Outlook Express 6 Can't Start (continued)...

Well, as I mentioned in my last post about the subject, I've decided to follow some of Tom Koch of http://www.insideoe.com's instructions.

Here is how I solved it:

If Outlook Express will not start, move the *.dbx files from your store folder and into a new empty folder.

1. Download this small script that will open the store folder of the currently logged-on Identity. Alternatively you can find it be searching in Windows Explorer for files named *.dbx. Be sure to include hidden files in your search, as OE user files are marked as hidden by default. To view hidden files:
   • In Windows Explorer, click Tools| Folder Options then click theView tab.
   • Click the button for Show hidden files and folders.
2. On your desktop, right-click and point to New| Folder.
3. In the store folder window, click Edit| Select All, or press CTRL-A.
4. Drag the selected files and drop them into the New Folder on your desktop.

Try opening OE again. If it starts without error, try importing your mail folders.

1. Click File| Import| Messages| Microsoft Outlook Express 6.

2. Select Import from a store folder and click Browse.

3. Navigate to the New Folder on the Desktop.

If OE cannot import the mail folders, it means the file Folders.dbx is probably damaged. In that case, close OE and move all the other *.dbx files back into the store folder. When you re-start OE, it will build a new index of all the *.dbx files it can read, and create a new Folders.dbx. Understand though that you will lose the mail tree structure, all lists of newsgroups, and all synchronization options, and that message rules will likely need to be edited.

If any *.dbx file fails to be imported, you can buy DBXtract or download the free Macallan Outlook Express Extraction in order to extract individual *.eml files for each message it finds in the damaged *.dbx file. You can then drag those *.eml files and drop them into an OE mail folder in the OE Folder list.

Thanx Tom ! I couldnt have done it without you. Great information.

Remember that Outlook Express and Mozilla Thunderbird are e-mail/messaging clients for SOHO use. Not for mass mail dealing like in the office. Their database size should not exceed 4Gb, which you should protect against viruses as well as backup regularly. For a good backup solution is Outlook Express Backup 6.5 by http://www.genie-soft.com (Free of Charge!), which is only 4 Mb in size and it does what its asked to do.

One more user happy...