Outlook Express Tips
from PCTechTalk's
Guitar Man
(FOR MORE TIPS, CHECK
OUT GMAN'S ARCHIVES) How To Completely Backup Outlook Express:
Important Notes:
1) This tutorial has been written for users of Windows 95, 95B, 98,
98SE and ME since they are on more computers than other OS's. Users of
NT based operating systems (WinNT, Win2000 & WinXP) will find things
slightly different on their computers. If you fall into the NT based
crowd and need help with these differences, get in touch with me over my
tech list and I'll clear up the differences for ya. This same offer
applies to folks who are running Win9x/ME but would like to clear up any
questions they may have about the directions given here. To join, send a
blank email message to PCTechTalk-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
You'll also need to reply to a confirmation reply that the server
automatically sends to every new membership request.
2) Once you start this process, you'll want to make sure that OE is
set to Offline so that no new messages try to download. To do that, open
up OE and go to File/Work Offline. This will allow OE to continue
running without trying to access the internet.
3) A true backup means that you're copying these things onto some
long term storage medium away from your hard drive. This includes, but
is not limited to, floppy or Zip disks, Tape and/or CD-R/RW blanks.
Making a copy of these things somewhere else on your hard drive will not
help you one bit if your hard drive should fail.
What Files/Folders Should Be Backed Up:
OE uses a number of files from different locations on a hard drive.
Fortunately, we can find everything that actually needs to be saved in
just two locations. Open up Windows Explorer and make your way to the
"C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book" folder.
This is the folder that contains your Address Book for OE. This Address
Book folder is the first one that should be backed up.
Next, locate the "C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Identities\
{there's a long string of numbers & letters here} \Microsoft\Outlook
Express" subfolder. This one should contain all of your email files
(each folder inside OE is represented by a .dbx file with the same
name). It should also be backed up. You'll want to take into
consideration the total size of the files in here when deciding the best
method for backing it up. If you tend to save nearly every message
that's sent to you, you might be surprised at how large this folder can
be. Mine total over 7GB.
On the other hand, it's possible that the above folders do not
contain the files we need. This could occur if your system is set up for
multiple users. If that's the case, you'll need to look elsewhere to
find the files we're after. The most probable location is in Windows
"Local Settings" or "Profiles" subfolders. If they
both exist, look through each of them until you find a storage of .dbx
files whose names correspond to your own folder names inside OE. If you
find this is the case, you should back up the entire folder (either
Local Settings or Profiles) so that everyone's email (among other
things) gets backed up.
Once you follow the instructions to this point, you've already saved
all of the files you need to save for OE. The next section will deal
with saving and backing up your OE settings. These include all of your
Message Rules (I have hundreds of these), any signatures you've created
and even the way OE is displayed when you open it.
Before getting into this next part, you should first make a backup of
the registry, just in case anything should go wrong (which is extremely
unlikely since all we're doing is exporting some keys). In fact, it's
always a good idea to make a backup of the registry whenever you're
about to edit it or make any hardware/software changes to your system.
To do this, go to Start/Run and type in REGEDIT and press Enter. Go to
Registry/Export Registry File. When the window opens, direct it to the
Desktop (if it's available, just click on the small View Desktop icon at
the top to do this). Give this file you're about to make a name like
RegBakUp. The window will automatically give it a .reg extension. Click
on the Save button at the bottom to create the backup file. Note that
this file will be rather large, depending on the size of your registry.
After you've finished following these instructions without any problems,
you can delete it to free up that hard drive space if you wish.
Once the backup has been made, you're ready to go digging into this
veritable warehouse of system data. You'll most likely discover that if
you're comfortable working with Windows Explorer, you'll feel nearly
right at home in the registry. The various keys and string values are
laid out just like the folders and files in Explorer.
Backing Up Your OE Settings.
By clicking on the + signs next to them, make your way through the
following keys. They are separated by a backslash (\) just like any
other path statement.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\ {there's a string of characters here
and there should only be one set of them} \Software\Microsoft\Outlook
Express
Once you have reached the end of the key path above, click directly
on the key (folder) called Outlook Express. At the top of RegEdit, click
on Registry/Export Registry File again and follow the same directions
that I gave above to export the entire registry. The only two
differences are that you only want the Selected Branch at the bottom and
you'll want to give it a different name. I prefer OEBackup.reg for this
one. The proper key path should already be selected. You might also want
to choose a better storage area (the folder you decide to use to save
these backups) for this one than simply using the Desktop. When you
click on the Save button, you'll have your email rules saved onto your
hard drive somewhere. You'll most likely want to copy this file to a
floppy or back it up with other important stuff you don't want to lose.
If you have any questions about the stuff above, you know where to
find me. 8^)
Peace,
G Man
"The only dumb questions are the ones that are never
asked!" For more of his great OE Tips, see
GMan's Archive.
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