Situation:
You're ready to reformat your computer, but you need to back up your email so that you can restore it later.

Solution:
The following proceedures are simplified to work with all versions of Windows.

Part One: Backup

Open My Computer or Internet Explorer.
Go to: Tools | Folder Options | View and make sure that there is a check box beside "Show hidden files and folders". Click Apply and OK.
On the Start menu, click Search (or Find)

We will now search for the corresponding files for Outlook and Outlook Express.

For Outlook, you only need to locate one file, unless you have Archived material. Search the appropriate drive (usually C:) for *.pst

Outlook Express uses two files, one for email and the other for the Address Book. Search the appropriate drive for *.dbx and then *.wab

Once you locate the file(s) that you need to backup, you can copy them from the Search window and paste them into your backup folder.

Part Two: Restore

In Outlook, goto File | Import and Export | Import from another program or file... | Personal Folder File (.pst) and navigate to your backup files. Voila!

In Outlook Express, goto File | Import | Address Book and navigate to your backup files. Then go back to File | Import | select the version of OE that you were previously using | select "Import from a store directory". Snippity Snap.

One extra tip: If you created a backup onto CD, you may not be able to import the file(s). In this case, copy the files onto your hard drive, right-click and select Properties and de-select Hidden.


MacIntosh users running Eudora can find info on backing up email here.

20 January 2003  |   permalink