# Outlook Express -\> Windows Mail **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 22, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-express-windows-mail/434464 "2008-01-22T04:21:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-express-windows-mail/434464/1 "2008-01-22T04:21:38Z")
Okay, here’s the problem. On my old computer I was running Outlook Express under windows XP. I had my mail store nicely backed up in case of a crash. Well, my computer went bust, and I’ve replaced it. Only now I find that OE no longer exists and has been replaced by Windows Mail. So, how do I import stuff from my backup files? I’ve managed to import messages, but I can’t get accounts, message rules, etc to import. What do I do? Please help. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-express-windows-mail/434464/2 "2008-01-22T04:56:57Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris] So, how do I import stuff from my backup files? [/QUOTE] How did you create the backup files? (what file format are they in?) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-express-windows-mail/434464/3 "2008-01-22T05:22:23Z")
I simply copied them from the Outlook Express datastore. They are in .dbx format. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-express-windows-mail/434464/4 "2008-01-22T13:17:00Z")
Did you export the address book to a .csv file? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-express-windows-mail/434464/5 "2008-01-22T13:59:21Z")
The address book doesn’t matter much. I didn’t have many addresses that needed keeping, and I’ve got them elsewhere. It’s the account settings that’s really important. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-express-windows-mail/434464/6 "2008-01-22T14:11:07Z")
Is the old computer running at all? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-express-windows-mail/434464/7 "2008-01-22T14:53:54Z")
No, totally dead, motherboard kaput, but I’ve installed the old disk in my new computer. I can read data from it, but I can’t get the old system to boot up. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outlook-express-windows-mail/434464/8 "2008-01-23T09:56:46Z")
Does [this](http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/email/import-dbx-files-outlook-express-windows-mail-vista-86458.html) help at all? ETA: could you install IE6 (which includes Outlook Express) and export the files from there? I’m not sure about IE6 on Vista; this is just an idea. You can get IE6 from [here](http://oldversion.com/program.php?n=msie).