live mail message store folder size - is there a maximum?

[Ian R]

Hi

Is there a maximum size for the Windows Live mail Message Store folder?

I want to migrate all my Outlook Express messages into WLM on a new W7
system.

My current OE message store has just over 500 folders (dbx files) and
totals 2.67GB. The majority of dbx files are under 50Mb - a few are
approx 100MB and two are approx 250MB.

Will WLM cope with all this OK?

Any suggestions or recommendations on how to go about this with WLM?

Thanks for your time.

Ian

[Emrys Davies]

"Ian R" <nos...@nopsam.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.278c3c8e1...@news.btinternet.com...

You may find this helpful: http://www.blurtit.com/q4111825.html re-space
and this from Bruce Hagen re- the transfer:

Transferring data from Outlook Express to Windows Live Mail:

For messages:

Copy the *ENTIRE* OE message store folder to a flash drive. (Folders.dbx
must be included). Place this on the Desktop or other location on the
machine using WLMail. Open WLMail and: File | Import | Messages |
Microsoft Outlook Express 6 and point to where you saved it.

OE Message Store Location:

In OE: 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, Win2K & Win2K3, the OE user files (DBX and WAB) are by default
marked as hidden. To view these files in Windows Explorer, you must enable
Show Hidden Files and Folders under Start | Control Panel | Folder Options
Icon | View, or in Windows Explorer | Tools | Folder Options | View.

For Addresses:

Open the Address Book in OE and File | Export | Address Book (wab) and
save it to the Desktop. Copy to a flash drive. Place this on the Desktop
or other location on the machine using WLMail.

Open the Contacts list in WLMail, (Go | Contacts on the Menu Bar), and
File | Import | Windows Address Book (wab) and point to where you saved
it.

Note: If you use a CD or DVD instead of a flash drive, after placing on
the new machine you must remove the Read Only attribute in Properties
before you import.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP [Mail]
Imperial Beach, CA

"Craig" <Cr...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:3036E9E3-4181-4284...@microsoft.com...
>I attempted to import my whole nest of folders of messages from OE on one
> computer to WLM on a new one. It appears the import was successful but I
> cannot find my messages. The couple dozen in various folders that
> happened to
> still be marked as unread are there and accessible under Quick views:
> unread
> enmail, so I know they are there but where? Under Storage Folders:
> Imported
> Folder. I find nothing. Thanks for any help.

[Bruce Hagen]

WLMail will cope with the size of folders much better than OE. Each
message is stored as its own eml file, so AFAIK, there is no limit except
your computers.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Oct. 1, 2004 ~ Sept. 30, 2010
Imperial Beach, CA

"Ian R" <nos...@nopsam.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.278c3c8e1...@news.btinternet.com...

[N. Miller]

I had to wait until the others! :(

WLMail stores email as individual files, in folders which are a part of the
native Windows file system. So the folder size is limited by the layout of
your Windows file system.

--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum

[Ildhund]

Ian R wrote...

> Any suggestions or recommendations on how to go about this with WLM?

 

It may be too late for this, but you should compact the OE folders before transferring the .dbx files to the new machine. This will avoid many problems with indexing irregularities within OE.

 

My advice would be 'take it gently'. That is a lot of files being created, and the process will strain your system to its limits. To relieve some of that strain, I would disable as many other processes as possible meanwhile. That would involve setting WLMail to work offline, disconnecting from the Internet and disabling security software (assuming you're sure that the data you're importing is clean) so that your AV does not have to intercept every one of those files as it's written to disk. I would also stop indexing services, which will also be using resources to grab each of those files. The Windows Search service will not only try to index each message, it will also try to write a whole load of properties to each file, and while it's pretty well behaved, it might still interfere.

 

So, isolate the process as far as possible, let WLMail get on with it and don't disturb it until it's quite finished. When it has finished the import, don't go hunting yet - start Task Manager and keep an eye on what wlmail.exe is up to. When it stops doing anything, close WLMail down. Task Manager may show renewed activity in wlmail.exe as some internal housekeeping goes on. Only when wlmail.exe disappears from the process list should you re-launch it.

 

Your next task will be to re-locate all those files from Imported folders to their proper place. You can't move folders, only files, so you should create new folders and then move the contents of imported folders into the new ones. The same as I wrote above still applies - do all this offline with AV and indexing disabled, and take your time. Moving thousands of files at once is again a strain on the system, so allow WLMail to settle down between phases.

 

When all is in place, close down WLMail again and wait until the aircraft has come to a complete stop before leaving your seat. When it has, reboot to reset your security software and restart the indexing services. Now you can go hunting to check that everything made it.

 

This may all sound pernickety, but I've found that I've avoided many of the problems that others have experienced by 'taking it gently'.

--

Noel

[...winston]

How much of that 2.67 GB is associated with newsgroup messages ?

--
...winston
msft mvp mail

"Ian R" wrote in message
news:MPG.278c3c8e1...@news.btinternet.com...

Hi

[Peter.R.]

Hi Noel,

 

I think I read someone else also saying that we cannot move 'folders'...

 

However, I can still move folders about in WLMail's Storage Folders using drag and drop.

 

I wish we couldn't, because as you know, the same folder that is moved in WLMail's interface, is not actually moved in the Message Store - it is simply reindexed to the new location, which is ordered chaos at best, but occasionally disastrous...

 

--

Peter.R

(Windows Live Mail 2011 (Build 15.4.3508) on Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit)

"There are more things in Heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - Shakespeare

_______________________________________________________________________

"Ildhund" <jn...@removemsn.com> wrote in message news:ifuvib$mnj$1...@news.eternal-september.org...

 

[Trimmed...]

[Ildhund]

Peter.R. wrote...

> I can still move folders about in WLMail's Storage Folders using drag and drop.

 

Yes, of course, and sorry to the OP for perhaps misleading him. I was thinking of the scenario where you had all your subject folders neatly organized in OE and expected WLMail to understand where you wanted those folders once imported. I keep all my 'working' folders under the topmost account in the folder pane, where I can keep my eye on them and not have to scroll beyond the bottom of the window to find them in storage folders.

 

OP: you can move folders around within storage folders or within an account, but not from one account to another or between accounts and storage folders.

--

Noel

[Magnus]

On 1/6/2011 6:51 PM, Ildhund wrote:
> Peter.R. wrote...
> > I can still move folders about in WLMail's Storage Folders using drag
> and drop.
> Yes, of course, and sorry to the OP for perhaps misleading him. I was
> thinking of the scenario where you had all your subject folders neatly
> organized in OE and expected WLMail to understand where you wanted those
> folders once imported. I keep all my 'working' folders under the topmost
> account in the folder pane, where I can keep my eye on them and not have
> to scroll beyond the bottom of the window to find them in storage folders.

> OP: you can move folders around /within/ storage folders or /within /an
> account, but not /from /one account to another or /between /accounts and
> storage folders.
> --
> Noel

Please, no html-encoded Usenet posts.

http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/usenet/dont.html

[Ildhund]

Magnus wrote...

> Please, no html-encoded Usenet posts.

Why not? The page you refer to bears this footnote: /Date of last update: 2002-12-06./ Things have moved on a bit since then. The
page giving /reasons/ for no HTML posts (last updated 10 January 1999) tells me how to switch to plain text in Netscape 3.x and
Microsoft Internet News, but not in Windows Live Mail, so you might ask the guardian of that page to update it.

Can your newsreader not handle HTML? Or are you concerned that my post was 1,172 bytes larger than your plain text one? If that's
the case, you'd be better served by campaigning for better trimming so that people on quotas or dial-up don't have to download the
same text time after time.
--
Noel

[Magnus]

On 1/7/2011 12:15 PM, Ildhund wrote:
> Magnus wrote...
>
>> Please, no html-encoded Usenet posts.
>
> Why not? The page you refer to bears this footnote: /Date of last
> update: 2002-12-06./ Things have moved on a bit since then.

Really? Forgive me. Citation please.

> The page
> giving /reasons/ for no HTML posts (last updated 10 January 1999) tells
> me how to switch to plain text in Netscape 3.x and Microsoft Internet
> News, but not in Windows Live Mail, so you might ask the guardian of
> that page to update it.

So you need help with that? Just ask /nicely/.

> Can your newsreader not handle HTML? Or are you concerned that my post
> was 1,172 bytes larger than your plain text one? If that's the case,
> you'd be better served by campaigning for better trimming so that people
> on quotas or dial-up don't have to download the same text time after time.

Excuse making and finger-pointing. Very constructive. Continue in your
self-serving ways if you must. You're still wrong.