Outlook Express does not make it that easy to backup or transfer messages and addresses.

On the old machine, the easiest way to locate Outlook Express' email store is to ask Outlook Express. Fire it up, and then in Tools, Options, on the Maintenance tab there's a button labeled Store Folder. Click that, and it will tell you the folder containing your email folder.

Copy the entire contents of that directory to the new computer.

The address book we handle a little differently. Open up the address book, either from the accessories menu item on your Start menu, or by pressing Ctrl+Shift+B in Outlook Express. In the address book, select File, Export, and click on Address Book (WAB).... You can now select a location and filename for your address book to be placed. Again, you can copy it to the new computer.

Fire up Outlook Express on the new machine, and we'll just reverse the process.

Select File, Import, Messages.... Choose Microsoft Outlook Express 6 and press Next. Select Import mail from an OE6 store directory and press Next. Now on the next screen Browse to the location that you've placed the message store we saved from your old machine. Import and your messages should now be transferred.

The process for the address book is similar - even simpler. File, Import, Address Book..., select the address book we exported above, and import.,/p>

Finally, you'll want to configure your email accounts in Outlook Express to access your email account from your ISP.

For more help Check http://support.microsoft.com/kb/270670/EN-US/

Before moving or copying and Eudora files it is required that you completely exit Eudora. Copy the entire Eudora data directory (where your eudora.ini file is located) from the old computer onto the new computer.

If you do not know where your Eudora data directory is and are currently running Eudora 6.2 or newer, you can find out by going to the Help, About Eudora menu. This information is listed in the About Window after the word Data:

To find out where you have Eudora installed for versions older than 6.2 you will have to search for the directory using Windows Search.

Next paste the directory from the source location to the destination and maintain the same directory path. For example, if Eudora was installed into the C:\Program Files\Qualcomm\Eudora directory on the old machine, you should paste the Entire Qualcomm folder (including the Eudora folder within) into the C:\Program Files directory on the new system which ensures that all files are properly updated.

Windows 2000 & XP Users

With Eudora installed under Windows 2000/XP, the default location to install the application is still under Program Files, but the data files are stored separately. Data files are kept in the 'User's Application Data folder' (typically 'C: \Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Qualcomm\Eudora', where is your Windows 2000 or XP computer login name).

The Windows 2000/XP Application Data folder most often has the hidden attribute. Which means you will not be able to view it by default in Windows Explorer or My Computer, unless you've configured those tools to display hidden objects. There are good reasons, why you might want to explore the folder where your Eudora data is stored; in particular, the email attachments that you've received are here, in the Attach subfolder (unless, of course, you've told Eudora to store attachments elsewhere). To make this easier, Eudora creates a shortcut to your Eudora data folder in the Application Data folder's parent folder, which is typically 'C: \Documents and Settings\.

If you are not able to do the above then you will need to copy the following files from your old Eudora directory to the new directory where you installed it.

Mailboxes: Everything with the .mbx extension and the corresponding files with .toc extensions. If you have an .mbx file with no .toc, Eudora will rebuild the table of contents from the mailbox file. Make sure that you rename mailboxes that have the same name on the new machine so you do not overwrite any existing data.

Spelling Dictionary files: If you have added, removed, or changed any words in the spelling dictionary you will want to move: usuggest.tlx, uignore.tlx, and uchange.tlx.

Folders: If you created any, these are directories with the .fol extension. Recreate the folders in your new Eudora and copy the contents over.

Nicknames: nndbase.txt and nndbase.toc files. If you created additional address books copy the Nickname folder which stores those address book files.

Signatures: If you created signatures copy the entire Sigs folder.

Filters: filters.pce Filters store the information for any personal mail filters which you have created.

Settings: eudora.ini This file stores your Registration code and email account information.

Stationery: Files with the .sta extension. If there are any files inside this folder, copy this entire folder.

Junk Training file: The UserJunkDB.txt stores the manual training of Junked and not Junked messages. This file is located in Eudora's plugin folder, in the folder that has the rest of your data files.

Recipient List: rcpdbase.txt file stores the list of entries for the recipient list.

History List: history.lst stores the email addresses of people you have recently sent email to.

Embedded: If there are any files inside this folder, copy this entire folder. These files are any images which have been embedded in the body of your emails.

Attachments: These are in the directory you specified under Tools:Options:Attachments. If this is just the 'Attach' subdirectory of Eudora, go ahead and move it to the new Eudora directory. If it is somewhere else, just go back into Tools: Options: Attachments and reassign it to the same directory.

NOTE ON MOVING ATTACHMENTS: Eudora marks the message with where it saved the attachment file at the time it was downloaded and decoded. If you later move a file to a different directory, you will not be able to launch that attachment from within the message in Eudora. You will have to launch the file manually from within Windows Explorer. So it is very important to maintain the correct directory structure if you wish to maintain the same functionality on both machines.