Emails Missing from Outlook Express 2003

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Guest

I am running Windows XP and Office 2003 Pro, and Outlook Express 2003.
My desktop was empty and OE wanted to compact my E-mails to save space.
I approved. There were no interruptions.

When I returned to my computer, and the compressing was finished.
I opened OE, and all my inbox Emails from Jan to March 2007 were missing.
Emails prior to January 2007 were still in place.
Sent Emails were still in place.
How do I retrieve my inbox Emails from Jan to March 2007?

I restarted my computer, but the Emails were not retrieved.
Please Help.
Thank You,
 
Ray10X10 said:
I am running Windows XP and Office 2003 Pro, and Outlook Express
2003.
My desktop was empty and OE wanted to compact my E-mails to save
space. I approved. There were no interruptions.

When I returned to my computer, and the compressing was finished.
I opened OE, and all my inbox Emails from Jan to March 2007 were
missing. Emails prior to January 2007 were still in place.
Sent Emails were still in place.
How do I retrieve my inbox Emails from Jan to March 2007?

I restarted my computer, but the Emails were not retrieved.
Click to expand...

Outlook Express 2003? Wha?

There's Outlook Express and Outlook.
Outlook comes with versions of Microsoft Office.
Are you sure you are not using Outlook 2003 (not Outlook Express 6) and you
chose to ARCHIVE your email - not compress them?
 
Thank You, Shenan, for responding to my request for help.

I am using Outlook Express 6.
Every once in a while, OE 6 pops onto the computer screen
to compress my Emails to save space.
OE6 has compressed my Emails before, and everything was OK.

My only response was to click on OK.

I was not trying to do anything with any files.
In fact, I was not working on my computer when this happened.
No programs were running at this time.

I do not understand what happened this time to lose 3 months of Emails.
Some of those Emails contained important pictures that I need to retrieve.
If you can help me retrieve those missing Emails,
I will really be grateful for your efforts and skills.
 
if your system is up to date with patches, look in the RECYCLE bin, to see if it made copies of your folders before compacting.



(e-mail address removed)



"Ray10X10" <vacantlot.com> wrote in message Thank You, Shenan, for responding to my request for help.

I am using Outlook Express 6.
Every once in a while, OE 6 pops onto the computer screen
to compress my Emails to save space.
OE6 has compressed my Emails before, and everything was OK.

My only response was to click on OK.

I was not trying to do anything with any files.
In fact, I was not working on my computer when this happened.
No programs were running at this time.

I do not understand what happened this time to lose 3 months of Emails.
Some of those Emails contained important pictures that I need to retrieve.
If you can help me retrieve those missing Emails,
I will really be grateful for your efforts and skills.
 
This is usually caused by an anti-spam program or and anti-virus set to scan
email.

Turn off email scanning in your anti-virus. It provides no added
protection. After doing so it may be necessary to reset the server names in
OE.

Recovering data: http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DBXtract
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtract/Default.aspx

DBXtend (additional functionality)
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtend/Default.aspx

DBXpress (faster, more powerful, with even greater functionality)
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

OEX (OE Enhancement Program)
http://www.oehelp.com/OEX/Default.aspx
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Avoid Such Corruption in Future:

- Don't use Inbox or Sent Items to archive messages. Move them to local
folders created for this purpose.

- Empty Deleted Items folder daily.

- Disable Background Compacting [N/A in SP2] and frequently perform a manual
compact of all OE folders while "working offline". More at
http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/files/maintain.htm.

- WinXP SP2 only: Do not shut down your machine while Windows is
automatically compacting your message store.

- Your anti-virus application's email scanning feature can also cause such
corruption. Disable it. It provides no additional protection.



<snip>

The bak files are created in the Recycle Bin when you compact,
OE uses dbx files which are the ones backed up as bak files. .

If you are using OE, this is how to restore dbx (bak) files.

All e-mail items may be missing when you start Outlook Express 6 Service
Pack 1:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918069

To restore a bak folder to the message store folder, first locate the
Message Store in Windows Explorer.

In OE: Tools | Options | Maintenance | Store Folder will reveal the location
of your Outlook Express files. Press the Tab key to highlight the folder
location, then Ctrl+C. Close OE, then Start | Run | Ctrl+V will put the
location in the box - Click OK and you'll see the OE files. Otherwise, write
the location down and navigate to it in Windows Explorer.

In WinXP, the dbx files 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.

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.

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.

<end snip>



http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/community/columns/filecorruption.mspx
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#2
 
Thank You, mileyhsd, for responding to my need for help,

My Computer should be up to date.
It is set to receive automatic updates from MS every night.

I looked into my recycle bin, but it was empty.
My recycle bin is NOT set to empty automatically or when shut down.

Do you have any more suggestions?

Thank You,
 
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