Here is the correct way to restore a bak file. See what you did
differently.

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. 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]
Imperial Beach, CA


"amstoryteller" wrote in message
...
While compacting I lost my files. Recovered the .bak files in Recycle
bin.
but my main Inbox file was not restored. I may have had OE open when I
tried
this procedure. The file I renamed 'inboxold1' is still there but I
don't
know what to do restore to original Inbox? Help