I use Outlook Express.

I was told in order to backup email messages I need to access the folder
were they are held. This folder can be accessed through Outlook Express Tools
-> Options -> Maintenance . On this PC it is C:\Documents and
Settings\Pejman\Local Settings\Application
Data\Identities\{36E8A332-6988-4253-A3AA-06671B7BC198}\Microsoft\Outlook
Express.
I copied and pasted these .dbx files on to my USB Storage device.

The PC engineer by mistake reformatted my harddisk.

For restoration:
1. I Copied and pasted some backed up .dbx files on to the Outlook Express
default directory. They did not show up.
2. I Used the approach stated on Microsoft Website and created a folder with
the backed up files on my desktop, and in Outlook Express imported these
messages. This also did not restore the messages. I receive the following
error message: No messages can be found in this folder or another application
is running that has the required files open. Please select another folder or
try closing applications that may have files open.
3. It was suggested to me that I can copy and paste .dbx files directly in
to Outlook Express. This option was not available and hence did not work.
4. I tried opening a .dbx file with Outlook Express, but I could not open it.
5. I Un-ticked the attributes of the .dbx file and this did not help.

Can you please suggest a solution?

Pejman wrote:
> I use Outlook Express.
>
> I was told in order to backup email messages I need to access the
> folder were they are held. This folder can be accessed through
> Outlook Express Tools -> Options -> Maintenance . On this PC it is
> C:\Documents and Settings\Pejman\Local Settings\Application
>
Data\Identities\{36E8A332-6988-4253-A3AA-06671B7BC198}\Microsoft\Outlook
> Express.
> I copied and pasted these .dbx files on to my USB Storage device.
>
> The PC engineer by mistake reformatted my harddisk.
>
> For restoration:
> 1. I Copied and pasted some backed up .dbx files on to the Outlook
> Express default directory. They did not show up.
> 2. I Used the approach stated on Microsoft Website and created a
> folder with the backed up files on my desktop, and in Outlook Express
> imported these messages. This also did not restore the messages. I
> receive the following error message: No messages can be found in this
> folder or another application is running that has the required files
> open. Please select another folder or try closing applications that
> may have files open.
> 3. It was suggested to me that I can copy and paste .dbx files
> directly in to Outlook Express. This option was not available and
> hence did not work.
> 4. I tried opening a .dbx file with Outlook Express, but I could not
> open it.
> 5. I Un-ticked the attributes of the .dbx file and this did not help.
>
> Can you please suggest a solution?

You must also have a copy of Folders.dbx included for the import to
work.

There is a workaround however.
(Do the following for each saved folder.)
Open OE.
Create a folder with the exact same name as one of your saved folders.
Open this folder and copy any old email into it. (You MUST do this
step.)
Close OE.
Open Windows Explorer and drag and drop your saved folder into the OE
message store.
It will ask if you want to overwrite, say yes.
Open OE and your saved folder should be there?

References
http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/backup/index.htm

http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/faqs/how.htm#importdbx

--
Kath Adams
MS MVP - Windows (IE/OE)

Pejman wrote:
> I use Outlook Express.
>
> I was told in order to backup email messages I need to access the
> folder were they are held. This folder can be accessed through
> Outlook Express Tools -> Options -> Maintenance . On this PC it is
> C:\Documents and Settings\Pejman\Local Settings\Application
> Data\Identities\{36E8A332-6988-4253-A3AA-06671B7BC198}\Microsoft\Outlook
> Express.
> I copied and pasted these .dbx files on to my USB Storage device.
>
> The PC engineer by mistake reformatted my harddisk.
>
> For restoration:
> 1. I Copied and pasted some backed up .dbx files on to the Outlook
> Express default directory. They did not show up.
> 2. I Used the approach stated on Microsoft Website and created a
> folder with the backed up files on my desktop, and in Outlook Express
> imported these messages. This also did not restore the messages. I
> receive the following error message: No messages can be found in this
> folder or another application is running that has the required files
> open. Please select another folder or try closing applications that
> may have files open.
> 3. It was suggested to me that I can copy and paste .dbx files
> directly in to Outlook Express. This option was not available and
> hence did not work.
> 4. I tried opening a .dbx file with Outlook Express, but I could not
> open it.
> 5. I Un-ticked the attributes of the .dbx file and this did not help.
>
> Can you please suggest a solution?

Response received from Pejman -
<quote>Dear Kath Adams

Thank you for your very useful advice. I had only copied the dbx files I
=
needed. You told me that in addition to desired dbx files, I also need =
the Folders.dbx. Following your instructions I was able to restore my =
dbx files.=20

In order to selectively backup dbx files, would the better option be to
=
copy every thing, including Folders.dbx, and delete the dbx files that I
=
do not need.

I will appreciate if you can tell me what would be the best option for =
selectively backing up and restoring dbx files?

With regards
Pejman Khojasteh</quote>

Pejman
The best advice I can give is to follow the instructions given by Tom in
the references in my first post.

http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/backup/index.htm

(It is not considered polite to send email privately. Responses should
be posted in the newsgroup so that all can benefit and know what worked
and what didn't. Thanks.)

--
Kath Adams
MS MVP - Windows (Outlook Express)