Here is how to back up these items. Just use the Import/Export option to
transfer between computers.
1. Backup your OE mail and news accounts.
Click Tools| Accounts, select the account to backup, then click the Export
button. This will store the account's settings in a *.iaf file at the
location you specify. You can later import any *.iaf file by clicking the
Import button. Your account password is stored in encrypted form in the
*.iaf file. Be sure to export all mail and news accounts, and any
user-created LDAP accounts you might have created. The default LDAP accounts
will always be created fresh when you install or upgrade OE.
2. Backup your address book.
Open the Address Book and click Help| About Address Book to see the full
path to the current *.wab file used by all your Identities. Find that file
in Windows Explorer and copy it to your backup media. You can later import
the backup by opening OE and clicking File| Import| Address Book.
3. Backup your mail folders.
In OE, click Tools| Options| Maintenance| Store folder to see the path to
the folder currently being used for your message store. Open Windows
Explorer and navigate to the Store. Copy the Folders.dbx file and all <mail
folder>.dbx files to your backup media. It is not necessary to copy any
<newsgroup>.dbx file because OE will not import newsgroup messages, only
messages in mail folders. You must include Folders.dbx in your backup or you
will be unable to import the mail folders!
To restore your mail folders, open OE and click File| Import| Messages| OE5
(or OE6 if OE5 is not listed)| Message store directory, then browse to the
folder containing your old messages. Do not copy the backup files into the
current OE message store or the import will fail. If you saved your backup
on a CD or a networked drive, you will need to copy the backup to your hard
disk and verify that none of the *.dbx files are marked as "read only", or
the import will fail.
