Everywhere I look I see the answer is no - I cannot do the above... but there's GOT to be a way... doesn't there? :o

Any suggestions for a workaround to this?

... any of you who have gone from XP to Vista... were you able to somehow get your email folders imported into Windows Mail?

Rick,

I had the same issue. I found the answer and got mine imported. Follow the following steps:

1. Create a directory under the current user's Documents, such as Documents\OEMail. This directory needs to be within the user's space, such as under Documents, in order to prevent possible access permissions problems.
2. Copy all the dbx files from one Outlook Express Identity into this directory, ensuring that folders.dbx is included.
3. Go to Edit | Select all in Windows Explorer and select all the dbx files. Then right click on the selection and choose Properties and ensure that the read only attribute of the files is unchecked.
4. In Windows Mail go to File | Import Messages and choose Outlook Express 6 format and choose to import from a directory.
5. Then use the Browse button to browse to the directory of dbx files. Make sure that when you set the directory that what is listed in the path is correct (NOTE: Vista can put the wrong path in here sometimes, so instead of c:\mypath it puts c:\mypath\mypath, so check the path to verify that it is correct, and if it is not correct then fix it by clicking the Browse button a second time and then leave the selection blank and clicking Okay.).
6. Then select the files from which you wish to import messages and click Import.

This procedure worked for me. If you have difficulties, go to backup for clarification. That is where I found this procedure that worked for me.

:) smart answer...

For me, I had to make sure the Read Only box was CHECKED before it would import the messages.

Ingrid

I am setting up my new Vista Business computer and could NOT get my Outlook Express imported until I read this answer!! Importing as we speak:)

Thanks, after getting C:\Documents\OEMail\OEMail (why, I ask? ), I had to do as you said and click the browse button a second time to fix the folder address to get C:\Documents\OEMail - I couldn't edit the path in the normal by simply backspacing and retyping. Vista is just plain nuts. Unbelievable. :mad:

Jaf
Thanks for the info that was great and easy to follow even for a basic user like me !

I had the same prob with vista doubling up the path/path thing but once that sorted as you advised , job done

Many thanks again

George

If you are doing a vista/office upgrade this procedure should be done automatically, but if I am wrong correct me...

Rick,
With your advice everything seemed to work fine - the program counted down the importing of all my emails. But - in Windows Mail now three new catalogs have appeared, all of them empty!
What did I do wrong?

Don't know of a solution as the above didn't work for me lol

But found a work around program to view dbx files which helped me out

OE Reader download and review - view Outlook Express .dbx files from SnapFiles

It work! JAF is my hero...

Very Helpful, thanks. I did not believe it would have worked for me but actually it did. Thanks!

Hi JAF I followed your directions regarding this matter and it doesn't show any files in the folder I created. So now how do I do it or is there a box that is not checked somewhere.

Regards
Bruce

My problem is that the folder under Identities where the .dbx files should be is said to be empty. I believe I'm going to the right destination, but there are no files there. Any suggestions?

I used Microsoft Outlook to import the Outlook Express email into a PST file. I then imported the PST file into Windows Mail.

At least the Outlook PST files are readable by both programs.

Hi, I have the same problem... I created the folder under my user and I've copied all dbx files in there. But when I try to import them using windows mail the folder is empty... :( Can someone please help us? Thks

SOLUTION: for those that cannot see the dbx files in the folder... that's because you are not supposed to select the dbx files themeselves but the folder which contains them

So simply choose to import the folder which includes the dbx files.

Personally, I created my own folder on a secondary drive for security and performance reasons. I didn't know about all this when I made the move to Vista.

JAF's answer worked perfectly for me.

All I had to do was select the folder where I actually STORED my mail files, and there were no issues.

I knew there HAD to be a way to import from OE to Windows mail.

Thanks to JAF and Alpurl for their comments! :)

Ditto - JAF's solution worked for me with one twist: the import wizard kept stalling when it tried to import the "deleted items.dbx" file. I ended up with an empty "Imported Folder" in my new Windows Mail program.

My work around solution: Instead of clicking the "All folders" option in the "Select Folders" prompt, I clicked on the "Selected folders" option, and individually selected all the folders that I wanted to import, making sure that I did NOT select the " option, and individually selected all the folders that I wanted to import, making sure that I did NOT select the ". Worked like a charm.

Note: Everything was imported into a new folder which the wizard named ". Worked like a charm.

Note: Everything was imported into a new folder which the wizard named ". In there, I found all my imported OE messages and OE folders perfectly organized as they were in the OE program on my old computer.

I used a flash drive/memory stick for my OE messages, and did NOT have to move them to my "Documents" folder.