I use ouutlook express 6 as my main email usage and have encountered a problem. upon start up today i have lost all sub folders to my inbox. I am unaware of deleting or moving them and the only thing that springs to mind is that when i recieved a mail from someone requesting a reciept that this in some way has creatted my problem. the reciept though was for a known reciepient and so i dont think it was dodgy. anyhow i am not wise on computers so this has baffled me and dont know where to look. I have searched my computer with key words (folder names) but that was unsuccesful. only other thing to mention is that i did run ashampoo winoptimizer 2007, but cant see how that would create the problem. 1 person got this answerI do too

1: Have you expanded the folder tree? (i.e. click th + in front of the Inbox).2: Have you looked in Deleted Items? Is there a + in front of deleted items? Check for a + in front of all folders.Still not found? Check in the message store and see if the dbx files for all of these folders are still there. If they are, check back here before proceeding.Location of your 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, 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. Bruce Hagen MS-MVP [Mail]

Hi Bruce. thanx for the quick response.there were no '+' signs by any of the folders so i have now checked the message store and found a location for files. should i now copy and paste into start/run. i am a bit of a novice at this so just want to check first.

i have now checked the message store and found a location for files. should i now copy and paste into start/run. Yes, provided you enable Hidden Filed and Folders first. Bruce Hagen MS-MVP [Mail]

hello again. i got a bit ahead of myself and ran the file in search, which located the missing folders. however i did this without enabling the hissen folders first, so at the moment they are unopenable. how do i resolve this and also, how do i get the folders back to outlook express. thanx again for your time

You can't open a dbx file unless it is in Outlook Express. 1: Close OE.2: Enable Hidden Files and Folders.3: Go back to the message store and drag all the dbx files for the missing folders to the Desktop at the top of the Windows Explorer folder tree. 4: Do the following for each dbx file one at a time! Don't skimp on the instructions. Follow them exactly.Open OE and create a folder with the *exact* same name as the one on the Desktop. Open the new folder and then close OE. (You must do this). Go to Windows Explorer and locate the Message Store folder for your OE identity, but don't open it. Click on the Desktop and drag the file from the Desktop in the right hand pane to the OE store folder in the left pane. Prompt - "Do you want to overwrite......."? Click Yes. Bruce Hagen MS-MVP [Mail]

Hi bruce. another day , another hassle for you. with ref to the above I have now moved all files to the desktop and have tried step 4, however I dont seem to be able to locate the messsagae store folder in windows explorer. how do i find it and what do you mean by oe IDENTITY. thanks again - Paul

The message store folder is the Outlook Express folder you dragged the dbx files out of. My first reply gave you that location.Part of the process is that they have to be moved out before the newly created folder will recognize them.Create one folder in the OE folder tree with the same name as one of your files. Eg: You have a Mail.dbx file. Create a folder in OE and name it Mail.Open this folder and then close OE. You must do this part. Now go back into Windows Explorer. Expand the path to the Outlook Express folder, but do not open it.Click on Desktop at the top of the folder tree. In the right hand pane, you will see all your Desktop icons and the dbx files.Drag the Mail.dbx file over to the Outlook Express folder. When it turns blue, let it go and you should see the overwrite prompt. Click yes.Lather, rinse, repeat for the other folders. Bruce Hagen MS-MVP [Mail]

Bruce the genius. Thank you for your exhausted advice. all working tickety boo now!!Paul

You're welcome & thanks for the feedback. Glad it's working. Bruce Hagen MS-MVP [Mail]

Bruce. Just one last question. in the store folder there are 2 inbox files. i is very large- this i would think would be the one that i had a lot of messages in that i had not deleted or moved to the relevent folders ( bad housekeeping on my part) and the other I am not sure about. it is smaller with a (1) beside it. any how if i do with these as i did the others it will surely replace the existing inbox or will it just add to. also I made a slight boob when doing the others and seem to have lost the main box i wanted back. if i can just explain what happened. I moved a dbx file across to replace and the prompt box did not appear but the i think i place d it over the newly created box ijn the store. anyhow i moved this back across to desktop but there was still a repeat file in store folder. i the foolishly went through the process and i think i have now replaced the full folder with the newly created folder. - hope that all made sense - so is there a way to trestore that one? everything else worked a treat!!!

You needed to move the dbx file to the store folder, not open the store folder up.Drag the Inbox you suspect has messages to the Desktop. Rename it to Temp. Create a new folder in OE named Temp.Open the folder and close OE. Now drag that folder from the Desktop to the unopened Outlook Express store folder. You should get the prompt.Review these instructions here. It may make more sense.How to restore individual dbx files:http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx#imp1 Bruce Hagen MS-MVP [Mail]

Probably getting on your nerves now!anyhow the inbox are sorted, but i still dont know how to find the original 'keep' folder that I replaced with an empty one when prompted to overite. can this original folder be found. I read the stuff on the link , but didnt understand.Thanx again

Well, that went back-wards. Why did you overwrite a folder that had messages in it? If messages were present, that folder shouldn't have been touched. The folder hasn't changed, just the contents. Bruce Hagen MS-MVP [Mail]

Bruce, you seem to be the most knowledgeable person on here to help me with this issue. Same problem, inbox/personal folders/email are gone!I located my STORE folderI turned on SHOW HIDDEN FILESI use my mouse to DRAG Inbox.dbx, Outbox.dbx and Folders.dbx to my DESKTOPI use MOZILLA by the way, so my icons have the Mozilla Firefox icon for the .dbx files.WHat I am stuck at is this create new folders in the folder tree and drag .dbx files into it.I have created the new folders of Inbox, Outbox and Folders in OE, but when I drag the desktop .dbx files, the stupid OE creates a new email to be sent!WTF? I am so frustrated and have been sitting here reading silly articles instead of talking to a live person. HELP!

First, you don't need to worry about Folders.dbx or the Outbox.dbx. Neither contain messages and were recreated when you opened OE. Your only concern is the Inbox and user created folders.What exactly happened? Was the Inbox empty? Were you getting an error message?We are assuming that you can get the messages back in this way, but we don't know.For the Inbox, after you move it to the Desktop, you need to rename it. The instructions are pretty specific. Rename the Inbox on the Desktop to Saved Mail.dbx. Open OE and create a folder called Saved Mail. Open this folder! Close OE and then drag the file from the Desktop to the Store Folder. Then you will see the prompt. If you do not get the messages restored, then you will need a retrieval tool.Reread these instructions.How to restore individual dbx files:http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx#imp1 When you go to drag the file from the desktop to the store folder, you should be looking at something like this.http://i36.tinypic.com/2vchm37.gifBruce Hagen ~ MS-MVP [Mail]

Hi Bruce, bless you for replying.No luck with the step above. Looks like I need a retrieval tool. Do I follow the instructions link you posted?

Also, this is probably important info for you to know:About 3 months ago, I upgraded my Microsoft software to Microsoft Office 1997 version and upload all my email from OE to Office Outlook 97. I went a checked...the messages are for the most part still there (from 3 months ago). Problem with that, I was too impatient to figure out how to connect to my server so I continued to use OE.Where is this retrieval tool I should use though?

You did check for .bak files in the Recycle Bin? If none were found, then you will need this. There are no guarantees, but it has a very high success rate.DBXpresshttp://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspxYou may need to run it in the Extract From Disk Mode if its normal recovery mode fails to find the lost messages.To help this from happening in the future:Do not archive mail in the Inbox or Sent Items. Create your own user defined folders and move the messages you wish to save to them. Empty Deleted Items folder daily. Although dbx files have a theoretical capacity of 2GB, I recommend about a 300MB max for less chance of corruption.Information about the maximum file size of the .dbx files that are used by Outlook Express:http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=903095After you are done, follow up by compacting your folders manually while working *offline* and do it often.Click on Outlook Express at the top of the folder tree so no folders are open. Then: File | Work Offline (or double click Working Online in the Status Bar). File | Folder | Compact all folders. Don't touch anything until the compacting is completed.Turn off e-mail scanning in your anti-virus program. It is a redundant layer of protection that eats up CPUs and causes a multitude of problems such as time-outs and account setting changes. Your up-to-date A/V program will continue to protect you sufficiently. For more, see:http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3And backup often.Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB Freeware)http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx Bruce Hagen ~ MS-MVP [Mail]

Hot diggity dog, there are all my folders in the recycle bin as .bak files! What do I do with .bak files? I am liking you more by the minute, Bruce, don't let me down!

Check the date created for these bak files to make sure they are current enough and then restore as follows.See the information in the red box here:http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#2Essentially, you will be doing this.All e-mail items may be missing when you start Outlook Express 6 Service Pack 1:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918069To 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. Write the location down.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.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. Bruce Hagen ~ MS-MVP [Mail]

Here's another thread I found you had written:"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." I restored all the .bak files, but there are not showing up in "Message Store" location... What next?

Do you have more than one identity? Perhaps these were from another and that is where they were sent to. Did you check the date created before you clicked Restore? Bruce Hagen ~ MS-MVP [Mail]

Hi Bruce, back again. I did not check the date created. I only have one identity though. There is Main Identity (which I do not use) and my Account...Did I mess that up?

I only have one identity though. There is Main Identity (which I do not use) and my Account... That looks like two identities to me? The Main and the one you created? Look in the message store for the main identity and see if the bak files ended up there?Let me know. They had to go to an identity somewhere.Bruce Hagen ~ MS-MVP [Mail]

Success! I don;t know what I did, but somehow I imported all my account emails into "Main Identity" But yet, another problem has occured. It wants a "pop server" password. My identities are set to NOT require a password. So basically, email is not sending/receiving :(

If this is a POP3 account, you must be using a logon password, not an identity password.There are two ways to approach this.1: Use this Main Identity. Simply switch to the other identity and go to Tools | Accounts | Mail | Properties and write down all the settings. Go to the same location in the Main Identity and set it up using this information.2: Use your other identity. Switch to it and: File | Import | Messages. Select Microsoft Outlook Express 6 and Import from the Main Identity.Bruce Hagen ~ MS-MVP [Mail]

Thank you this helped me in retrieving messages. Bruce, Thank you.San

You're welcome. Glad you had good results.Bruce HagenMS-MVP Oct. 1, 2004 ~ Sept. 30, 2010Imperial Beach, CA