How do I move my Outlook Express folders to my new machine?

Read the article that everyone's commenting on.
Subscribe to the RSS Feed for comments on this article.

Search for a ".wab", or Windows Address Book, file.

To Nan, who wanted to know where to find the old files:

On a windows 98 box, I found them at:
c:\windows\Application Data\Identities\{33DD7E00-7B20-11D3-87E8-AA706855A423}\Microsoft\Outlook Express

In windows xp, it's broken down by username:
c:\documents and settings\USERNAME\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{6401E5A8-BACD-4DE0-82E3-03FA191A22DB}\Microsoft\Outlook Express

Hope that helps.

Want to transfer messages from OE 4.0 (from old dead computer) to Outlook 6.0 on new computer. I saved all the .dbx mail folders (which contain the individual messages) in a folder on the new computer. It is my understanding that I need to import the dbx files into OE 6.0 first, then export to Outlook. However, when in OE, I select import, browse to the file (old computer transfer) containing my .dbx mail folders, and I get an 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". What am I doing wrong?

My Windows 98 PC was giving warnings of imminent hard drive failure so I backed up lots of stuff to CD, including, I thought, my outlook express address book. Using explorer, I opened the C drive, Program files and copied the folder 'Outlook Express' and all it's contents. Now the old PC is deceased and I am the owner of a new Dell. I have copied stuff, via CD, to the new PC, but on opening the CD, Outlet Express folder, WAB.exe file, the address book is empty. Any ideas?

I don't know what "wab.exe" is - exacept perhaps the program - not the data - that is the address book. An address book file will have the *extension* (meaning it will end with) ".wab". On your old machine for Win98 the .wab files were in or underneath the Windows directory.

Hope that helps a little.

You're article is very clear and correct. Worked like a charm. Thank you.

One minor suggestion. Rather than suggesting we "configure your email accounts" it was much easier for me to export the accounts from the old machine and then import them into the new machine. (In OE, select Tools-->Accounts-->Export and then ...>Import for each account you want to copy over).

Again, thanks.

in outlook express...what would make the amount of email in you inbox change? for example: I will see 4 emails drop in my inbox then it immediately changes to 2...what happened to the other emails that were originally dropped in my inbox

Usually some kind of anti-spam solution that's deleting what it thinks is spam for you.

Usually some kind of anti-spam solution that's deleting what it thinks is spam for you.

Posted by: Leo at September 3, 2005 03:26 PM

Leo,

My spam emails are still going into a bulk mail folder for me to view and delete as needed.. It is my main inbox folder that seems to change when receiving with outlook express..it's my hotmail emails that I am pulling.

thanks agan,

Understood. But 99 times out of 100 there is some anti-spam solution that is runnong on your PC that has it's hooks into your email client (OE in this case) and is trying to be helpful. That'd be on top of the bulk email filtering that Hotmail does for you.

I know of no other cause for email's showing up in OE's inbox and then immediately disappearing.

To post a comment on "How do I move my Outlook Express folders to my new machine?", please return to that article's main page.