Saving Inbox folders to My documents.

Dear sirs,

Could you please tell me, in simple terms, how I can 'export'
some of my Inbox subfolders to My Documents?

I've had the exasperating experience of seeing the OE compactor
become a deleter... and couldn't catch it in time. It did this for two of
my valued Inbox subfolders. ( I will try to apply your posted advice to
see if I can possibly retrieve them).

Re the back up: I have looked at File: - Export, but it gives no
destination,
I don't want to use it until I know for sure what the process and
result will be.

I have saved 'one file at a time' to certain folders in My Docs, but that's
far too time-consuming.

Thanks,
mn

Export is just for moving to the Office Outlook mail program. Not for
doing backups.

You can backup the DBX files.
Backing Up, Recovering and Restoring Outlook Express versions 5 & 6
Files and Settings
http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx
http://www.insideoe.com/backup/index.htm

By "I have saved 'one file at a time' " do you mean one Message (EML
file) at a time?

You can do a whole folder at a time. Create an empty Windows folder,
select all the messages in an OE folder (Ctrl-A) then drag them to the
Windows folder.

Complication: Messages are saved as *.EML files where the first part of
the file name is the message's subject. If you save multiple messages
in one drag-and drop operation, OE will automatically number the
subsequent messages with identical subject to make the name unique. But
if you later save additional messages with the same subject to the same
Windows folder it will start the numbering process over again and you
will get a "Confirm File Replace" dialog for the duplicate names.
that's why you need to start with an empty Windows folder.



--

Mike - http://TechHelp.Santovec.us



"J J M Nicholson" wrote in message
...
Dear sirs,

Could you please tell me, in simple terms, how I can 'export'
some of my Inbox subfolders to My Documents?

I've had the exasperating experience of seeing the OE compactor
become a deleter... and couldn't catch it in time. It did this for two
of
my valued Inbox subfolders. ( I will try to apply your posted advice
to
see if I can possibly retrieve them).

Re the back up: I have looked at File: - Export, but it gives no
destination,
I don't want to use it until I know for sure what the process and
result will be.

I have saved 'one file at a time' to certain folders in My Docs, but
that's
far too time-consuming.

Thanks,
mn

If you want to get messages/folders out of OE and on your HDD......

One way to save an entire folder to your HDD quickly is this. You can store
them any place you want, but I'll use the Desktop as an example.

Right click on the Desktop | New | Folder. Create as many as needed, and for
now, put them on the left side of the Desktop.

Open OE and drag the window to the right enough to see the folder you
created on the Desktop. Open the folder in OE and click on one message.
Ctrl+A will highlight them all. Left click on the messages and drag them to
the folder on the Desktop.

You can also be selective by holding the Ctrl key and just highlight certain
messages and then drag them to the folder on the Desktop.

Once you confirm they are in these folders, you can delete them from OE if
you wish, and follow up with a Compact All Folders.

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.

You may find that messages with the same subject get appended, probably with
(1), (2), etc. One of these programs may be of use to you. Have a look and
decide.

DBXtract:
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtract/Default.aspx

OEX:
http://www.oehelp.com/OEX/Default.aspx

**************
However, no need if you don't need space and treat OE with TLC.
**************

General precautions for Outlook Express:

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=903095

After 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#3

In Tools | Options | Maintenance: Uncheck Compact messages in background and
leave it unchecked. {N/A if running XP/SP2}.

And backup often.

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB Freeware)
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--

Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP [Mail]
Imperial Beach, CA


"J J M Nicholson" wrote in message
...
Dear sirs,

Could you please tell me, in simple terms, how I can 'export'
some of my Inbox subfolders to My Documents?

I've had the exasperating experience of seeing the OE compactor
become a deleter... and couldn't catch it in time. It did this for two of
my valued Inbox subfolders. ( I will try to apply your posted advice to
see if I can possibly retrieve them).

Re the back up: I have looked at File: - Export, but it gives no
destination,
I don't want to use it until I know for sure what the process and
result will be.

I have saved 'one file at a time' to certain folders in My Docs, but
that's
far too time-consuming.

Thanks,
mn

See www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#6 You can backup the message store with a
single button click using OETool coupled with OEQB. Both are free.

steve

"J J M Nicholson" wrote in message
...
Dear sirs,

Could you please tell me, in simple terms, how I can 'export'
some of my Inbox subfolders to My Documents?

I've had the exasperating experience of seeing the OE compactor
become a deleter... and couldn't catch it in time. It did this for two of
my valued Inbox subfolders. ( I will try to apply your posted advice to
see if I can possibly retrieve them).

Re the back up: I have looked at File: - Export, but it gives no
destination,
I don't want to use it until I know for sure what the process and
result will be.

I have saved 'one file at a time' to certain folders in My Docs, but
that's
far too time-consuming.

Thanks,
mn