Moved .dbx files and now messages are gone

"Bruce Hagen" <Nospam DeleteThis @mymail.invalid> wrote in message
news:ujx1rwrDJHA.4428@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Explain: Our .dbx files were going into our Documents folder. They can't
> do that by themselves.
>

My husband said he moved Outlook Express to documents when he was making
copies of everything before having our hard drive wiped cleaned and
restored. After the restoration, they continued to go there.

"Brian and Leah Del Signore" <delsignorefamily.RemoveThis@sbcglobal.net> wrote in
message news:OB%23eLAsDJHA.3576@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>
> "Bruce Hagen" <Nospam.RemoveThis@mymail.invalid> wrote in message
> news:ujx1rwrDJHA.4428@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>> Explain: Our .dbx files were going into our Documents folder. They can't
>> do that by themselves.
>>
>
> My husband said he moved Outlook Express to documents when he was making
> copies of everything before having our hard drive wiped cleaned and
> restored. After the restoration, they continued to go there.
>


Please include all previous messages in your replies. It makes things much
easier for us to follow. Thank you.

You have a dbx file for each folder, plus a few to make OE work. I don't
understand what you mean by "They keep going there". You don't get new dbx
files created all by themselves.
--

Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA

Sorry about trimming the messages. I added the old messages below for your
reference.

> You have a dbx file for each folder, plus a few to make OE work. I don't
> understand what you mean by "They keep going there". You don't get new dbx
> files created all by themselves.

Yes, I understand about the dbx file for each folder. I don't understand
how this works, so my wording is probably wrong.

I figured as new emails are sent to us, these dbx files are updated to
include the new messages. For example, I had a folder for emails from
certain person and a message rule for those messages to go there. Also, my
two daughters have their own email addresses and folders that their email
goes in to. That is what I was referring to.


We used to not see the dbx files at all, then when Brian (my husband) moved
OE to My Documents, they were there in the My Documents folder. I didn't
know what they were at first.


In any case, there were dbx files for each of the OE email folders I had
made and, as you indicate, a few others. I moved all these to a folder I
created for them (in My Documents). I also moved all the bak files to a
folder I made for them, also in My Documents.


I tried to move some of them back late last night after I realized my
mistake, so now there are dbx and bak files in:
1) my dbx folder and my bak folder, which are in My Documents
2) within My Documents is a folder called Documents. There are dbx and bak
files in that folder, too.


In the article, "How do I move my store folder," I followed the directions
and it says that our store folder is here:
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Documents

However, when I look there, I do not see a folder with the {GUID} name, as
indicated here http://www.insideoe.com/files/store.htm and copied below:
All of your OE mail folders and messages, local IMAP and Hotmail folders and
messages, and all of your subscribed newsgroups and messages are stored in
one folder called the store root, or store root folder, or store folder, and
in at least one place in OE, the Store root directory. It's default location
is

C:\Windows\Application Data\Outlook Express\{GUID}
or
C:\Documents and Settings\<User>\Local Settings\Application
Data\Identities\{GUID}\Microsoft\Outlook Express

where {GUID} is the Global Unique IDentifier (technical jargon for a unique
long number) used to specify an Identity. Depending on your operating system
and upgrade history, your store folder might be located elsewhere. To
determine the location of your store, click Tools| Options| Maintenance|
Store folder.

____________________

There is this in our My Documents\Documents:
microsoft.public.outlook.general.dbx
and: microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ieg_outlookexpress.dbx.
(Are those the newgroups I subscribed to today, including this one?)

There is also: Folders.dbx 394 KB
and
Inbox.dbx 6,923 KB


We are receiving messages in our Inbox right now (but I don't know if we are
receiving everything). We have messages from last night from about 10 pm.

All the messages we had in the Inbox before that are gone. It also looks
like we have the contents one of our daughter's folder in our Inbox. Her
email was set up this summer and the messages in our Inbox to her go back to
July.

Last night as I was trying to move folders back, I sometimes received a
question that asked something like, "Do you want to replace the contents of
Inbox (or some other folder name)--with a date and amount in there--with
Inbox (with a date and an amount in there)." I think that I said no to
those and that is when I gave up trying to get everything back in place. I
may have said yes. The most recent dated had fewer KBs, as I recall.

You said,
Create a new identity. This will create it's own new message store. Are the
dbx files in a message store folder in My Documents? If they are, and you
moved Folder.dbx there along with them, you may be able to import from a
store directory.


Is this what you mean?:
Create a new Identity using File| Identities| Manage Identities and then
import your mail messages from the old Main Identity. Following this, you
can delete the Main Identity using the Manage Identities dialogue.
from http://www.insideoe.com/files/regkeys.htm#regIDkey


My response if very long. I am trying to give all the relevant details.
Sorry you have to read through so much, however.

My husband will look at your responses tonight and he may have a better
grasp of what you are saying. I will continue to read over your responses
and the articles and he will read them tonight.

Thank you very much for your time and suggestions. Very much appreciated.
We will let you know how they work or if we have other questions. In the
meantime, if you have further suggestions or comments, we would like to hear
them.

Leah

"Bruce Hagen" <Nospam.DeleteThis@mymail.invalid> wrote in message
news:OBBm8FsDJHA.1180@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>
> "Brian and Leah Del Signore" <delsignorefamily.DeleteThis@sbcglobal.net> wrote in
> message news:OB%23eLAsDJHA.3576@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>
>> "Bruce Hagen" <Nospam.DeleteThis@mymail.invalid> wrote in message
>> news:ujx1rwrDJHA.4428@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>> Explain: Our .dbx files were going into our Documents folder. They can't
>>> do that by themselves.
>>>
>>
>> My husband said he moved Outlook Express to documents when he was making
>> copies of everything before having our hard drive wiped cleaned and
>> restored. After the restoration, they continued to go there.
>>
>
>
> Please include all previous messages in your replies. It makes things much
> easier for us to follow. Thank you.
>
> You have a dbx file for each folder, plus a few to make OE work. I don't
> understand what you mean by "They keep going there". You don't get new dbx
> files created all by themselves.
> --
>
> Bruce Hagen
> MS-MVP Outlook Express
> Imperial Beach, CA

My husband said he moved Outlook Express to documents when he was making
copies of everything before having our hard drive wiped cleaned and
restored. After the restoration, they continued to go there.




Explain: Our .dbx files were going into our Documents folder. They can't do
that by themselves.

How do I move my store folder:
http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/how.htm#movestore

Can you get it back where it was?

System restore will do nothing.

Create a new identity. This will create it's own new message store. Are the
dbx files in a message store folder in My Documents? If they are, and you
moved Folder.dbx there along with them, you may be able to import from a
store directory.

If Folders.dbx was not included, then you will have to import each dbx file
to the new identity manually.

How to restore individual dbx files:
http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx#imp1
--

Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA




Our .dbx files were going into our Documents folder, along with Word, Adobe,
Excel and PowerPoint documents. It was hard to find things, so I decided to
move all the .dbx files to a folder I made for them. Obviously, I did not
know what I was doing. I am used to making folders and moving documents,
but this was a mistake.

Now most of our messages are gone. The .dbx files are still there, but
something has been messed up. (The folders and message rules I created in
Outlook Express are also gone.)

I tried a system restore and that did not restore the contents of Outlook
Express.

I had no business doing this -- I realize NOW -- and would appreciate any
help.

Can our Outlook Express be "rebuilt" to the way it was before? I deleted
nothing, stuff was just moved. (I also moved .bak files into a folder, but
I don't think that applies here. Maybe it does.)

If my husband or I cannot do this, is there a computer expert somewhere who
could help? Where would I look for help?

Any guidance would be appreciate.

Leah


>

Brian and Leah Del Signore wrote:
> "Bruce Hagen" <Nospam.DeleteThis@mymail.invalid> wrote in message
> news:ujx1rwrDJHA.4428@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>> Explain: Our .dbx files were going into our Documents folder. They can't
>> do that by themselves.
>>
>
> My husband said he moved Outlook Express to documents when he was making
> copies of everything before having our hard drive wiped cleaned and
> restored. After the restoration, they continued to go there.

Have your husband fix it or at least post about this issue in this
newsgroup.

If you, or your husband, moved individual dbx files to My Documents and not
the entire Outlook Express message store folder, then I stand by my first
reply. Create a new identity and import the folders as per my previous
instructions.

To find your message store location:

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, Win2K & Win2K3, the OE user files (DBX and WAB) 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.

If you do not find anything there, it is because of what was done. Again,
refer to my first reply.
--

Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
Imperial Beach, CA


"Brian and Leah Del Signore" <delsignorefamily.TakeThisOut@sbcglobal.net> wrote in
message news:O3olHYtDJHA.5196@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Sorry about trimming the messages. I added the old messages below for
> your reference.
>
>> You have a dbx file for each folder, plus a few to make OE work. I don't
>> understand what you mean by "They keep going there". You don't get new
>> dbx files created all by themselves.
>
> Yes, I understand about the dbx file for each folder. I don't understand
> how this works, so my wording is probably wrong.
>
> I figured as new emails are sent to us, these dbx files are updated to
> include the new messages. For example, I had a folder for emails from
> certain person and a message rule for those messages to go there. Also,
> my two daughters have their own email addresses and folders that their
> email goes in to. That is what I was referring to.
>
>
> We used to not see the dbx files at all, then when Brian (my husband)
> moved OE to My Documents, they were there in the My Documents folder. I
> didn't know what they were at first.
>
>
> In any case, there were dbx files for each of the OE email folders I had
> made and, as you indicate, a few others. I moved all these to a folder I
> created for them (in My Documents). I also moved all the bak files to a
> folder I made for them, also in My Documents.
>
>
> I tried to move some of them back late last night after I realized my
> mistake, so now there are dbx and bak files in:
> 1) my dbx folder and my bak folder, which are in My Documents
> 2) within My Documents is a folder called Documents. There are dbx and
> bak files in that folder, too.
>
>
> In the article, "How do I move my store folder," I followed the directions
> and it says that our store folder is here:
> C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Documents
>
> However, when I look there, I do not see a folder with the {GUID} name, as
> indicated here http://www.insideoe.com/files/store.htm and copied below:
> All of your OE mail folders and messages, local IMAP and Hotmail folders
> and messages, and all of your subscribed newsgroups and messages are
> stored in one folder called the store root, or store root folder, or store
> folder, and in at least one place in OE, the Store root directory. It's
> default location is
>
> C:\Windows\Application Data\Outlook Express\{GUID}
> or
> C:\Documents and Settings\<User>\Local Settings\Application
> Data\Identities\{GUID}\Microsoft\Outlook Express
>
> where {GUID} is the Global Unique IDentifier (technical jargon for a
> unique long number) used to specify an Identity. Depending on your
> operating system and upgrade history, your store folder might be located
> elsewhere. To determine the location of your store, click Tools| Options|
> Maintenance| Store folder.
>
> ____________________
>
> There is this in our My Documents\Documents:
> microsoft.public.outlook.general.dbx
> and: microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ieg_outlookexpress.dbx.
> (Are those the newgroups I subscribed to today, including this one?)
>
> There is also: Folders.dbx 394 KB
> and
> Inbox.dbx 6,923 KB
>
>
> We are receiving messages in our Inbox right now (but I don't know if we
> are receiving everything). We have messages from last night from about
> 10 pm.
>
> All the messages we had in the Inbox before that are gone. It also looks
> like we have the contents one of our daughter's folder in our Inbox. Her
> email was set up this summer and the messages in our Inbox to her go back
> to July.
>
> Last night as I was trying to move folders back, I sometimes received a
> question that asked something like, "Do you want to replace the contents
> of Inbox (or some other folder name)--with a date and amount in
> there--with Inbox (with a date and an amount in there)." I think that I
> said no to those and that is when I gave up trying to get everything back
> in place. I may have said yes. The most recent dated had fewer KBs, as I
> recall.
>
> You said,
> Create a new identity. This will create it's own new message store. Are
> the
> dbx files in a message store folder in My Documents? If they are, and you
> moved Folder.dbx there along with them, you may be able to import from a
> store directory.
>
>
> Is this what you mean?:
> Create a new Identity using File| Identities| Manage Identities and then
> import your mail messages from the old Main Identity. Following this, you
> can delete the Main Identity using the Manage Identities dialogue.
> from http://www.insideoe.com/files/regkeys.htm#regIDkey
>
>
> My response if very long. I am trying to give all the relevant details.
> Sorry you have to read through so much, however.
>
> My husband will look at your responses tonight and he may have a better
> grasp of what you are saying. I will continue to read over your responses
> and the articles and he will read them tonight.
>
> Thank you very much for your time and suggestions. Very much appreciated.
> We will let you know how they work or if we have other questions. In the
> meantime, if you have further suggestions or comments, we would like to
> hear them.
>
> Leah
>
> "Bruce Hagen" <Nospam.TakeThisOut@mymail.invalid> wrote in message
> news:OBBm8FsDJHA.1180@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>
>> "Brian and Leah Del Signore" <delsignorefamily.TakeThisOut@sbcglobal.net> wrote in
>> message news:OB%23eLAsDJHA.3576@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>>
>>> "Bruce Hagen" <Nospam.TakeThisOut@mymail.invalid> wrote in message
>>> news:ujx1rwrDJHA.4428@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>>> Explain: Our .dbx files were going into our Documents folder. They
>>>> can't do that by themselves.
>>>>
>>>
>>> My husband said he moved Outlook Express to documents when he was making
>>> copies of everything before having our hard drive wiped cleaned and
>>> restored. After the restoration, they continued to go there.
>>>
>>
>>
>> Please include all previous messages in your replies. It makes things
>> much easier for us to follow. Thank you.
>>
>> You have a dbx file for each folder, plus a few to make OE work. I don't
>> understand what you mean by "They keep going there". You don't get new
>> dbx files created all by themselves.
>> --
>>
>> Bruce Hagen
>> MS-MVP Outlook Express
>> Imperial Beach, CA
>
> My husband said he moved Outlook Express to documents when he was making
> copies of everything before having our hard drive wiped cleaned and
> restored. After the restoration, they continued to go there.
>
>
>
>
> Explain: Our .dbx files were going into our Documents folder. They can't
> do
> that by themselves.
>
> How do I move my store folder:
> http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/how.htm#movestore
>
> Can you get it back where it was?
>
> System restore will do nothing.
>
> Create a new identity. This will create it's own new message store. Are
> the
> dbx files in a message store folder in My Documents? If they are, and you
> moved Folder.dbx there along with them, you may be able to import from a
> store directory.
>
> If Folders.dbx was not included, then you will have to import each dbx
> file
> to the new identity manually.
>
> How to restore individual dbx files:
> http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx#imp1
> --
>
> Bruce Hagen
> MS-MVP Outlook Express
> Imperial Beach, CA
>
>
>
>
> Our .dbx files were going into our Documents folder, along with Word,
> Adobe,
> Excel and PowerPoint documents. It was hard to find things, so I decided
> to
> move all the .dbx files to a folder I made for them. Obviously, I did not
> know what I was doing. I am used to making folders and moving documents,
> but this was a mistake.
>
> Now most of our messages are gone. The .dbx files are still there, but
> something has been messed up. (The folders and message rules I created in
> Outlook Express are also gone.)
>
> I tried a system restore and that did not restore the contents of Outlook
> Express.
>
> I had no business doing this -- I realize NOW -- and would appreciate any
> help.
>
> Can our Outlook Express be "rebuilt" to the way it was before? I deleted
> nothing, stuff was just moved. (I also moved .bak files into a folder,
> but
> I don't think that applies here. Maybe it does.)
>
> If my husband or I cannot do this, is there a computer expert somewhere
> who
> could help? Where would I look for help?
>
> Any guidance would be appreciate.
>
> Leah
>
>
>>
>
>