{"id":1122,"date":"2009-09-03T16:49:32","date_gmt":"2009-09-03T15:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fbcs.co.uk\/wp\/?p=15"},"modified":"2009-09-03T16:49:32","modified_gmt":"2009-09-03T15:49:32","slug":"outlook-express-importing-from-dbx-files","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.fbcs.co.uk\/outlook-express-importing-from-dbx-files\/","title":{"rendered":"Outlook Express 6 — importing from .dbx files"},"content":{"rendered":"

Normally, importing mailboxes (i.e. .dbx<\/code> files) works well in Outlook Express 6, as long as the .dbx<\/code> file is writable(!). Sometimes though, you get this message:<\/p>\n

\n
No messages can be found in this folder or another application\nis running that has the required files open.\nPlease select another folder or try closing applications that may\nhave files open.<\/pre>\n<\/blockquote>\n
If that happens, I've found the following rather convoluted recipe works. For the purposes of this explanation, I'm assuming that you want to import an old copy of Inbox from a backup.  For other mailbox names, adjust the instructions to suit.<\/p>\n
    \n
  1. Copy the backup copy Inbox.dbx from wherever it's stored to somewhere convenient — I'll assume you put it on the desktop.<\/li>\n
  2. Rename the .dbx file to something that doesn't already exist, such as Inbox2.dbx.  This is important — if you leave the file as Inbox.dbx, you will overwrite and lose your current Inbox.<\/li>\n
  3. Open Outlook Express.<\/li>\n
  4. Create a new folder with the same name as the file on the desktop (but without the .dbx extension), i.e. Inbox2 in this example.  This folder should be within 'Local Folders', and not a subfolder of any other folder.<\/li>\n
  5. Force Outlook Express to create the mailbox for the new folder by moving an unwanted email (there are usually lots of those lying around) into the Inbox2 folder.<\/li>\n
  6. Find out where Outlook Express is storing mailboxes by going to Tools \/ Options \/ Maintenance and clicking on the Store Folder<\/code> button.<\/li>\n
  7. Close Outlook Express.<\/li>\n
  8. Open the folder containing Outlook Express's mailboxes that you found in step 6.  Normally, it's in C:WindowsDocuments and Settings<your user name>Local SettingsApplication DataIdentities{<lots of random letters and numbers}>MicrosoftOutlook Express<\/code>.  If the Local Settings<\/code> folder isn't apparent, you'll need to change your Folder Options<\/code> so that Show hidden files and folders<\/code> is selected.<\/li>\n
  9. Drag the file Inbox2.dbx<\/code> file from the desktop into the mailbox folder (where all the other .dbx files are, including the new Inbox2.dbx<\/code>).  Windows will ask you to confirm that you want to overwrite the existing Inbox2.dbx<\/code> file: say Yes.<\/li>\n
  10. Open Outlook Express again, and go to the Inbox2<\/code> folder.  It should contain all your old emails.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    Normally, importing mailboxes (i.e. .dbx files) works well in Outlook Express 6, as long as the .dbx file is writable(!). Sometimes though, you get this 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.fbcs.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1122"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.fbcs.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.fbcs.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.fbcs.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.fbcs.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.fbcs.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1122\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.fbcs.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.fbcs.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.fbcs.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}