express

Move your e-mail into Windows Mail for Windows Vista

jjones | Guides | 27/05/2007 09:00am

If you have many years’ worth of email and contacts sitting in Outlook Express from older versions of Windows, don’t worry – you’re not alone. Many people buy a new machine in order to run Windows Vista, and you’re unlikely to want to leave your previous electronic life behind. Fortunately, it is possible to transfer this data.

1. Save Your Contacts

Saving your existing contacts in Outlook Express is an easy process. Open the Address Book using Tools ? Address Book. Next, save it using Address Book File ? Export Windows Address Book (WAB). Save to your storage device.

2. Save Your Settings

Go to Tools ? Accounts and select the Mail tab. Click on the account you plan to use with Windows Mail, then click the Export button. Save the .iaf file to your CD or USB drive. If you’ve more than one account, repeat this step for each one.

3. Save Your Messages

Choose Tools ? Options, then Maintenance. Store Folder leads to Store Location. Right-click, Select All, right-click and Copy. Using Explorer, go to Store Location. Click Start ? Run, right-click Run and select Paste. Click OK, and copy everything.

4. Import Contacts

On your new PC in Windows Mail, choose File ? Import, then choose Windows Address Book File. Click Import, then navigate to the CD or USB key drive that contains the WAB you created in step 1. Clicking on Open imports your contacts.

5. Check Your Contacts

If the previous step went smoothly, then choosing the Tools ? Windows Contacts option should reassure you that your contacts are now all set up in Windows Mail on the computer that is running Windows Vista.

6. Account Settings

Choose Tools ? Account, then click on the Import button. By default, Windows Mail looks for Internet Account Files (.iaf), just like those you created in step 2. Choose each .iaf in turn, clicking on Open to import the account settings.

7. Specify The Mailstore

Choose File ? Import, then Microsoft Outlook Express 6. Click Next, leaving Import from an OE6 Store Directory selected. Go to the CD or USB drive that contains the Store Folder, and then to the Outlook Express folder before you click Next.

8. Choose Email Folders

By default, Windows Mail chooses to import all of your existing email folders. If now is a good time to prune what has been imported, feel free to select individual folders. Clicking the Next button then performs the import.

9. Final Check

There is further reassurance that all has gone well – imported mail now appears in the Imported Folder, and from here you’re free to drag and drop it elsewhere within the program to suit the way in which you want to use Windows Mail.

Add

to del.icio.us Add to del.icio.us | Digg This Article | Add to StumbleUpon