Lost only 2006 email messages

A weird issue, I recently opened OE and all my inbox messages from 2006 are
missing. My messages from 2004 and 2005 are in there but all of 2006 is
missing. I haven't been too good at backing them up. I used DBXpress and
looked in the inbox and deleted items folders and only got what I already
had, no sign of the 2006 messages. ANy help would be appreciated. Thanks,
will be backing up regularly now!!

The two most common reasons for what you describe is disruption of the
compacting process, (never touch anything until it's finished), or bloated
folders. More on that below.

Why does OE insist on compacting folders when I close it?:
http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/why.htm#compact

Why Mail Disappears:
http://www.insideoe.com/problems/bugs.htm#mailgone

About File Corruption:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/...orruption.mspx

Recovery tools:

If you are running XP/SP2, and are fully patched, then you should have a
backup of your dbx files in the Recycle Bin, copied as bak files.

To restore a bak folder to the message store folder, first close OE and
locate the Message Store in Windows Explorer.

Tools | Options | Maintenance | Store Folder will reveal the location of
your Outlook Express files. Press the Tab key to highlight the folder
location, then Ctrl+C. Close OE, then Start | Run | Ctrl+V will put the
location in the box - Click OK and you'll see the OE files. Otherwise, write
the location down and navigate to it in Windows Explorer.

In WinXP, the .dbx files are by default marked as hidden. To view these
files in Explorer, you must enable Show Hidden Files and Folders under Start
| Control Panel | 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.

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.

If you do not have bak copies of your dbx files in the Recycle Bin, then:

DBXpress run in Extract From Disk Mode is the best chance to recover
messages:
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

And see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#4

A general warning if you don't want to lose your messages in the futu

Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually become
corrupted. Create your own user defined folders for storing mail and move
your mail to them. Empty Deleted Items folder regularly. Keep user created
folders under 100MB, and Default folders as empty as is feasible.

And backup often.

Backup and Resto

http://www.insideoutlookexpress.com/backup/

http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx

And this good one click backup program.

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB):

http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"M.E. Lehn" wrote in message
...
A weird issue, I recently opened OE and all my inbox messages from 2006 are
missing. My messages from 2004 and 2005 are in there but all of 2006 is
missing. I haven't been too good at backing them up. I used DBXpress and
looked in the inbox and deleted items folders and only got what I already
had, no sign of the 2006 messages. ANy help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
will be backing up regularly now!!

Wow Thanks Bruce for your super fast response. I know I suffer from the
bloated folder problem and will take care of that next. I'll follow your
instructions and hopefully I can find my 2006 messages.

I think OE was compacting and I got an error message with something else and
I clicked cancel and then had to restart. I tried to restore to an earlier
point to see if the messages would be there but they weren't. What's strange
is that my inbox still has a bunch of old mail in there, only the 2006
messages are missing. So the folder isn't entirely empty.

I'll let you know, thanks again!!
M.E.

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

The two most common reasons for what you describe is disruption of the
compacting process, (never touch anything until it's finished), or bloated
folders. More on that below.

Why does OE insist on compacting folders when I close it?:
http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/why.htm#compact

Why Mail Disappears:
http://www.insideoe.com/problems/bugs.htm#mailgone

About File Corruption:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/...orruption.mspx

Recovery tools:

If you are running XP/SP2, and are fully patched, then you should have a
backup of your dbx files in the Recycle Bin, copied as bak files.

To restore a bak folder to the message store folder, first close OE and
locate the Message Store in Windows Explorer.

Tools | Options | Maintenance | Store Folder will reveal the location of
your Outlook Express files. Press the Tab key to highlight the folder
location, then Ctrl+C. Close OE, then Start | Run | Ctrl+V will put the
location in the box - Click OK and you'll see the OE files. Otherwise, write
the location down and navigate to it in Windows Explorer.

In WinXP, the .dbx files are by default marked as hidden. To view these
files in Explorer, you must enable Show Hidden Files and Folders under Start
| Control Panel | 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.

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.

If you do not have bak copies of your dbx files in the Recycle Bin, then:

DBXpress run in Extract From Disk Mode is the best chance to recover
messages:
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

And see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#4

A general warning if you don't want to lose your messages in the futu

Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually become
corrupted. Create your own user defined folders for storing mail and move
your mail to them. Empty Deleted Items folder regularly. Keep user created
folders under 100MB, and Default folders as empty as is feasible.

And backup often.

Backup and Resto

http://www.insideoutlookexpress.com/backup/

http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx

And this good one click backup program.

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB):

http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"M.E. Lehn" wrote in message
...
A weird issue, I recently opened OE and all my inbox messages from 2006 are
missing. My messages from 2004 and 2005 are in there but all of 2006 is
missing. I haven't been too good at backing them up. I used DBXpress and
looked in the inbox and deleted items folders and only got what I already
had, no sign of the 2006 messages. ANy help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
will be backing up regularly now!!

If compacting was involved, and you do not have .bak files in the Recycle
Bin, then DBXpress *must* be run in Extract From Disk Mode to recover
messages.

Good luck.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"M.E. Lehn" wrote in message
...
Wow Thanks Bruce for your super fast response. I know I suffer from the
bloated folder problem and will take care of that next. I'll follow your
instructions and hopefully I can find my 2006 messages.

I think OE was compacting and I got an error message with something else
and
I clicked cancel and then had to restart. I tried to restore to an
earlier
point to see if the messages would be there but they weren't. What's
strange
is that my inbox still has a bunch of old mail in there, only the 2006
messages are missing. So the folder isn't entirely empty.

I'll let you know, thanks again!!
M.E.

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

The two most common reasons for what you describe is disruption of the
compacting process, (never touch anything until it's finished), or
bloated
folders. More on that below.

Why does OE insist on compacting folders when I close it?:
http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/why.htm#compact

Why Mail Disappears:
http://www.insideoe.com/problems/bugs.htm#mailgone

About File Corruption:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/...orruption.mspx

Recovery tools:

If you are running XP/SP2, and are fully patched, then you should have a
backup of your dbx files in the Recycle Bin, copied as bak files.

To restore a bak folder to the message store folder, first close OE and
locate the Message Store in Windows Explorer.

Tools | Options | Maintenance | Store Folder will reveal the location of
your Outlook Express files. Press the Tab key to highlight the folder
location, then Ctrl+C. Close OE, then Start | Run | Ctrl+V will put the
location in the box - Click OK and you'll see the OE files. Otherwise,
write
the location down and navigate to it in Windows Explorer.

In WinXP, the .dbx files are by default marked as hidden. To view these
files in Explorer, you must enable Show Hidden Files and Folders under
Start
| Control Panel | 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.

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.

If you do not have bak copies of your dbx files in the Recycle Bin, then:

DBXpress run in Extract From Disk Mode is the best chance to recover
messages:
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

And see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#4

A general warning if you don't want to lose your messages in the futu

Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually become
corrupted. Create your own user defined folders for storing mail and move
your mail to them. Empty Deleted Items folder regularly. Keep user
created
folders under 100MB, and Default folders as empty as is feasible.

And backup often.

Backup and Resto

http://www.insideoutlookexpress.com/backup/

http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx

And this good one click backup program.

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB):

http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"M.E. Lehn" wrote in message
...
A weird issue, I recently opened OE and all my inbox messages from 2006
are
missing. My messages from 2004 and 2005 are in there but all of 2006
is
missing. I haven't been too good at backing them up. I used DBXpress
and
looked in the inbox and deleted items folders and only got what I
already
had, no sign of the 2006 messages. ANy help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
will be backing up regularly now!!

Ok, I followed all that and found the .bak file in the recycle bin and did
the restore and I still didn't get back the 2006 messages. I have messages
from 2003-2005 and from 3/2007 but none of 2006, which is what I had before I
started. Weird. I'll try the DBXpress extract from disk mode next.
Thanks again

"M.E. Lehn" wrote:

Wow Thanks Bruce for your super fast response. I know I suffer from the
bloated folder problem and will take care of that next. I'll follow your
instructions and hopefully I can find my 2006 messages.

I think OE was compacting and I got an error message with something else and
I clicked cancel and then had to restart. I tried to restore to an earlier
point to see if the messages would be there but they weren't. What's strange
is that my inbox still has a bunch of old mail in there, only the 2006
messages are missing. So the folder isn't entirely empty.

I'll let you know, thanks again!!
M.E.

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

The two most common reasons for what you describe is disruption of the
compacting process, (never touch anything until it's finished), or bloated
folders. More on that below.

Why does OE insist on compacting folders when I close it?:
http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/why.htm#compact

Why Mail Disappears:
http://www.insideoe.com/problems/bugs.htm#mailgone

About File Corruption:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/...orruption.mspx

Recovery tools:

If you are running XP/SP2, and are fully patched, then you should have a
backup of your dbx files in the Recycle Bin, copied as bak files.

To restore a bak folder to the message store folder, first close OE and
locate the Message Store in Windows Explorer.

Tools | Options | Maintenance | Store Folder will reveal the location of
your Outlook Express files. Press the Tab key to highlight the folder
location, then Ctrl+C. Close OE, then Start | Run | Ctrl+V will put the
location in the box - Click OK and you'll see the OE files. Otherwise, write
the location down and navigate to it in Windows Explorer.

In WinXP, the .dbx files are by default marked as hidden. To view these
files in Explorer, you must enable Show Hidden Files and Folders under Start
| Control Panel | 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.

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.

If you do not have bak copies of your dbx files in the Recycle Bin, then:

DBXpress run in Extract From Disk Mode is the best chance to recover
messages:
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

And see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#4

A general warning if you don't want to lose your messages in the futu

Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually become
corrupted. Create your own user defined folders for storing mail and move
your mail to them. Empty Deleted Items folder regularly. Keep user created
folders under 100MB, and Default folders as empty as is feasible.

And backup often.

Backup and Resto

http://www.insideoutlookexpress.com/backup/

http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx

And this good one click backup program.

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB):

http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"M.E. Lehn" wrote in message
...
A weird issue, I recently opened OE and all my inbox messages from 2006 are
missing. My messages from 2004 and 2005 are in there but all of 2006 is
missing. I haven't been too good at backing them up. I used DBXpress and
looked in the inbox and deleted items folders and only got what I already
had, no sign of the 2006 messages. ANy help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
will be backing up regularly now!!

Did you move the corresponding dbx file out of the message store before you
restored and renamed the bak file?

If it is a combination of a bloated folder and compacting, then the bak file
may be missing the messages also.

If this is the case, continue with DBXpress in the Extract from disk mode.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"M.E. Lehn" wrote in message
...
Ok, I followed all that and found the .bak file in the recycle bin and did
the restore and I still didn't get back the 2006 messages. I have
messages
from 2003-2005 and from 3/2007 but none of 2006, which is what I had
before I
started. Weird. I'll try the DBXpress extract from disk mode next.
Thanks again

"M.E. Lehn" wrote:

Wow Thanks Bruce for your super fast response. I know I suffer from the
bloated folder problem and will take care of that next. I'll follow your
instructions and hopefully I can find my 2006 messages.

I think OE was compacting and I got an error message with something else
and
I clicked cancel and then had to restart. I tried to restore to an
earlier
point to see if the messages would be there but they weren't. What's
strange
is that my inbox still has a bunch of old mail in there, only the 2006
messages are missing. So the folder isn't entirely empty.

I'll let you know, thanks again!!
M.E.

"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

The two most common reasons for what you describe is disruption of the
compacting process, (never touch anything until it's finished), or
bloated
folders. More on that below.

Why does OE insist on compacting folders when I close it?:
http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/why.htm#compact

Why Mail Disappears:
http://www.insideoe.com/problems/bugs.htm#mailgone

About File Corruption:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/...orruption.mspx

Recovery tools:

If you are running XP/SP2, and are fully patched, then you should have
a
backup of your dbx files in the Recycle Bin, copied as bak files.

To restore a bak folder to the message store folder, first close OE and
locate the Message Store in Windows Explorer.

Tools | Options | Maintenance | Store Folder will reveal the location
of
your Outlook Express files. Press the Tab key to highlight the folder
location, then Ctrl+C. Close OE, then Start | Run | Ctrl+V will put the
location in the box - Click OK and you'll see the OE files. Otherwise,
write
the location down and navigate to it in Windows Explorer.

In WinXP, the .dbx files are by default marked as hidden. To view these
files in Explorer, you must enable Show Hidden Files and Folders under
Start
| Control Panel | 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.

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.

If you do not have bak copies of your dbx files in the Recycle Bin,
then:

DBXpress run in Extract From Disk Mode is the best chance to recover
messages:
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

And see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#4

A general warning if you don't want to lose your messages in the
futu

Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually become
corrupted. Create your own user defined folders for storing mail and
move
your mail to them. Empty Deleted Items folder regularly. Keep user
created
folders under 100MB, and Default folders as empty as is feasible.

And backup often.

Backup and Resto

http://www.insideoutlookexpress.com/backup/

http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx

And this good one click backup program.

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB):

http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"M.E. Lehn" wrote in message
...
A weird issue, I recently opened OE and all my inbox messages from
2006 are
missing. My messages from 2004 and 2005 are in there but all of 2006
is
missing. I haven't been too good at backing them up. I used DBXpress
and
looked in the inbox and deleted items folders and only got what I
already
had, no sign of the 2006 messages. ANy help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
will be backing up regularly now!!