pat

Dear Pat,

There is a way to backup Outlook express files and folders, it is just not easy to do.

Here are the directions to make a backup copy of your Outlook
Express e-mail files:

1. First, you need to find the location of the files. To do this, open Outlook Express, click on “Tools” in the menu bar, then click Options.

2. In the Options window, click on the Maintenance tab, then click on the button that says “Store Folder”.

3. A small window will appear with the location of your e-mail files. Highlight the folder location, and then press CTRL+C to copy the location.

4. Click Cancel, and then click Cancel again to close the dialog box. Close Outlook Express.

5. Now, you want to open the folder that contains your mail files. An easy way to do this is to click Start, and then click Run.

6. In the Run window, click in the box that says “Open” and press CTRL+V to paste in the location, and then click OK. The window containing your files will now open.

7. In the window containing your mail files, go to the Edit menu, click Select All. This will highlight all the files in the window.

8. Again, click on Edit, then click Copy to copy the files, and then close the window.

9. To create a folder to store your saved files, right-click any empty space on your desktop, click New, and then click Folder.

10. Type mail backup for the folder name, and then press ENTER.

11. Double-click the Mail Backup folder to open it.

12. In the open mail backup folder, click on Edit, then click Paste. The e-mail files will appear in the window.

13. Close the Mail Backup window, and burn the whole folder to a CD, or save to a thumb drive or some other type of external media.

The next step is to save the address book. We do this by exporting it.

1. Click on “Start” then point to “All Programs”, point to Accessories, and click on the “Address Book” icon.

2. In the open address book, click on File in the menu bar, point to Export, and then click Other Address Book.

3. Click Text File (Comma Separated Values), and then click Export.

4. In the Export window, Click Browse.

5. Locate the Mail Backup folder that you created.

6. In the File Name box, type address book backup, and then click Save and then click “Next”.

7. Click to select the check boxes for the fields that you want to export, and then click Finish.

8. Click OK and then click Close. You can now backup the file, or it will open in Word or excel and you can print it.

If the Address Book is shared with Microsoft Outlook, you are not able to export from within the Address Book on the File menu. This option is dimmed or not available.

Elizabeth

It’s Your Turn: What do you think?
…. Share your experience in the comments box below.

Please, can you help me? Thanks in advance, Betty

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Dear Betty,

First, I want to thank you for including the version of Windows and email program you are using. This makes it easier for me to help you with your problem.

Outlook Express does have a tendency to become corrupt after a while. There are a couple of ways to approach this problem, the first one might work, and the second one will definitely work, but it is a much bigger change for you.

The first thing to try is to delete the outbox folder and let Outlook Epxress create a new one. If you are having this problem because the outbox is corrupt, this should fix the problem.

To find your outbox, go to Outlook express and in the menu bar click on “Tools” and then “Options”.
In the Options dialog box, click on the “Maintenance” tab, then click on the button labeled, “Store Folder”.

The store folder will display where your files are stored. Copy the location, then close all the open windows, and also close Outlook Express.

Next, click on “Start” and then “Run”. Paste the folder location that you copied in the run window, and press the “enter” key on your keyboard. This should open the folder containing your email files. Find the one named, Outbox and delete it.

Open Outlook Express back up, and see if this has fixed your problem.

If this first solution does not work, I would suggest that you go to Microsoft’s web site and download the latest version of Windows Live Mail. Once you have installed Windows Live Mail, use that instead of Outlook Express.

Elizabeth

Many thanks, Hannah

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Dear Hannah,

You are headed in the right direction, but what you need to do, is import your Outlook Express messages into Windows Mail.

This process requires some sort of device to transport your files from the old computer to the new laptop. Either an external hard drive that has a USB connection, or a USB data stick are the best tools to use.

1. First, you need to find the location of your old email files. To do this, open Outlook Express, click on “Tools” in the menu bar, then click Options.

2. In the Options window, click on the Maintenance tab, then click on the button that says “Store Folder”.

3. A small window will appear with the location of your e-mail files. Highlight the folder location, and then press CTRL+C to copy the location.

4. Click Cancel, and then click Cancel again to close the dialog box. Close Outlook Express.

5. Now, you want to open the folder that contains your mail files. An easy way to do this is to click Start, and then click Run.

6. In the Run window, click in the box that says “Open” and press CTRL+V to paste in the location, and then click OK. The window containing your files will now open.

7. To make it easier to copy, I like to click on the “Up” button. Now you can see the Outlook Express folder.

8. Click on “Start” then “My Computer” and double click on your USB backup device to open it.

9. Arrange the two windows on your desktop so that you can see the contents of each of them.

10. Drag the Outlook Express folder to your backup device.

Now you have your Outlook Express email files on the backup device, and you are ready to import them into Windows Mail. Here are the directions.

1. Insert your USB drive in the new computer.

2. Open the drive by clicking on “Start” then on “Computer”, and double click on the drive.

3. Use your mouse to drag the Outlook Express folder to your desktop, and close the computer window.

4. Open Windows Mail. Click on “File” in the menu bar (if the menu bar is not visible, tap to Alt key) point to “Import” and click on “Messages…”.

5. Click to select the format you want to import from (in this case Outlook Express) and click “Next”.

6. Click the “Browse” button and scroll down to find your folder. Click on it, and click “OK”.

7. Click “Next” to import your messages.

Elizabeth

Kevin

Dear Kevin,

I can only guess that the toolbar that contains the “Send” button has become hidden in your Outlook Express window.

I have recorded a video that will help explain the steps more thoroughly, and I also explained what to do if the “Send” button is not visible.

Elizabeth

Read your newsletters all the time. Great Stuff. Thanks, Bob

Dear Bob,

Yes, there is a way to leave the mail on the server to allow access for more than one computer. You will need to make this change on each computer that you are using.

In Outlook Express: (Windows XP)

1. Open Outlook Express.
2. Click on “Tools” in the menu bar, then click on “Accounts…”
3. Click on your mail account, then click on the, “Properties” button on the right.
4. Click on the “Advanced” tab of the properties window.
5. Click on the tab that says, “Mail” at the top of the dialog box.
6. Click to place a check mark in front of “Leave a copy of messages on server”.
7. Click “OK” to close the window and save your changes.
8. Click on the “Close” button in the remaining dialog box.

In Windows Mail (Vista)

1. Open Windows Mail.
2. Click on “Tools” in the menu bar, then click on “Accounts”.
3. Click on your mail account (it will display your email address), then click on the “Properties button on the right.
4. Click on the “Advanced” tab of the properties window.
5. Click to place a check mark in front of “Leave a copy of messages on server”.
6. Click “OK” to close the window and save your changes.
7. Click the “Close” button in the Internet Accounts dialog box.

In Windows Live Mail (Windows 7)

1. Open Windows Live Mail.
2. Right Click on the heading for your e-mail address in the left column.
3. Click on “Properties” in the context menu that appears.
4. Click on the “Advanced” tab of the properties window.
5. Click to place a check mark in front of “Leave a copy of messages on server”.
6. Click “OK” to close the window and save your changes.

Elizabeth

Is there a way to get an e-mail back that was deleted by mistake but is still in my deleted folder on my e-mail page? My e-mail is outlook express.
Thanks for any help.
Wes

Dear Wes,

If your email is still in the “Deleted Items” folder, then you are in luck. It is actually very easy to put it back into your inbox.

1. Open Outlook Express, and go to your “Deleted Items” folder.

2. Right click on the message that you want back in your inbox.

3. In the context menu that appears, click on, “Move To”.

4. In the dialog box that appears, navigate to the “Inbox” folder, click on it, then click the “OK” button.

Elizabeth

Laura

Dear Laura,

Outlook Express does occasionally have problems with corrupt files, and it sounds like you are having another problem of this type.

I have found that it is fairly easy to fix corrupt files, and most of the time keep your saved e-mail messages.

The solution is to move your e-mail files, which forces Outlook express to create new, empty files, then, if you want, you can import the messages from your old files.

1. First, you need to find the location of the email files. To do this, open Outlook Express, click on “Tools” in the menu bar, then click Options.

2. In the Options window, click on the Maintenance tab, then click on the button that says “Store Folder”.

3. A small window will appear with the location of your e-mail files. Highlight the folder location, and then press CTRL+C to copy the location.

4. Click Cancel, and then click Cancel again to close the dialog box. Close Outlook Express.

5. Now, you want to open the folder that contains your mail files. An easy way to do this is to click Start, and then click Run.

6. In the Run window, click in the box that says “Open” and press CTRL+V to paste in the location, and then click OK. The window containing your files will now open.

7. In the window containing your mail files, go to the Edit menu, click Select All. This will highlight all the files in the window.

8. Again, click on Edit, then click Copy to copy the files. Leave this window open for now, you will need to go back to it later.

9. To create a folder to store your saved files, right-click any empty space on your desktop, click New, and then click Folder.

10. Type mail backup for the folder name, and then press ENTER.

11. Double-click the Mail Backup folder to open it.

12. In the open mail backup folder, click on Edit, then click Paste. The e-mail files will appear in the window.

Now that you have saved a copy of your email folders, go back to the window containing your original mail files and delete the file you are having problems with. Make sure that you have already closed Outlook Express in step 4 above.

When you open Outlook Express, it will create a new inbox file, which should work better than the old corrupt one.

If you want to try getting your email messages back, you can use the built in, “Import function” to import the messages from the old files.

Elizabeth

Thank you, Donna

Dear Donna,

It sounds like you are having a problem with Internet Explorer. When you click on a link in an e-mail message, your computer is supposed to open that link in your default web browser. From your description, your browser is Internet Explorer.

Unfortunately, Internet Explorer is part of Windows, and often times, the only way to fix it is to actually reinstall Windows XP. This is a big job that requires you to backup your files and then erase your hard drive.

Some other options might be to install Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome and use one of those programs as your default browser.

Elizabeth

Patsy

Dear Patsy,

This problem usually occurs when Internet Explorer is not set up as your default web browser, or the computer has no browser set as the default.

There are several different steps you can take to fix this problem, we will start with the simple steps that often work, and then I will give you a more extreme step that almost always works.

Here is the first solution:

1. Open the Control Panel by clicking on “Start”, pointing to “Settings” and then click on “Control Panel”.

2. In the Control Panel, click on “Network and Internet Connections” and then click on “Internet Options”. If you are using classic view, just click on “Internet Options”.

3. In the Internet Options window, click on the “Programs” tab, and locate the section entitled “Default web browser”.

4. The Default web browser section will tell you if Internet Explorer is your default web browser or not. If it is not, you can click on the “Make default” button.

5. Also make sure there is a check mark in front of “Tell me if Internet Explorer is not the default web browser.” Then click “OK” at the bottom of the window.

Restart your computer, and see if this has fixed the problem.

If you are still unable to click on links, it is time to try a more extreme solution.

1. Open the Control Panel by clicking on “Start”, pointing to “Settings” and then click on “Control Panel”.

2. In the Control Panel, click on “Network and Internet Connections” and then click on “Internet Options”. If you are using classic view, just click on “Internet Options”.

3. In the Internet Options window, click on the “Advanced” tab. At the bottom of the window, you will find two buttons. One says “Restore advanced settings”, and the other says “Reset…”

4. Click first on the “Restore advanced settings button, and then when that is finished, click on the “Reset…” button.

5. Click the “OK” button at the very bottom of the window, and then restart your computer.

Most of the time, this solution will fix the problem.

Elizabeth

Edrie

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Dear Edrie,

In order to delete all the files in your sent items folder, you need a way to select (or highlight) them all at once.

To do this, open your “Sent Items” folder and click on one of the messages to highlight it.

Now, on your keyboard, hold down the Ctrl key and press the letter A.

You should see all the messages become highlighted.

Now, just press the delete key, or click the delete button on the toolbar and all the highlighted messages will be deleted.

Elizabeth