Don’t Lose Your Email!
I take NO credit for this excellent write up and info. It was done by Jennifer Farwell and the original can be found at http://www.pctoday.com/Editorial/article.asp?article=articles/2006/t0406/27t06/27t06.asp&guid.
The Web
June 2006 • Vol.4 Issue 6
Page(s) 22-24 in print issue
Don’t Lose Your Email
A Backup Guide For Six Popular Email Programs
For many of us, our email programs are important repositories for the "stuff" of our lives. It's where we store announcements, addresses, phone numbers, funny stories, and other important data and memorabilia. If we were to lose that data or be unable to bring it with us when we transferred to a new email program or service, we would be bereft.
Unfortunately, few email programs or Web-based services offer assistance, or even a clear method, to back up your data or transfer it to another provider. In the case of the most popular options, we’ve generated workarounds that will keep your data where it belongs—with you. All the instructions here assume you click Next, OK, Save, or Finish where the program presents such buttons to proceed.
America Online
Any frequent AOL user learns quickly that he must archive emails he wants to save to the Saved On My PC (Filing Cabinet) folder (called the Personal Filing Cabinet prior to AOL 9.0), or AOL will discard them after a few days. Locating and saving Filing Cabinet folders is the easiest way to archive important AOL email to a file that you control.
Later versions of AOL can back up your Filing Cabinet automatically or store your mail permanently on AOL servers (Saved On AOL), but you can’t export these backups or mail archives.
AOL’s Mail Settings display (available from the Settings icon) lets you automate the transfer of mail to your Filing Cabinet or back it up automatically.
If you need help moving email to your Filing Cabinet or if you want to learn more about AOL’s automated backup or Saved On AOL features, visit the AOL Help Center (http://help.aol.com/), click the E-mail link under AOL Help, and click Saving E-mail.
To locate and back up your Filing Cabinet folder(s): With AOL offline and the program closed, use the Windows Search utility (on the Start menu) to locate the folder storing a file called Screenname.abi. (Screenname is your AOL screen name.) In AOL 9.0 (the current version), this file is usually located in C:\DOCUMENTS AND USERS\ALL USERS\APPLICATION DATA\AOL\C_AMERICA ONLINE 9.0\ORGANIZE. Archive all the ABI files in that folder.
To restore Filing Cabinet folder(s): If you are making this restoration after a total system crash, reinstall AOL and log on at least once before you restore these files or folders. This process overwrites your current Filing Cabinet, so if you stored any messages there since your last backup, create a new mail folder and move messages there. With AOL offline and the program closed, copy the ABI files from your archived backup to the AOL organize folder. Start AOL and the subfolder storing the current files and drag those files to the desired restored folder.
Another option that is now available to users lets you set up a PC-based email client, such as Outlook Express, to retrieve your AOL mail. Using this method you can retrieve your AOL mail and then archive it as part of a standard email backup. (It’s also the best way to facilitate message transfers.)
To archive your AOL Address Book: There is no direct export or backup method for an AOL Address Book. Fortunately, AOL offers Intellisync for AOL (http://aolsync.aol.com/), which lets you synchronize your AOL address book, calendar, and reminders with Outlook or Outlook Express. After they are synced, you can export them from within Outlook or Outlook Express.
Outlook & Outlook Express
If you read your messages in Outlook Express or another email client (and not via Internet Explorer), Windows stores your messages and Address Book on your machine. In this case it’s easy to archive your messages and contacts. We’ll discuss the process for Outlook and Outlook Express. Check the Help files of your email client if you use a different program.
Microsoft Outlook
Outlook stores all messages, in addition to your Contacts, Calendar, Notes, and Tasks, in a single data file: Outlook.pst. With Outlook 2000 Microsoft introduced a free and extremely easy-to-use utility, known as Personal Folders Backup, which creates and restores backups of Outlook.pst and other personal folders. To download the utility and obtain installation and usage instructions, visit Microsoft’s Download Center (www.microsoft.com/downloads) and search for Pfbackup.exe.
If you want to segregate and back up the various elements (contacts, messages, calendars, and so on) that Outlook stores in your Personal Folders file, you’ll need to export them.
To export/archive messages, Contacts, Calendars, or other folders individually: Open Outlook and select Import And Export from the File menu. Select Export To A File, click Next, and choose a format for your backup. The Personal Folder File (.pst) option creates a file you can open on any PC running Outlook. The Comma Separated Values (Windows) option produces a CSV file, a common database format many other email programs can import. Click Next.
Locate the folder you want to export and assign a file name and location different from the current one. Depending on the file format you select, you may have other options, including filtering and removal of duplicates.
To restore your files: To restore any Personal Folder file in Outlook, select Open from the File menu and select Outlook Data File. Outlook will add the appropriate pane (such as Mail and Contacts) depending on the data type. (If you are restoring a CSV file, use the Import And Export option, select Import From Another Program Or File, and reverse the process we describe previously.)
Microsoft Outlook Express
Unfortunately, Microsoft does not offer a free backup utility for Outlook Express. However, it’s easy to archive your messages and Address Book for safekeeping. For the following steps we used Outlook Express version 6.
Archive your email messages. Open the Tools menu, select Options, and click the Maintenance tab. Click the Store Folder button. In the resulting Store Location dialog box, note the directory holding your messages. Navigate to the location of your message store and archive every file with a .DBX file extension.
Restore the archive. Open Outlook Express and select Import from the File menu. Under Select Program, click your version of Outlook Express. Select the Import Mail From An OE6 Store Directory radio button (if available). Navigate to the location of your Outlook Express store. Select the folders to import or accept the default (All Folders).
Archive your Address Book. This process is a bit complicated, requiring you to navigate Outlook Express’ Export feature. From the File menu, select Export and click Address Book. Select Text File (Comma Separated Values) and click Export. Name the file and browse to the desired location. Choose and select (check) the fields you want to export. (Outlook Express will preselect the standard ones.)
Restore the Address Book. Run the import feature but select Other Address Book and click Text File (Comma Separated Values). Click Import, navigate to the location of your backup file, and click Open and Next. Check Outlook Express’ field alignment and change it (click Change Mapping) if necessary.
Web Email
Web-based email services normally store your email messages and contacts on their servers, often making it tough to back up or move your data elsewhere. Because some of these services will deactivate your accounts (and delete all your data) if you fail to log in for a specified period, backups are especially important.
None of the major Web-based email services (such as Google’s Gmail Beta, Microsoft’s MSN Hotmail, or Yahoo! Mail) offers a user-initiated backup utility. However, all three let you move your messages and address books to a PC-based (POP [Post Office Protocol]) client, such as Outlook Express, and then back up or export them as described previously in “Outlook & Outlook Express.”
If you use a lesser-known email service, you may find options similar to the ones we discuss here. Additionally, look for the ability to synchronize messages or contacts with Outlook or Outlook Express. (Yahoo! offers this option, as well.)
With Google’s Gmail you cannot export messages, but you can forward them to your PC or have your PC’s email client download them.
Gmail. Gmail supports free POP forwarding (where the Gmail server sends messages to the designated inbox) and POP download (where your PC retrieves Gmail messages). POP forwarding is the easiest method because it requires no local configuration.
To enable POP forwarding, log in to Gmail and click the Settings link. Click the Forwarding And POP link. Decide whether you want to keep, archive, or delete messages on the Gmail server after it forwards them. Optionally, you can filter your messages (click the Creating A Filter link in the Forwarding section), so Gmail forwards only some of them.
To archive existing messages rather than those that arrive from now on, you need to use POP download. Select Enable POP For All Mail. Decide if you want Gmail to delete, keep, or archive retrieved messages. Click Configuration Instructions for help setting up your email client.
To archive contacts in Gmail, open the Contacts display and click Export on the right. Select either Gmail (for later reimport) or Outlook (for transfer) format. Click Export Contacts and assign the name and location of your choice.
MSN Hotmail. Users of MSN’s fee-based premium services can enable POP download, which retrieves messages and contacts to a local email client. However, we won’t discuss that dollar-draining option here. To archive messages and address books in the free version of MSN Hotmail, you need a third-party utility.
To forward messages only, we recommend GetMail for Hotmail (www.e-eeasy.com/GetMail.aspx), a free, award-winning shareware utility (voluntary donations appreciated). We did not find a free export utility for Hotmail contacts; however, that doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist. One we like that you can purchase is WebMail Assistant (www.oneseek.com). It’s $39.99, but it works with Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail and includes such perks as mail merge and spam filtering.
You could also upgrade to the premium service temporarily, enable POP download in Outlook Express, and then synchronize your contacts. (Select Tools, choose Address Book and Tools, and then click Synchronize Now in Outlook Express.) After you cancel the service, you would need to create your contacts in Outlook Express or Outlook before you can import them into Hotmail.
Yahoo! Mail lets users export their Address Book data to other programs.
Yahoo! Mail. Like MSN Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail alsoallows POP access only with a premium account. However, you can use a third-party program, such as YPOPS! (free; dbeusee.home.comcast.net) to forward your messages to your PC. (If you purchase WebMail Assistant, listed previously, you could use it, as well.)
Fortunately, Yahoo! Mail lets users export their contacts. To perform an export, log in to your mail account and click the Addresses tab. Click Import/Export on the right side of the display. Choose the program to which you wish to export. The Outlook and Yahoo! options export your contacts to the universal Comma Separated Values format.
You Can Take It With You
Importing messages into an email program can be as tough as exporting them. If you are moving to a Web-based provider, plan to import only your contacts. For messages, you need to forward your important messages or pay a third-party service to do it for you. However, if you are moving to any PC-based client, you can probably import messages and contacts saved in CSV format using a feature similar to the ones we described for Outlook and Outlook Express.
The key to maximum flexibility is to use the CSV format any time you think you’ll make a transfer somewhere else. Since this format also works for backups, it’s the most accommodating format for both archiving and moving your data at will.
by Jennifer Farwell
Disclaimer - This site is meant as a help site and I won't be held responsible if you screw up your computer or someone else's computer. I won't be responsible for any of the programs listed anywhere on this page or anywhere on VicLovan.com. I didn't write any of the programs listed so if it messes up something you'll have to see the people that wrote it (and most likely you agreed to some sort of EULA not to blame them either when you installed that program). What all this will boil down to is this, BACK UP YOUR DATA, anything that is important to you, should be backed up to multiple locations, and if it's that important to you then you should take at least one copy off the premises. FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD IT'S A COMPUTER IT'S PROBABLY GOING TO SCREW UP AT SOME TIME AND YOU'LL HAVE TO START OVER ANYWAY! OK, enough of the soap box, just use some common sense and you should be fine.
Original Webdesign by Jonas John - Free and I totally hacked, and butchered the %#@*! out of it.