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My system stalled while I was trying to delete old messages from Outlook Express. Since then, Outlook Express is not responding and I cannot open Inbox. I tried the usual remedies, namely Repair, Re-Install Outlook Express, but it did not help. I tried to synchronise but that too did not help. I also tried the suggestion given in Microsoft Support advising to use no preview Pane Mode but no luck. I do not wish to remove Outlook Express, as that would delete all my past correspondence. Is there any other alternative to save my mails?

Dr A. Chakraborty

If you could remember which particular folder you last accessed, then please follow the following procedure to solve the problem. Locate your profile path, i.e., the place where your outlook mail box files are stored.

To find this, please go to the tools and select options in the following dialog box. Select the maintenance tab and click on the `Store Folder' button.

A dialog box will appear displaying the location of the folder where the .dbx files are stored.

Please note the location and open it, there you will find the names of all the folders you created. If you haven't created any additional folders, the default folders like the inbox.dbx, outbox.dbx, sent items.dbx, ect,.. will be there. Locate the folder which you last accessed and rename it to something else like myfolder.bak.

Now open Outlook Express, create a new folder in Outlook using the same name (if it is a default folder the system will re-create the folder by itself when you open Outlook). Now close Outlook Express and then go to the folder location again. You will find that a new file with the folder name you chose would have been created with an .dbx extension.

Delete this file and rename the .bak file which you renamed earlier to the original myfolder.dbx and open Outlook.

If this doesn't work, then the next option is to move all the .dbx files to a different location, say c:\mymails, then open Outlook Express.

Outlook will re-create all the default mail folders, now go to file and click on import and then select messages, select your outlook version, click next, in the next screen select `OE5' store directory, then click browse and point to the location where you have moved the .dbx files (c:\mymails), all your mails will be imported.

Solution by G. Rajah

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