Recovering messages from corrupted *.dbx files using the Recovery Wizard

1. Selecting the path to the .dbx file
2. Selecting the dbx file
3. Reading and recovering the corrupted .dbx file
4. Selecting the path for saving extracted messages
5. Saving messages extracted from the corrupted dbx file

1. Selecting the path to the .dbx file

In this step, you should specify the path to the dbx file used by the Outlook Express mail client to store messages you want to recover. By default, the first option in the drop-down list of Outlook Express Recovery Kit will be the path to the .dbx file Outlook Express uses to store the current user's messages. Other paths in the list are previously used paths to those folders on the hard drive where *.dbx files were detected. If you do not know the path to the dbx file you are interested in, use the internal dbx file search features of Outlook Express Recovery Kit. The dbx file search window of Outlook Express Recovery Kit is similar to that in Windows Explorer. To activate the search, click the Search .dbx files button . Select where to search in the left panel of the program (local disk, floppy disk, CD or DVD). Click the Search Now button to start searching. When the search is over, select the dbx file you are interested in in the right panel of the program and click the OK button. The path will be added to the Source Folder Path field in the Recovery Wizard of Outlook Express Recovery Kit. After you specify the path to the .dbx file you want to recover, you can move on to the next recovery step by clicking the Next button.

2. Selecting the .dbx file

In the second recovery step, you select the .dbx file containing messages you want to recover. Specify which file Outlook Express Recovery Kit should process. After that move on to the third recovery step (the Next button).

3. Reading and recovering messages from the corrupted dbx file

Click the Start Read/Recovery button to activate the process of reading and recovering correspondence from the corrupted dbx file. If you need to recover deleted messages as well, select the Recovery Deleted E-mails checkbox (selected by default). In this case, the recovery process will take longer. The process of recovering messages from the corrupted .dbx file will take some time depending on the size of the file being processed and the performance of the computer. The reading progress bar informs you about the stage the process of recovering messages from the corrupted file is in. After the process is over, move on to the next recovery step (the Next button).

4. Selecting the path for saving extracted messages

In this information recovery step, you specify the path where recovered messages should be saved. There are 4 ways to save messages:

• Manually enter the path into the E-mail(s) Save Folder field
• Select the path from the E-mail(s) Save Folder drop-down list
• Click button and select the path in Windows Explorer
• Specify the path after selecting the corresponding item in the submenu of the Action menu in the main menu of the Outlook Express Recovery Kit tool (Save Checked e-mails, Save Current e-mail or Save All e-mails for saving all selected messages, saving only the current message or saving all recovered messages)

By default, Outlook Express Recovery Kit will offer you the last path used to save recovered messages. This path will be the first option in the drop-down menu. Other paths are also path used to save information before. The Next button will take you to the final recovery step.

5. Saving messages extracted from the corrupted .dbx file

The final step in recovering messages from the corrupted *.dbx file is saving messages to the disk. Outlook Express Recovery Kit offers you the following options:

• Save all selected messages
• Save only the current message
• Save all recovered messages

To create a list of messages to be saved, select the checkboxes next to each message you want to save to the disk.

Choose one of the saving methods. Click the button corresponding to this option (Save Checked, Save Current and Save All respectively) to save messages to the disk as *.eml files (RFC822 standard).

Messages are saved to the disk under the names made out of message subjects, excluding special characters. Numbers in brackets [] are added to file names for message with the same subjects. For example, message[1].eml is the first file with this name, message[2].eml is the second file and so on.

All messages saved to the disk can be viewed in Outlook Express and, if necessary, easily copied or moved to Outlook Express folders or any other mail client supporting the *.eml message extension.

After messages are saved, Outlook Express Recovery Kit will display statistics on the processed *.dbx files, the number of recovered and saved messages.

The recovery of message from the corrupted *.dbx file with the Recovery Wizard of Outlook Express Recovery Kit is successfully finished.