How OE stores files on your hard disk
All of your OE mail folders and messages, local
IMAP and Hotmail folders and messages, and all of
your subscribed newsgroups and messages are stored
in one folder called the store root, or store root
folder, or store folder, and in at least one place
in OE, the Store root directory. It's default
location is
C:\Windows\Application Data\Outlook
Express\{GUID}
or
C:\Documents and Settings\<User>\Local
Settings\Application Data\Identities\{GUID}\Microsoft\Outlook
Express
where {GUID} is the Global Unique IDentifier
(technical jargon for a unique long number) used to
specify an Identity. Depending on your operating
system and upgrade history, your store folder might
be located elsewhere. To determine the location of
your store, click Tools| Options| Maintenance| Store
folder.
Outlook Express User Files
Opening the store root in Windows Explorer
reveals a collection of *.dbx
files. These are the files where all your messages
are actually stored. The
Folders.dbx file is the master index of the
entire store. Likewise, the
*.dbx files for the OE default mail folders
will also be created if missing. If one of these
folders stops working properly, deleting the
corresponding *.dbx
file will usually solve the problem. (Be sure to
move the contents of those folders in OE before you
attempt this). Special attention should be paid to
the Inbox, Sent Items and Deleted Items folders. It
is easy for these folders to grow extremely large.
OE is not a dedicated database program, and can have
problems with very large files, making them prone to
corruption and data loss. For this reason alone, you
should not use the Inbox to store messages. Instead,
create other folders for storing mail and leave the
Inbox for incoming mail. You should also make
cleaning and compacting the Sent Items folder part
of your regular maintenance. You can avoid a large
Deleted Items folder by configuring OE to empty the
Deleted Items folder automatically upon exiting. Do
this under . If you choose to disable that,
be sure to include Deleted Items in your regular
maintenance.
Folders.dbx
This is the master index of an OE store folder
and is required for OE to run. It stores the tree
structure (nesting) of mail folders, the lists of
newsgroups on each news account, and the
synchronization options for all subscribed
newsgroups and Hotmail folders. If it is missing
when OE starts, OE will scan the store folder for
all *.dbx files and
then create a new Folders.dbx.
If Folders.dbx
becomes corrupt, OE often stops displaying folders
for existing *.dbx
files, and sometimes will simply refuse to start.
Also a bloated Folders.dbx
can make OE run very slowly. Both problems can be
repaired by closing OE and deleting
Folders.dbx.
Understand though that you will lose the mail tree
structure, all lists of newsgroups, and all
synchronization options, and that message rules will
likely need to be edited.
Inbox.dbx Drafts.dbx
Sent Items.dbx Deleted Items.dbx
These are the default mail folders, created
automatically if missing. Should one of these stop
working, move all messages into another folder,
close OE, and delete the corresponding
*.dbx file.
Offline.dbx
This stores IMAP and Hotmail actions that you
carry out offline, and are created only if an IMAP
or Hotmail account exists
Pop3uidl.dbx
This keeps track of messages left on a POP3 mail
server, and is created automatically if missing. If
OE starts downloading the same mail that you've
already read, close OE and delete this file.
Cleanup.log
This is created when automatic maintenance is
enabled.
<name>.dbx
This represents a user-created mail folder and
its messages. The number of folders is limited only
by your disk space, but don't let any one folder
grow above 2Mb or so or performance is likely to
suffer.
<newsgroup>.dbx
This represents a newsgroup folder. All newsgroup
folders are tied to the news account keys in the
registry and so cannot normally be imported
How to move your store folder
It is quite easy to move your store folder to a
more convenient location, rather than buried in the
Windows folder. First open Windows Explorer and
create a folder you want OE to use for the new
store, preferably on a separate local drive or
partition. You cannot move the store to a network
drive nor a removable drive.
With the new folder created, open OE and click
,
then click the
button. Click the
button and to
your new folder. Click
to close each dialogue, and then close OE. When you
open OE again it will automatically move the old
store to the new location.
Warning! Do NOT
attempt to copy the store manually to the new
location. This will only confuse OE and result in
warnings that will confuse you. The automated move
function works as expected, and is quite safe.