outlook express

[tfg]

I want to copy the content of my files to a slave drive and be able to put them back later but there are so many saved emails, can this be done or do I have to save them one at a time

[Buenchico]

Each of the folders of Outlook Express has a 'dbx' file extension. (Run a search for *.dbx and you'll see all of them). You could just copy Inbox.dbx but this would be awkward to access at a later date because you'd already have a new Inbox.dbx file and it could lead to conflicts.

So I suggest putting all of the emails into a folder called something like 'Backup'. Then search for backup.dbx and copy it to your slave drive. Double clicking on any dbx file should open it in Outlook Express.

Chris

[tfg]

I found the dbx files and it seems easy enough to copy to a slave drive but opening is not possible
it tells me the file is not a valid Win32 application so I am assuming there is still something else to do
double clicking on the file doesn't open it in outlook express, not on my pc anyway

[Buenchico]

(2-part post):

I'm sure that double-clicking on the file worked for me. Part of the problem with doing anything with Outlook Express is that Microsoft has included it as part of Windows. So you can't associate a file with the Outlook Express program because no such independent program exists. (That's one of thousands of examples of Microsoft's lousy programming).

When I've backed up dbx files, I've normally been transferring emails from one PC to another. I know, for absolute certain, that you can copy Inbox.dbx from an 'old' PC and then replace the (empty) Inbox.dbx file on a new PC with the copied file. That transfers all of the mail from the old computer to the new one. (I've done that loads of times with no problem). So you can definitely do something similar with your slave drive. However, you'd have a problem if you'd already got some new mail in your Inbox, because importing the the old file would over-write the new file.

Instead, try this:
Create a folder called (for example) 'Backup' and copy all relevant mail to it. (Don't delete the mail from your Inbox or other folders just yet, just in case this doesn't work!).
Close Outlook Express.
Search for backup.dbx and copy it to your slave drive.
Open Outlook Express and delete the Backup folder.

[Buenchico]

Now let's pretend that we're in the future and you want to retrieve those stored emails. Once again, create a new (empty) folder called Backup. Close Outlook Express and search for backup.dbx. Right-click on it and select 'Open containing folder'. (Make the window less than full-screen size). Open another window (also at less than full-screen size) displaying the folder on your slave drive where you've stored your original backup.dbx file. Drag the backup.dbx file from this folder to the first one which you displayed. (Make sure you get it the right way round!). When you're asked if you want to over-write the existing file, double-check that you're importing the old file into the new folder (and not the other way round!) and click 'Yes'.

Open Outlook Express and your old Backup folder, complete with all of your old emails, should have reappeared.

Chris