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How to back up Outlook Express
Email Program
*NOTE* This is a copy of the
procedures from: Microsoft
Help Database Elysium Gates takes NO responsibility for any problems
you run into using these procedures. If you feel uncomfortable with
these procedures it is recommended to visit Microsoft's website for
further instructions.
SUMMARY
This article describes how to
back up and restore your messages, Address Book, mail accounts, and news
accounts in Outlook Express 5 and later. If multiple Identities are in use
for Outlook Express, these steps should be repeated for each Identity and
the backup data segregated accordingly. This will facilitate restoration
of each Identity.
MORE INFORMATION
To backup Outlook Express data:
- Copy mail files to a backup
folder
- Export the Address Book to a
file
- Export the mail account to a
file
- Export the news account to a
file
To restore or import Outlook
Express data:
- Import messages from the
backup folder
- Import the Address Book file
- Import the mail account file
- Import the news account file
Copy Mail Files to a Backup
Folder
To make a backup copy of your
Outlook Express e-mail message files:
- On the Tools menu,
click Options.
- On the Maintenance
tab, click Store Folder.
- Select the folder location,
and then press CTRL+C to copy the location.
- Click Cancel, and then
click Cancel again to close the dialog box.
- Click Start, and then
click Run.
- In the Open box, press
CTRL+V, and then click OK.
- On the Edit menu,
click Select All.
- On the Edit menu,
click Copy, and then close the window.
- Right-click any empty space
on your desktop, click New, and then click Folder.
- Type mail backup for
the folder name, and then press ENTER.
- Double-click the Mail Backup
folder to open it.
- On the Edit menu,
click Paste.
- Close the Mail Backup window.
Export the Address Book to a
File
NOTE:
This step is very important when multiple Identities are in use. A .WAB
(Windows Address Book) file is used by Outlook Express 5.x and 6.0
versions, even if multiple Identities are used. The individual data for
each Identity is stored in a folder, by user name, within the .WAB file in
use.
Exporting this data, while logged in to a specific Identity, is the only
means of segregating the Address Book data. If the .WAB file becomes
dissociated from the user Identities, the data can only be exported in
total - not folder by folder.
To export your Outlook Express address book:
- On the File menu,
click Export, and then click Address Book.
- Click Text File (Comma
Separated Values), and then click Export.
- Click Browse.
- Locate the Mail Backup folder
that you created.
- In the File Name box,
type address book backup, and then click Save.
- Click Next.
- Click to select the check
boxes for the fields that you want to export, and then click Finish.
- Click OK and then
click Close.
Export the Mail Account to a
File
To make a backup copy of your
Outlook Express mail account:
- On the Tools menu,
click Accounts.
- On the Mail tab, click
the mail account that you want to export, and then click Export.
- In the Save In box,
locate the Mail Backup folder on your desktop, and then click Save.
- Repeat these steps for each
mail account that you want to export.
- Click Close.
Export the Newsgroup Account to
a File
To make a backup copy of your
Outlook Express news accounts:
- On the Tools menu,
click Accounts.
- On the News tab, click
the news account that you want to export, and then click Export.
- In the Save In box,
use locate the Mail Backup folder on your desktop, and then click Save.
- Repeat these steps for each
news account that you want to export.
- Click Close.
Importing Outlook Express data
To restore data, you may need to
re-create the Identities for each user, prior to using the following
steps. Repeat each step, as needed, for each Identity.
Import Messages from the Backup
Folder
To import your Outlook Express
e-mail messages from the Backup folder:
- On the File menu,
point to Import, and then click Messages.
- In the Select an e-mail
program to import from box, click Microsoft Outlook Express 5
or Microsoft Outlook Express 6, and then click Next.
- Click Import mail from an
OE5 store directory or Import mail from an OE6 store directory,
and then click OK.
- Click Browse, and then
click on the Mail Backup folder on your desktop.
- Click OK, and then
click Next.
- Click All folders,
click Next, and then click Finish.
Import the Address Book File
To import your Outlook Express
address book:
- On the File menu,
click Import, and then click Other Address Book.
- Click Text File (Comma
Separated Values), and then click Import.
- Click Browse.
- Locate the Mail Backup folder
on your desktop, click the address book Backup.csv file, and
then click Open.
- Click Next, and then
click Finish.
- Click OK, and then
click Close.
Import the Mail Account File
To import your Outlook Express mail
account file:
- On the Tools menu,
click Accounts.
- On the Mail tab, click
Import.
- In the Look In box,
locate the Mail Backup folder on your desktop.
- Click the mail account that
you want to import, and then click Open.
- Repeat these steps for each
mail account that you want to import.
- Click Close.
Import the Newsgroup Account
File
To import your Outlook Express news
account file:
- On the Tools menu,
click Accounts.
- On the News tab, click
Import.
- In the Look In box,
locate the Mail Backup folder on your desktop.
- Click the news account that
you want to import, and then click Open.
- Repeat these steps for each
news account that you want to import.
- Click Close.
Preserving Blocked Senders List
and/or Other Mail Rules
The procedure to preserve the blocked senders list and other mail rules is
detailed in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
How to Backup and Restore Outlook
Express Blocked Senders List and Other Mail Rules
IMPORTANT:
This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you
edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a
problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the
"Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the
"Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.
SUMMARY
This article describes how to
back up and restore your Blocked Senders list and other mail rules in
Outlook Express 5 and later. If multiple Identities are in use for
Outlook Express, these steps should be repeated for each Identity, and
the backup data segregated accordingly. This will facilitate restoration
of each Identity.
MORE INFORMATION
WARNING:
Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may
require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot
guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry
Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing
Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the
"Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit
Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should
back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT
or Windows 2000, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).
How to Back Up Blocked
Senders List and Other Mail Rules
The Blocked Senders List
- Click Start, and
then click Run.
- In the Open box,
type regedit, and then click OK.
- Locate and click the
following registry subkeys (save each key to a different file):
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{Identity
Number}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0\Block Senders
- On the Registry
menu, click Export Registry File.
- In the Save In box,
change the location to your desktop.
- In the File Name
box, type blocked senders.reg (for the Block Senders
key), and then click Save.
Other Mail Rules
- Click Start, and
then click Run.
- In the Open box,
type regedit, and then click OK.
- Locate and click the
following registry subkeys (save each key to a different file):
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{Identity
Number}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0\Rules\Mail
- On the Registry
menu, click Export Registry File.
- In the Save In box,
change the location to your desktop.
- In the File Name
box, type mail rules.reg (for the mail rules key), and
then click Save.
- On the Registry
menu, click Exit.
NOTE:
For additional protection, copy the registry key files from your desktop
to any of the following locations:
- Another partition on your
computer.
- A network location.
- Some form of removable
media.
How to Restore the Existing
Blocked Senders List and Other Mail Rules to Function on the Newly
Installed Operating System
- Open Outlook Express on the
new computer, and complete the Internet Connection Wizard to set up
your Identity and account information. If you had multiple
identities in the previous installation, complete these steps for
each Identity. To do this:
- Click Start, and
then click Run.
- In the Open box,
type notepad.exe.
- Click Open on the File
menu, and then locate the Block Senders.reg file that you created.
- In the second line of text,
select the text after "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identity\" that
includes the braces {}. On the Edit menu, click Copy
to copy this text to the Microsoft Windows Clipboard.
- On the Edit menu,
click Replace. Click your pointer in the Find what
box, and then click Paste on the Edit menu to paste
the text into that box. Do not close the Notepad application until
you are directed to do so later in this process.
- Start Registry Editor on
the new computer (as in step 1 of "The Blocked Senders
List" section), and locate the HKEY_Current_User\Identities
folder. Double-click the User ID key in the right pane, and
then click the Value data.
- Press CTRL+C to copy that
value to the Windows Clipboard. Click Cancel to close the Edit
String dialog box, and then close Registry Editor.
- In Notepad, click your
point in the Replace with box, and press CTRL+V to paste the
text. Click Replace All to replace all instances of the text
strings.
- Scroll through the entire
list to make sure that all registry keys have the new text string,
rather than the old string. On the File menu, click Save,
and then close Notepad.
- Double-click the Block
Senders.reg file, and then click Yes when you are
prompted: "Are you sure you want to..." to import the
Block Senders list to the registry for the new computer.
- Follow steps 2 through 11
above on the mail rules.reg file to update that file with the new
Identity information.
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