How to backup Outlook Express emails and settings

How to configure a backup for Outlook Express in Backup4all

Outlook Express data is stored in “.dbx” files. For each mail folder defined in Outlook Express a .dbx file is assigned. These files get quite large if you exchange lot of emails, thus when a small change occurs in a file (e.g. a new email has been received), the entire .dbx will be marked as “modified”. When running the backup, the whole file will be backed up as you cannot backup only the changes inside the .dbx file. That's why it is recommended to do a full or mirror backup (and not differential or incremental ). Also, it is recommended to limit the number of backups in order to save disk space.

Steps needed to configure the backup:

1. Open Backup4all and select File->New Backup Wizard (Ctrl+N).
2. On the General page enter a name for the backup in the Name field.
3. From the Predefined Backup drop-down list, select Outlook Express. Click Next.
4. On the Sources page, you will see a list of the files and folders to be backed up. You can clear (un-check) the items that you do not want to back up. Click Next.
5. On the Destination page, select a destination for the backup. Click Next.
6. On the Type page, select the backup type. The Full or Mirror type is recommended.
   
   If you select the Full type:
   
   • Set (check) the Limit maximum number of stored backups to option.
   • Enter a number of maximum backups to be stored. 
   • Clear (un-check) the Merge stored backups to maintain the maximum limit option.
7. Click Finish. The new backup job will appear in the backup list.
8. Press Backup (F6) to start backing up Outlook Express.

The backup job can be scheduled to run at a specific date and time. You can read an article about how to schedule a backup job at this address: "How to use the scheduler"

Backup limitations for locked or open files

Backup4all uses the Volume Shadow Copy service that allows you to back up local open files from NTFS partitions under Windows XP/2003 Server/Vista. Therefore you can back up Outlook Express (OE) without closing it if certain requirements are met:

• computer is running Windows XP, Windows 2003 Server or Windows Vista
• OE data is not being backed up via the network
• OE data is located on a NTFS formatted partition
• the VSS (Volume Shadow Service) is running and is properly configured

If any of the requirements above is not met, Outlook Express has to be closed before backing up the data (otherwise files that are in use will be skipped).

Applies to:

- Backup4all 3
- Microsoft Outlook Express 5
- Microsoft Outlook Express 6