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View Full Version : Outlook Express Inbox Disaster (W98)



corina
05-15-2003, 02:35 AM
After opening my Outlook Express, it automatically began a self-repair operation of the e-mails in the Inbox (a few hundred, I'd guess) for reasons I cannot know. At some point after it was finished, I closed the program. The next time I opened Outlook Express, the Inbox was blank; all the e-mails had been "erased" (for lack of a better term).

The e-mails in all the other folders (Sent, Deleted, etc.) are intact.

I rebooted the computer, and when I opened Outlook Express, I got a warning that the program may be damaged and was told to run ScanDisc, which I did.

Now Outlook Express is working properly, and I can receive and send e-mail. But I cannot find any of those few hundred Inbox e-mails that disappeared.

On my C directory, under Windows, Application Data, Identities, Outlook Express, an Inbox file exists containing 51,000 KB. So was tempted to believe that they still existed in it this file. At the advice of a friend, I copied the contents of that entire Outlook Express folder to my D drive and then imported the Inbox file into Outlook Express. But the only e-mails that showed up after the import were the 7 received after the original few hundred had disappeared.

Does this mean that they lost to me forever? And if not, are there any way to retrieve them and restore them to the Inbox folder on the Outlook Express screen?

This is a major setback for me so any informed help will be most appreciated.

Corina

P.S. I have not yet attempted to use, or even install, the DBExtract program discussed in an earlier thread, so this problem cannot be related to the use of DBExtract.

dlawe
05-23-2003, 02:36 AM
Corrina
Have you tried doing a search from the start up and searching for *.log files your smpt files should be seen then you can find whicjh folder they are in and see if your old e-mails are there hope this helps
Regards
dlawe

jackha
05-23-2003, 11:38 AM
Try going to Windows Explorer>Windows>Identities>Outlook Express and see if they are there. 51000 kb's should be the tipoff..If so then you can use DBXtract to view them, but if you have that many you're going to be there awhile..