Support Central

   Jobs and Careers

   Computer Hardware

   Computer Software

   Make Money

   Music

Support Central

>> Recover lost emails from compacted Outlook Express

Problem:

Today morning when I try to close Outlook express got a pop up window, "To free up Disk space Outlook Express can compact Messages, This may take up to a few moments". I pressed OK button to compact and it finished compacting. In the afternoon when opened my outlook express to check emails, two sub folders are missing in the inbox. These folders contain very important messages. I have tried restoring system to an earlier date but no luck. I need these messages back, appreciate for any help.

Solution:

Looks like compacting Outlook Express messages not completed successfully. Follow below mentioned steps to recover emails.

1. Close Outlook Express.
2. Open Recycle Bin on you desktop.
3. Look for your lost folder name with .bak extension.
4. If you find these files, right click on the file and click on Restore.
5. Open Outlook Express, Go to Tools->Options->Maintenance.
6. Click on Store Folder button. Copy the path provided in the Store Location window. Click OK button to close all the windows.
7. Close Outlook Express.
8. Click on Start->Run menu paste copied path in step 6 and click ok to open the folder.
9. Locate .bak file which you have restored from Recycle Bin. Right click on the file and Select Rename.
10. Change files extension from .bak to .dbx.
11. Open Outlook Express, now you should be able to see your lost messages.