Take Control of Your In-Box and Address Book
"I can't find my e-mail in-box. Where are the messages stored?" If you work with multiple computers (one at home and one in the office, for example)--or if you buy a new PC or upgrade an old one's hard disk or operating system--you'll eventually ask the same question.
E-mail programs rarely make it easy to find stored messages or to locate your (even more valuable) address book. Even if you know where the files are, getting your e-mail program to open them can be tough. Here's how to back up or move your e-mail messages and address book contacts in Outlook, Outlook Express, and Netscape Mail/Messenger.
Outlook: By default, Outlook stores your e-mail, contacts, appointments, notes, and tasks in a single file called outlook.pst. In Windows 9 x, this file is usually located in the C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook folder. In Windows 2000 and XP, Outlook stores the file in the folder C:\Documents and Settings\ username\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook, where 'username' is your Windows XP user account (logon) name. You can also find the file by choosing Start, Search in Windows XP or Start, Find in earlier Windows versions, and then searching for outlook.pst. Be careful--if more than one user logs on to the PC, it may contain multiple outlook.pst files.
Once you've located the file, use Windows Explorer or your favorite backup program to copy it, move it, or back it up.
Outlook Express: On the other hand, Outlook Express 6 stores the contents of your in-box in a file that's called inbox.dbx. To find it and navigate to it quickly, open Outlook Express, select Inbox in the Folders pane, and choose File, Properties. Your file's location will appear in the resulting dialog box. Alternatively, you can find this folder path by opening your address book and clicking Help, About Address Book (see FIGURE 1). Simply select the entire file path (including the part that scrolls out of sight) up to, but not including, 'inbox.dbx'. Press Ctrl- C, choose Start, Run, and press Ctrl- V to paste the file path into the Open field. Press Enter, and boom--you'll be staring at an Explorer window with the folder's contents.
You'll see that inbox.dbx isn't the only.dbx file in this folder. Any folders you create, along with the default Sent Items, Outbox, Drafts, newsgroup, and other folders, are stored as separate.dbx files in this folder. To ensure that you don't lose any messages, simply copy, move, or back up the entire contents of this folder.
One thing you won't see in this folder, however, is your address book. Searching for.wab files on your hard disk won't do--several may be languishing in multiple locations. To cut (and paste) to the chase, choose Tools, Address Book and then select Help, About Address Book to display the location of the address book file.
Netscape or Mozilla Mail: These two sibling programs store data files in accordance with similar logic. To navigate to your mail folders in either program, select Local Folders in the left panel and then click the View settings for this account link. At the bottom of the resulting dialog box, you'll find a field that displays the path to these folders. As described in the Outlook Express tip above, copy and paste this text into the Start menu's Run dialog box to open the folder in Explorer. Both Mozilla and Netscape store every mail folder's contents in a separate file, each with a simple and clear name--such as Inbox, Drafts, or Sent--without a file name extension.
Mozilla's multifile address book resides a few folder levels higher than your local mail folders do; just navigate up using Explorer's Up button until you find the file abook.mab. Any other address books you've imported into Mozilla's will be stored in a file named impab.mab; additional address books that you create within the program will be named abook-1.mab, abook-2.mab, and so on. Play it safe: Back up or copy everything in this folder that ends with.mab.
Send your questions and tips to nettips@spanbauer.com. We pay $50 for published items. Click here for more Internet Tips. Scott Spanbauer is a contributing editor for PC World.
Print Your Address Book
Think handheld PCs are overkill? If you use Outlook Express, you can take all of your contact information with you and access it instantly, anywhere, with--dare we say it--paper. OE's address book prints out a nifty little report with some or all of your contacts. Press Ctrl- Shift-B to open the address book; select the identity, group, or individual contact you want to carry around in your pocket; and click the Print button. To include all contact information in your report, choose Business Card under Print Styles; or choose Phone List to print just names and phone numbers. Then click Print.