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#1
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Lost messages after compaction - desperate plea for help!!
When I have closed Outlook Express 6 recently, I had been receiving a message
asking to compact. I had several thousand messages saved from the last year and a half. Last night, I made the mistake of clicking "yes" to this message, allowing compaction. Sure enough, after the compaction, I have lost thousands of very important messages that had been in my Inbox. Basically, all messages from the middle of March, 2008 until a couple of weeks ago are just gone. Some of those messages are very critical for my small business. I have to recover them. What can I do? Thanks VERY much in advance for help! |
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#2
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Lost messages after compaction - desperate plea for help!!
Compacting was not a mistake. Thousands of messages in the Inbox was.
First, check the obvious. Go to the Inbox and click View | Current View | Show All Messages. If that was checked, then read on. 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, 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 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. Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB Freeware) http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx -- Bruce Hagen MS-MVP Outlook Express Imperial Beach, CA "Desperate 4 help recovering OE messages" Desperate 4 help recovering OE wrote in message ... When I have closed Outlook Express 6 recently, I had been receiving a message asking to compact. I had several thousand messages saved from the last year and a half. Last night, I made the mistake of clicking "yes" to this message, allowing compaction. Sure enough, after the compaction, I have lost thousands of very important messages that had been in my Inbox. Basically, all messages from the middle of March, 2008 until a couple of weeks ago are just gone. Some of those messages are very critical for my small business. I have to recover them. What can I do? Thanks VERY much in advance for help! |
#3
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Lost messages after compaction - desperate plea for help!!
Thanks VERY MUCH, Bruce. I had actually just found that same thing below and
tried it - with apparent success! I have my messages back! My business will survive! I do really appreciate your taking time to try to help me. You are a good man! "Bruce Hagen" wrote: Compacting was not a mistake. Thousands of messages in the Inbox was. First, check the obvious. Go to the Inbox and click View | Current View | Show All Messages. If that was checked, then read on. 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, 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 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. Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB Freeware) http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx -- Bruce Hagen MS-MVP Outlook Express Imperial Beach, CA "Desperate 4 help recovering OE messages" Desperate 4 help recovering OE wrote in message ... When I have closed Outlook Express 6 recently, I had been receiving a message asking to compact. I had several thousand messages saved from the last year and a half. Last night, I made the mistake of clicking "yes" to this message, allowing compaction. Sure enough, after the compaction, I have lost thousands of very important messages that had been in my Inbox. Basically, all messages from the middle of March, 2008 until a couple of weeks ago are just gone. Some of those messages are very critical for my small business. I have to recover them. What can I do? Thanks VERY much in advance for help! |
#4
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Lost messages after compaction - desperate plea for help!!
You're welcome. Now be sure to create some separate folders and back up OE
daily. -- Bruce Hagen MS-MVP Outlook Express Imperial Beach, CA "Desperate 4 help recovering OE messages" crosoft.com wrote in message ... Thanks VERY MUCH, Bruce. I had actually just found that same thing below and tried it - with apparent success! I have my messages back! My business will survive! I do really appreciate your taking time to try to help me. You are a good man! "Bruce Hagen" wrote: Compacting was not a mistake. Thousands of messages in the Inbox was. First, check the obvious. Go to the Inbox and click View | Current View | Show All Messages. If that was checked, then read on. 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, 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 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. Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB Freeware) http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx -- Bruce Hagen MS-MVP Outlook Express Imperial Beach, CA "Desperate 4 help recovering OE messages" Desperate 4 help recovering OE wrote in message ... When I have closed Outlook Express 6 recently, I had been receiving a message asking to compact. I had several thousand messages saved from the last year and a half. Last night, I made the mistake of clicking "yes" to this message, allowing compaction. Sure enough, after the compaction, I have lost thousands of very important messages that had been in my Inbox. Basically, all messages from the middle of March, 2008 until a couple of weeks ago are just gone. Some of those messages are very critical for my small business. I have to recover them. What can I do? Thanks VERY much in advance for help! |
#5
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Lost messages after compaction - desperate plea for help!!
good luck, no clue
"Desperate 4 help recovering OE messages" Desperate 4 help recovering OE wrote in message ... When I have closed Outlook Express 6 recently, I had been receiving a message asking to compact. I had several thousand messages saved from the last year and a half. Last night, I made the mistake of clicking "yes" to this message, allowing compaction. Sure enough, after the compaction, I have lost thousands of very important messages that had been in my Inbox. Basically, all messages from the middle of March, 2008 until a couple of weeks ago are just gone. Some of those messages are very critical for my small business. I have to recover them. What can I do? Thanks VERY much in advance for help! |
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