Some of the most valuable files on your computer are your e-mails. And Outlook Express—the e-mail program that comes with Windows XP—doesn't offer an easy way to back up e-mails, address book, or other settings. Fortunately, with a little work it's not too difficult.
Outlook Express stores e-mails in files with names that end in DBX. Inbox.dbx stores all the e-mails in your Outlook Express Inbox folder; Sent.dbx stores the e-mails in the Sent folder, and so on. You back up these files to back up your e-mails.
Find the DBX files. In Outlook Express, click Tools | Options | Maintenance and click the Store Folder button shown in the illustration.
In the Store Location dialog box shown in the following illustration, click once on the location in the text box and press CTRL-C. This copies the folder's address. Then click Start | Run, click once on the text box, and press CTRL-V to paste the location of the DBX files. Click OK. A window will open listing all of the Outlook Express DBX files.
- Next, copy the DBX files. Click any DBX file once and press CTRL-A to select all the DBX files, or hold down the CTRL key and click single filenames to select individual files. Then press CTRL-C to copy the files.
- Open Windows Explorer, select the folder in which you want to store the DBX files, and press CTRL-V to paste the copied files.
