Links won't open from Outlook Express 6

[Daz]

That's my only real problem with OE - the fact you cant really back it up, and it doesn't really store your data in any sort of recoverable format. Lose the drive and your screwed, and you've no way to safely backup in preparation for it.

[NokkonWud]

Can't stand OE, much prefer Mozilla Thunderbird, but I've used Outlook for the better part of 18 months without issue and it does my RSS needs too.

[Burble]

Originally Posted by Daz

That's my only real problem with OE - the fact you cant really back it up, and it doesn't really store your data in any sort of recoverable format. Lose the drive and your screwed, and you've no way to safely backup in preparation for it.

Can't say I had that gripe with it. A copy of the OE store folder is enough to backup all the emails. So if you had a copy of your profile then you'd have a copy of your emails.

[Daz]

It's only good if you have access to OE though. Cant get anything meaningful out of it on *nix or Vista.

[Burble]

True, but getting access to OE isn't exactly hard. Windows Mail on Vista will import OE stores so that's not a problem.

[Daz]

Really? I'll have to have another go at that, last time I tried it WM just threw me loads of errors. Could have been corrupt data I suppose.

[A Place of Light]

Slightly OT, but is there a reason I don't know about to explain why OE is incompatible with everything and provides no easy method of backing up?

You could understand if it was made by a different company than Microsoft, but it's not.

[Burble]

Originally Posted by Daz

Really? I'll have to have another go at that, last time I tried it WM just threw me loads of errors. Could have been corrupt data I suppose.

Yep, a simple file, import, OE 6, store directory, browse will do the trick. I've done it a few times, most recently for my brother going from XP to Vista and it worked like a charm. It's quite a slow process though.

One thing to beware of though, make sure that everything in the OE store directory is read/write otherwise it'll fail to import.

You'll need to sort address books separately which is a pain to say the least if you've lost the OS.

There are alternative ways of going OE -> Something else, but they're pretty painful. I remember spending most of a weekend migrating from OE5 to The Bat! many moons ago.

[Burble]

Originally Posted by A Place of Light

OE is incompatible with everything.

That's not quite true, Outlook (with the import/engine tools installed) will suck up an OE mail store and import. I've always thought that OE only existed to get people to move up to Outlook.

[A Place of Light]

Originally Posted by Burble

That's not quite true, Outlook (with the import/engine tools installed) will suck up an OE mail store and import. I've always thought that OE only existed to get people to move up to Outlook.

Yeah, I was over-egging the pudding a little.....but I think you'll agree that what you've said above says more about the power and flexibility of Outlook than any particular strenghts of OE.

I started using OE because it's part of the Windows disc whereas Outlook is part of the Office suite. With hindsight, I wish I'd started with Outlook from the beginning.