VANITY: Need computer help with Outlook Express email

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[V K Lee]

Need expert help from any who speak 'normal' English as we have no computer gifted language experts living under the roof here. Have been using Windows XP and Outlook Express (with which I am familiar and have had no problems using) Recently during a storm, the computer fried to crispy bacon and died. Guru able to save the hard drive from the old, puting same hard drive into a reconditioned make with Windows 7 operating system....making the puter available for wifi. Problem, windows 7 is not compatible with Outlook Express and unable to reconfigure the files from old programs. Now using ISP email which takes my current incoming and outgoing msg, but failed to list any saved or sent,draft messages using Outlook Express. Are there any computer gurus here who might walk an 'in the dark' computer novice as to how these might be seen once again? Feel free to private freep me with any and all advice. TIA

[V K Lee]

TIA

[Alter Kaker]

Are you logged in? If not, it could be series.

[AppyPappy]

Rule 1 (Going Forward): Anything worth keeping is worth backing up. If you are not backing up the data, you obviously don’t want it.
Rule 2: Google is your friend. Look up “Outlook files and Windows 7”
Rule 3: When in doubt, go back to the original Operating System (XP). Someone can get you a copy.

[AppyPappy]

Rule 2: Outlook Express files and Windows 7.

The problem is that you need to export the files from Outlook Express but Outlook Express is not in Windows 7.

[stylin19a]

here’s a start. Better explanations than I could give. start reading.
You will need to convert the old format (Outlook Express) to some newer format (Outlook, Windows Live, Windows mail etc...)

https://www.google.com/?client=opera#q=convert+outlook+ex0press+emails

no guts no glory ( remember to back up whatever you will be converting)

not much....good luck.

[Mycroft Holmes]

Windows7 allows you to “run as” Vista, XP or Win95. Right mouse over the program should get you to this.

[stylin19a]

https://askleo.com/how_do_i_move_my_outlook_express_email_from_windows_xp_to_windows_7/

[Hattie]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2922408/read-old-emails-from-outlook-express-windows-mail-and-thunderbird.html
Try this site. Win 7 has windows live mail on it.
If no success google for more info on retrieving old express mail.

[wally_bert]

Try importing into Live Mail (I think that’s what it’s called) or maybe Thunderbird.

I have gone through the pain of trying to train someone multiple times who kept gigabytes of message traffic and never got rid of anything. That person is learning Gmail.

My wife went through similar with going to 7 from XP and finding out that the Earthlink client didn’t work in 7. VirtualBox saved the day there.

I am done with standalone clients.

[UB355]

Www.aid4mail.com

[BushCountry]

Microsoft Import / Export Mail

1) Outlook Express messages

The folder that contains the Outlook Express messages is marked as a hidden folder in Windows. To view this hidden folder, click Start, and then click Control Panel. Click Appearance and Themes, and then click Folder Options. Click the View tab, and under Hidden files and folders, click Show hidden files and folders.

Locate the folder named Outlook Express. In Windows XP, this folder is located here by default: USB Drive Letter:\Documents and Settings\your user name\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{your Windows user identity number}\Microsoft\Outlook Express.

Copy the Outlook Express folder and all its contents to the Documents folder on the computer running Windows Vista. (You can store this copy of the Outlook Express folder in a location other than the Documents folder, as long as you remember where to find it.) For information about how to copy a folder, see Copy files to another computer.

2) Windows Live Mail

Open Windows Live Mail by clicking the Start button Picture of Start button. In the search box, type Mail, and then, in the list of results, click Windows Live Mail.
In the upper-left corner, open the File menu, and then click Import messages.

Select the appropriate file format and then click Next. (Options include Microsoft Outlook Express 6, Windows Live Mail, and Windows Mail.)

Click Browse and select the folder containing your “exported” messages, and then click Next. You can choose to import all the folders or only specific folders.

Click Next. You will get a message confirming the file format used and that the import was successful.

Click Finish. You can find the imported messages in the left pane, in a folder named Storage folders.

[wally_bert]

With running XP now, I found VirtualBox to be a wonderful thing.

[discostu]

You’re only possible chance is to take your Express file to a computer that can run Express and export everything into a real Outlook format, then install Outlook and import it.

[Drago]

The Outlook Express data files should be “.DBX” or “.EML” files. Search for those in the data transferred from your old hard drive & note the locations. Next you’ll need to find an e-mail program or maybe “Outlook.com” or “Thunderbird” that will import them. You do realize that Microsoft retired/ended support for Outlook Express in 2001?!? Good luck & happy hunting! ;-)

[Spunky]

"The problem is that you need to export the files from Outlook Express but Outlook Express is not in Windows 7."

I have a Windows 7 desktop and I used to have Hotmail. Sometime back Windows (or whoever) changed it to Outlook, but I got to keep my Hotmail address.

[bobsunshine]

To transfer, it is done in Windows Live Mail under Import. It will ask you for the type “outlook express” and then location of the files. This is the important part.

You can not just go to the Outlook Express inbox, etc. You must use the location under “Identities”. For example, under the XP local Disk (C:), go to “Documents and Setting”
Then to User Name (like “bob”),
then to “Local Setting”
Then to “Identities”
then to “Microsoft”
then to “outlook express”

Once you have this folder, copy it to a flash drive and insert into the new computer. Then point to this file to import the messages.

Good luck.

[angryoldfatman]

First, do what bobsunshine said, if you can get to the files on the old computer.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3430857/posts?page=16#16

Next thing you do, do what I did a long while back when I got windows 7 - download and install Thunderbird. It’s a great free e-mail program that works in all Windows versions and in Linux, so you will practically never lose your e-mail again.

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/

Most of the time, Thunderbird (unlike the old Outlook Express which I loved) has automatic settings for getting your e-mail from your internet service provider. If not, you can still get your new e-mail by configuring it like you had to with Outlook Express.

Finally, try using the Import function in Thunderbird to pull in all your old e-mail into the program. I can’t remember exactly how I did it, so play around with it and look for the way to import .idx and .dbx files.

Try the following help link after installing Thunderbird:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/988031

Hope this helps.

[Robert DeLong]

That’s why I think having either a Gmail or Hotmail account for emails is a wise choice. Because they are never lost and your email account stays the same no matter what changes might occur, such as moving or new internet provider or new computer purchase.

[Bullish]

Gee, I used outlook express with windows 7 for quite a while. It works just fine.

I recently went to win 10 and decided to stop using a Outlook express pop account and started using gmail instead. You can never lose your mail that way. Pop accounts will always end up losing your mail.

[Traveler59]

Ran into this problem when I went from XP to Win 8.1 and found I couldn't import the Outlook Express files into whatever mail program they use now. I hunted through google only to learn that for you to import the files into the Windows mail program, you have to export them from Outlook Express in a certain format. There are no third party programs to convert it, I looked. However, just as I was about to cry over loosing 15 years of correspondence I found that someone had created a program call OE Classic. I downloaded it and gave it a try. Other than missing one or two features from MS Outlook, it had the look and feel of MS Outlook. Best part, it imported all my MS Outlook folders without a hitch. Give it a try. Set up was easier than MS Outlook, had OE Classic up and running in under 5 minutes. It costs $25 and updates for life.