TSGL: Moving email from one comptuer to another

[Tilman Brandl]

Will,

as Mike Morgan already has said, it's really pretty simple. But then again, I would like to add - it is not THAT simple  ;-)

There are 'official' methods to move/backup/restore OE messages etc. See for instance http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/community/columns/OEtopten.mspx and in particular items #1 and #2.

Other tips for moving emails are here:
http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/faqs/how.htm#importOE5
http://www.insideoe.com/backup/index.htm (see simple backup) and
http://www.insideoutlookexpress.com/backup/simple.htm or
http://www.oehelp.com/ for more tips ...

All the copying over can be done using one of the methods from the sites above, especially using the import command of the File menu. One has just to beware of problems that will arise if any folders between OLD and NEW OE-setup are named the same. 


To avoid these problems, this is what I do:

Your friend has already started OE anew on the laptop. Therefore the task is to add the old folders plus content into the newly created structure without overwriting/loosing any emails. 

Basically what one needs to do is - with OE running - to create exactly the same structure in OE that did exist before: Folders, subfolders, each with exactly the same name as before, but still empty (I don't think that upper/lower case does matter). You needn't bother about any folders that were created in the new setup with names that hadn't been used previously - they are no problem during this step, just leave them where they are. After that just close OE. 

Sidenote: In case your friend does only know the folder names but not how they were arranged - he/she should just create all these folders with the exact names in a *flat* structure as subfolders below the Inbox, I guess the emails will transfer fine. The structure can get rearranged later by moving folders around. 

It's no bad idea to make backups of those 2 OE folders (Old + New) before starting this step - in case something goes awry. 

Now, with OE closed, you simply copy all the OLD email-folders (*.dbx files) over into the NEW OE folder, this way overwriting the newly created (empty) *.dbx files. 

If there already exist NEW folders with exactly the same names as before, AND with new content after downloading emails, the procedure is a bit more tedious. You certainly wouldn't like to loose any of the old or new emails. What you then do is renaming those newly created folders while your new OE is running, for instance "Office email" into "Office email new" or similar. 

Important while copying over the old folders with changed names: ONLY copy over the 'renamed' folder-files (*.dbx) and not the structure - i.e. NOT "folders.dbx" which hasn't been updated with the new folder-names. *)

Hope this'll help

Tilman

  -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- 
  Von: Will Seehorn 
  An: Tech Support Guy Mailing List 
  Gesendet: Donnerstag, 08. Februar 2007 03:52
  Betreff: TSGL: Moving email from one comptuer to another


  Using Outlook Express. (All support done by telephone, with someone 
  who uses computers, but isn't computer literate).

  I don't use OE,so I'm in the dark here. I have a friend who has OE on 
  a desktop machine. It's being replaced by a laptop.

  I was able to help her set up OE on the new machine.

  She has a lot of mail on the old machine. It is organized into 
  folders by topic.

  Is there a way to transfer the mail (and it's organization) from the 
  old machine to the new one? Since she's downloaded mail on the new 
  machine it would be good to keep that (i.e. not overwrite what she's 
  already done)

  TIA

  Will