[Michael Santovec]

If you doesn't get the BAK files in the Recycle Bin on compacting, that
you have an out-of-date Outlook Express.

The version of OE that does the automatic backup is only available on
Windows XP.

Without the BAK files, and presumable you didn't make your own manual
backups, you'll only option is some recovery utilities.

DBXtract - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtract/Default.aspx
DBXpress - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx
DBXtend - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtend/Default.aspx

The more expensive versions of those programs run faster and do a better
job of recovery.

--

Mike - http://TechHelp.Santovec.us

"Vinod Kothari" <Vinod Kot...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:98CF7671-405D-4439...@microsoft.com...

[faizah]

hello michael
i read ur post and it was quiet inspiring but i have a different problem as
i have formatted my computer and lost all my e-mails could you tell me a
possible way in which i could retrieve all my e-mails back
thanks
Your immediate response will be highly appreciated

[Michael Santovec]

I'm guessing that you didn't do a backup of your data before
reformatting.

If you reformatted the hard disk, the chances of recovering any messages
is slim.

If you did a quick format, this program Might recover Some messages
DBXpress - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

--

Mike - http://TechHelp.Santovec.us

"faizah" <fai...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8F2CE485-3FD6-4521...@microsoft.com...

[Imran@discussions.microsoft.com Usman Imran]

Hi Micheal,

Your article is very helpful but the problem with me is that after
compacting my OS I also clean my recycle bin. I lost my last 5 month mails.
Is it still possible to recover those mails? I badly need my lost mail.
Please give me some good news.

[Michael Santovec]

Do you have nay *.DBT files in the OE store folder location? If you do,
then treating those like the *.BAK files might restore your messages.
The DBT files are temporary files used during compaction. Normally they
are deleted automatically when the compaction completes.

Without that, then this program
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx
MIGHT recover SOME of your messages.

--

Mike - http://TechHelp.Santovec.us

"Usman Imran" <Usman Im...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:ADDE489D-5FC3-4F95...@microsoft.com...

[pcprop]

Outlook Express – Compaction and returning missing emails

What I have learnt about outlook express is that it doesn’t actually loose
any emails during the compaction, it renames the file inbox.dbx to inbox.bak
and then creates a new inbox.dbx

Outlook express may put the inbox.bak in the same folder as the inbox.dbx,
or it might put it in the recycle bin.

How to retrieve missing emails after compaction.

(this requires you to be able to see hidden files and file extensions.
Method: Open My Computer, click Tools menu, Folder options, Views tab, Click
Show Hidden files, untick hide extensions for known file types, click OK)

1. Open Outlook Express
2. Create a new mailbox eg. Damagedinbox (right click on Local folders,
choose New Folder)
3. Close Outlook Express
4. Go to the folder location for the Inbox, somewhere in the hidden folder.
For me the folder is here C:\Documents and Settings\Matt\Local
Settings\Application
Data\Identities\{4585D85C-62DB-482E-93D4-DFE0635E6935}\Microsoft\Outlook
Express
5. Delete the file Damagedinbox.dbx
6. Rename the file Inbox.bak to DamagedInbox.dbx
7. Open Outlook Express, and look in the folder Damagedinbox and you should
see all your missing emails.

Notes about Outlook Express compaction

When the Outlook Express reaches a 2GB file size with any of the folders,
inbox, sentbox, etc. it can’t deal with it properly. So compaction is
designed to make the file/mailbox smaller, so to keep it working properly.

I have seen a Sent Items.dbx file get to 2GB in size, and Outlook Express
wouldn’t put the email from the Outbox to the Sent Items because it would not
fit, and so it kept re-sending the email, I think the recipient got the same
email over 25 times before I sorted it.

When you delete a email from a mail box, eg, the inbox, the inbox.dbx file
doesn’t get any smaller, which is probably why Microsoft made the compaction
process, to keep down the size of the inbox.dbx file.

If you are going to keep stop outlook express from compacting messages, then
you need to keep an eye on the file sizes for you inbox, sent items etc.

Hope this helps

Matt
www.pcprop.com

"rg_sp" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> yesterday my outlook started to compact all the folders. It finished without
> problem but I don't have email from may to now (August). I don't have bak
> files in the recicly bin and DBXtract show the same email I can read in
> Outlook.
>
> Any help will be wellcome. Thnks for this great log. RG
>

> "Michael Santovec" wrote:
>
> > The BAK file in the recycle bin is a copy of the DBX file before
> > compacting. So it often would be larger than the DBX file you are
> > replacing.
> >

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

[ComputerShabby]

After compacting, my main folder I use (wife & I share but NO identities)
Chris- old was deleted along with all the subfolders. I should have had them
backed up but didn't. The info inside is very important to me. I have read
the posts & basically understand the method you descibed. I found the folder
backups in the recycling bin, though nothing of their name appears in the
database folder of OE.

However, I am very afraid to do something in the wrong order & mess
something up. I want to restore the main folder & all the subfolders, but of
course, the very names of these folders are not in my OE anymore. I am not
even absolutely certain of the order they were in before as it was something
like Chris- old under it were subfolders like Keep but I don't know if say
Lori was under Keep or in its own folder under Chris- old. So, what are the
exact steps I need to take in the exact order? If I'm sure you are busy if
this thread is even still active, but I can't wait too long as I am so afraid
somehow they will just disappear or it will try to compact again or
something. Please help. I'm thinking I restore on all in the recycling bin
& then create folders with same names, delete new dbx as you said once OE is
off, then change names of backups to current dbx names I just deleted. Then
all should be well & I can turn OE back on & them be there? Is this correct
or did I miss anything? Thanks so much for any help anyone provides.

[ComputerShabby]

I decided I was too scared to wait so I made a backup of what was there,
restored the folders.bak & replaced the folders.dbx & it brought my folder
structure back (but with wrong #s of course), then since it wouldn't register
those folders without anything in them, I made a simple draft for each folder
& subfolder & moved them to each folder, turned OE off, it registered the
folders, then I tried my least important subfolder, restored & replaced it,
turned on OE, it worked, so then I turned it off & one by one restored &
renamed all the rest as you stated & everything is back. Then I immediately
backed it all up (everyone reading, go and do this NOW, make a copy backup
folder somewhere the OE folder if you don't have an automatic utility).
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR THIS PAGE! I don't know what I would have done.

[Rich]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

"Michael Santovec" wrote:

> The BAK files your OE folders before compacting. They are copied there
> as a precaution in case something goes wrong with the compacting.
>
> 1) Look in OE at Tools, Options, Maintenance, Store Folder for the
> location of your Store Folder. Then close OE.
>
> 2) Go to Recycle Bin and restore the most recent Sent Items.bak file.
> That will put it in OE Store folder, but still as a BAK file.
>
> 3) Open the Windows File Explorer and look at the store folder you found
> in step 1. (You may need to enable the the display Hidden and System
> files in Tools, Folder Options, View as well as uncheck the option to
> Hide extensions of known file types. You should see both a Sent
> Items.dbx file as well as the Sent Items.bak. Rename the Sent Items.DBX
> to Sentold.dbx and then rename Sent Items.Bak to Sent Items.DBX. When
> you open OE, your Sent Items messages should be restored.
>
>
>

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

[amstoryteller]

[amstoryteller]

I used this method to restore and it worked on several folders. But on my
Inbox.dbx it did not work. I may have had OE open when I tried. I still have
a file titled Inboxold1.dbx with the original files but there is no longer a
.dbx file. What can i do to restore.

[amstoryteller]

I was able to restore some files but my main inbox.dbx did not restore. I
still appears from where I resaved it and the size indicates there is still
large data there. But there is no .bak file. How can I recover?

[Michael Santovec]

Check the dates on the files. You may have had multiple versions of the
BAK files in the Recycle Bin. You would want the one with the Delete
date of just before the compacting.

If there most recent one didn't work, you could try the next older one.

If the renames don't work, you can try some recovery utilities.

DBXtract - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtract/Default.aspx
DBXpress - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx
DBXtend - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtend/Default.aspx

They are all by the same author. The more expensive versions run faster
and do a better job of recovering messages. The lowest cost one can
takes a day or more to run on a large DBX file (several hundred MB)

--

Mike - http://TechHelp.Santovec.us

"amstoryteller" <amstor...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:6650FE77-61EA-4318...@microsoft.com...

[JamesG]

[JamesG]

Hi Matt,

I have carried out steps 1 - 5 as you recommend but I can't find Inbox.bak.
Would appreciate any ideas / help on how to find emails in my compacted
inbox. Thankyou in advance. JamesG

[Michael Santovec]

That's because he left out a step.

If you have a reasonably up-to-date version of OE on Win XP, OE puts a
copy of of your folders in the Recycle Bin before compacting changing
the DBX extension to BAK.

You need to go to the Recycle Bin, locate the BAK file that shows as
having been deleted at the time of the compacting and select to Restore
that file. That will put it in the OE store folder but still with the
BAK extension.

Older versions of OE did not create the BAK files, so this recovery
procedure isn't an option with them.

--

Mike - http://TechHelp.Santovec.us

"JamesG" <Jam...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9C111F72-CCEC-4DDF...@microsoft.com...

> Hi Matt,
>
> I have carried out steps 1 - 5 as you recommend but I can't find
> Inbox.bak.
> Would appreciate any ideas / help on how to find emails in my
> compacted
> inbox. Thankyou in advance. JamesG
>
> "pcprop" wrote:
>
>>

>> Outlook Express - Compaction and returning missing emails

[jimmyar...@gmail.com]

Get your email back by use to how to fix .dbx files

http://www.repairoutlookexpress.recoverytoolbox.com/

[cleymo...@gmail.com]

You post really saved me. I spent quite some hours over the internet to look for the solution to my problem but in vain. Until I read your post, and I did as you told, my problem was solved.

Many thanks for your help.

[abt...@charter.net]

Thank you Michael! Today while compacting OE I had lost 3 years of sent messages, which I refer back to at times! I know, they should be backed up somewhere else, but don't know how to do that . . . You saved my sent messages and I am very grateful! Thank you again for helping ~

[samra...@gmail.com]

Hi, MICHEL
I have some problem on outlook .dbx folder
can you help me to recover from this hell situation?

Regard's

Faruk Ahamed

On Sunday, July 27, 2008 1:37:48 AM UTC+5:30, Michael Santovec wrote:
> If you have the DBX file but OE is not showing it as existing, then you
> have a somewhat different problem. The folders.dbx file is what tracks
> the other DBX files.
>
> What you can do is create a new folder with a different name. For
> example call it House2. The access the folder in OE. There will be
> nothing there. Close OE and then in the store folder delete the
> House2.dbx file. If should be about 59 KB in size for being an empty OE
> folder. If it's larger than that, don't delete it, you have the wrong
> folder. Then rename House.dbx to House2.dbx. When you open OE it
> should show the messages in the House2 folder.
>
> If you still have problems, you'll need to run some recovery utilities
> on the DBX file.

>
> DBXtract - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtract/Default.aspx
> DBXpress - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx
> DBXtend - http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtend/Default.aspx
>

> OEX Enhancements - Import/Export/Resend/Duplicates/Attachments, etc.
> http://www.oehelp.com/OEX/Default.aspx

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

> "JillM" <Ji...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:A1DBEF0C-E6BC-4213...@microsoft.com...
> > Mike, The information you have providedis quite useful.
> >
> > I have a related question that I would appreciate your insight on.
> >
> > I had a Local folder called House in OE 6.0 that is no longer showing
> > up.
> > I do see it as House.dbx in my Store location (size 1278 kb, last
> > update
> > 5/28/08)
> >
> > I accidentally may have in the past 2 months hit 'yes' to the compact
> > pop up
> > & then interrupted in the middle (I don't remember for sure). I do
> > know that
> > I emptied my Recycle Bin a few days ago so there are no *.bak files in
> > there
> > to restore.
> >
> > Is there any way to at least get what is in House.dbx back in Outlook
> > Express?
> > I'll take what I can get.
> >
> > Thanks in advance for any help,
> > Jill
> >
> > "Michael Santovec" wrote:
> >
> >> The most recent BAK file will have messages up to the last time you
> >> did
> >> a compact. Any messages received between that compact and when you
> >> restored the BAK file won't be there.
> >>
> >> Assuming this problem was with your Sent Items as the example was and
> >> that you had renamed it to Sentold.dbx, then do the following
> >>
> >> 1) Create a new folder under Local Folders in OE. Call it for
> >> example
> >> Restore. Click on the folder. It should be empty (no messages
> >> displayed)
> >> 2) Close OE.
> >> 3) Go to the store folder as used before and delete the Restore.DBX
> >> (or
> >> whatever you called the folder). NOTE: The DBX file should be
> >> approximately 59 KB if it is empty. If larger, you have the folder
> >> file.
> >> 4) Rename Sentold.dbx file to Restore.DBX (or whatever file you
> >> deleted
> >> in step 3.
> >> 5) Open OE. The Restore folder should now have all the messages that
> >> were there before you did the original restore of the BAK file. You
> >> can
> >> then copy the most recent messages from this folder to current Sent
> >> Items folder. When you happy that you have everything you can delete
> >> the Restore folder in OE.

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

> >> "cherbien" <cher...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:34C1E2A5-2A72-4E92...@microsoft.com...
> >> > Your post was extremely helpful, but for some reason when I found
> >> > the
> >> > emails
> >> > for the folder that I thought I had lost, I lost the all the new
> >> > emails from
> >> > today, where would I find those?
> >> >
> >> > "Michael Santovec" wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> You are welcome and thanks for posting back.

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

> >> >> "lisbon" <lis...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> >> news:8FB56F25-59B1-4097...@microsoft.com...
> >> >> > I lost a year's supply of inbox mails after compacting. Your
> >> >> > post
> >> >> > saved me.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Many thanks

> >> >> >
> >> >> > "Michael Santovec" wrote:
> >> >> >
> >> >> >> The BAK files your OE folders before compacting. They are
> >> >> >> copied
> >> >> >> there
> >> >> >> as a precaution in case something goes wrong with the
> >> >> >> compacting.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> 1) Look in OE at Tools, Options, Maintenance, Store Folder for
> >> >> >> the
> >> >> >> location of your Store Folder. Then close OE.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> 2) Go to Recycle Bin and restore the most recent Sent Items.bak

> >> >> >> file.

> >> >> >> That will put it in OE Store folder, but still as a BAK file.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> 3) Open the Windows File Explorer and look at the store folder
> >> >> >> you
> >> >> >> found
> >> >> >> in step 1. (You may need to enable the the display Hidden and
> >> >> >> System
> >> >> >> files in Tools, Folder Options, View as well as uncheck the
> >> >> >> option
> >> >> >> to
> >> >> >> Hide extensions of known file types. You should see both a
> >> >> >> Sent
> >> >> >> Items.dbx file as well as the Sent Items.bak. Rename the Sent
> >> >> >> Items.DBX
> >> >> >> to Sentold.dbx and then rename Sent Items.Bak to Sent
> >> >> >> Items.DBX.
> >> >> >> When
> >> >> >> you open OE, your Sent Items messages should be restored.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >>

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

[Peter - England]

Same happened to me after compacting. Many thanks. Peter Lorimer