View Single Post
  #6  
Old July 15th 08, 12:44 AM posted to microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress
Bruce Hagen
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 10,210
Default Lost emails during "compacting"

Please start your own new thread in the future instead of latching on to
another. Thank you.

Did you drag the current Inbox.dbx out of the message store before you
renamed the Inbox.bak to Inbox.dbx? If so, then your recent messages are in
the folder you dragged out. Is this the case?

Post back so I can give you the correct directions to follow from here.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA


"PDXmom" wrote in message
...
Bruce,

I had a month of messages disappear from my inbox when OE compacted on
7/10/08. I got assistance from my internet provider (a Comcast tech
support
guy) this morning. He basically had me do everything you describe in your
6/23 memo for retrieving lost messages. We were sucessful in finding the
inbox.bak folder in the recycle bin and we got the messages for 6/11-7/10
restored back into my OE Inbox. HOWEVER, the past three days of messgaes
in
my inbox were no longer there (7/11-7/14). I didn't realize this until I
had
hung up the phone from the Comcast tech support. Unfortunately, I didn't
get
his name. I have called back and spoke to three different tech people,
the
last of whom referred me to the Microsoft website. That's where I found
your
6/23 memo.

I think the 3 days of messages were somehow overwritten in the restore
process, but am hoping they're sitting in a folder on my computer. Do you
have any ideas as where they might be and how to retrieve them?

Thanks!



"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

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/...orruption.mspx

Recovery tools:

If you are running XP/SP2, oe 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 futu

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 Resto

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


"Learner" wrote in message
...
I am using OE 6.00.290.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158).



Recently, having been prompted to "compact" I did so and at the end of
the
process I lost a period of four months emails (from Feb to June). It
kept
my last few days emails.



Why did this happen (has never happened before in nearly 8 years of
using
OE) and how to avoid it happening again?



Thanks







Ads