How should I save my old emailed love letters?

One of the things I recently did for my wife with some similar emails is added her Gmail account with IMAP in her Outlook (where they were kept) and copied them to a label/folder in her Gmail. Exported the originals to a PST file, which I have backed up locally and offsite. PST files are so common that they should be readable for a very long time, if not indefinitely (at least for our lifetimes). Having another copy with Google helps.

I downloaded PDF Creator after reading one of Leo's suggestions and love it. It is great for archiving any text document that you would like to keep a digital copy of for future reference. I often use it for web pages that obviously won't last forever or may get moved making the URL useless. Although I am an advanced computer user and could manage all of Leo's suggestions in this case, even an amateur should be able to use PDF Creator. Sometimes the simplest solution is the best! Leo, PDF Creator continues to be a great suggestion. In this case, saving as text files would also work but if the document you want to save has any formatting you will lose the original layout and formatting - only the text will remain.

Another free PDF creator is PDF ReDirect. http://www.download.com/PDF-ReDirect/3000-6675_4-10255233.html
The user interface is quite simple and it makes it a snap to print anything to a .pdf file.

If using Outlook Express try this:
Outlook Express, File-Save AS...
Change the default file extension from .eml to .txt in the drop-down list.

Text files will always be able to be read.

If you want to use .pdf files, another good PDF Creator program is Primo Free PDF which allows you to choose a smaller file size if the file is only going to be viewed rather than printed. Important feature if archiving files this way.
http://www.primopdf.com/primopdf_free_idx.htm
Cheers

Everybody comes up with such complex solutions to easy problems.
1. When you buy a new computer, put the old PC on you network as a backup PC. It’s really not that hard to set up a network. HINT: if the network suddenly stops working, replace the CAT-5 cable first.
2. To back up email, just open the network and drag and drop the email into the destination folder. It even keeps the envelope icon. You can drag and drop more than one at a time.
3. Keep all your data on a slave drive. Put only the OS and apps on the C drive.
4. When you drag and drop the email to a different logical drive it automatically COPIES it. You will see a little “+” on the email icon as you are dragging and dropping it.
5. I have not had a lot of luck with “save as”. I lose pictures in my Outlook 2000 when I save an email using “save as”. When I drag and drop I don’t loose the photos.
6. All the above works for Outlook.

re your section on saving the inbox dbx files from the stores folder in Outlook Express. There is a program called Mail Navigator, which allows you to read saved dbx files... found here.
http://www.mailnavigator.com/read_outlook_express_dbx_files.html

I have installed Thunderbird and imported my message folders from Outlook Express, just to get them into a manageable format. It was very easy.

set up email client program to access imap account and drag drop messages wanted to new imap account (this asumes current user can set up new email acount with new name) Have just transferred complete OE6 pop3 messages for wife to her new imap account. Of course imap servers allow you to read from anywhere with about any email prog.

Please Note: the FREE analogy to the MS Office Suite
at OpenOffice.org has a BUILT IN PDF creation
function. The current version "reads" up to
Word 2003. The (new) OpenOffic 3 (in Beta Test)
reads MS word 2007 files.

Wouldn't it be nice if the Microsoft Office suite could read and write PDF files. That would get you more sales...hear that Microsoft?!

Nice article Leo, keep up the great work :)