OExpress has and always will be limited in it's archival functionality for marketing purposes. If people want a real eMail program they have to either move from it to something by someone else, or foot the $$ for Outlook...
One thing I do suggest to some clinics trying to keep costs down, is Outlook and then purchasing a program that will deal with the process for you...
but....
Outlook Express 5.0/6.0 Backing Up Email Messages
1. First, locate the message store folder. In Outlook Express, select from the
menu Tools|Options.
In the new window that appears, select the Maintenance tab. Click on the Store Folder… button.
Write down the location of the store folder.
It will be need later.
The location should resemble something like
C:\WINNT\Profiles\Administrator\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook Express
or
C:\Documents and Settings\Users Name\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{registry key lingo}\Microsoft\Outlook Express
2. Quit Outlook Express. In order to backup mail in Outlook Express, it is important to first exit Outlook Express.
Failure to do so can produce unexpected results including corrupting the data.
3. Create a new folder in the C:\ drive by opening My Computer and double-clicking the C icon.
In the C drive window, go to File|New|Folder.
Rename the folder to EmailBackup.
(If this folder already exists, you can skip this step.)
4. Go to My Computer and locate the store folder in step 1. Copy and Paste the files from the store folder into the EmailBackup folder.
Restoring Email Messages
Restoring email messages is just a simple recopying of the backup files into the store folder.
However, be warned that simple recopying will overwrite the previous data.
All emails that arrived between the time of email corruption and the time of the
last backup will be lost. If the emails are important and need to be recovered by technical personnel, rename the corrupted files in the store folder to something that can later be identified. For example, Inbox.mbx can be renamed to Inboxmbx.old.
Then, copy the backup files.
That way, temporary functionality can be restored in your email application until some type of support/help is found to remedy it.
I've posted a few different ways of doing this, but they all boil down to the same thing in the end. Outlook Express is not any type of seriously thoughtout application in that it is a free application Microsoft pretty much uses to bait those who end up, wanting or need more functionality, into purchasing Outlook.
There are some eMail and Windos Backup programs that will deal with the issues raised by Outlook Expresses short comings priced starting around 25.00 US - $100's US.
personally, all I do with clinics who use it to keep costs down, is make sure they have compacted their email inbox and such, then zip compress the whole directory into a single zip file named sequentially and store it in another location on the server in their user directory. Then if need be a restore can be done by un-compressing the zip into a created restore directory and then *importing* the emails without allowing duplicates, back into the present Outlook Express User Setup/Inbox...
anyway...
If anyone would like, I can list a list of URL's for backup software for OE, some of them allow you to actually browse through the backups and pull specific emails out...
.....
Also, I can list some other eMail clients that might be worth the money to switch to that *do* have internal support for saving and restoring, if not outright backing up and restoring emails, address books etc....
good luck and if you hit a wall can can't seem to walk around, climb over or dig under it...
blame it on Jafo !!!!
no seriously, let me or someone else know and they will help you through it if possible...
