Please read this document carefully. It contains information about reinstalling Outlook Express 4.5 and maintaining mail and other data (such as contacts and news messages) from a previous install of Outlook Express 4.5.
If you have never used Outlook Express, or if you have been using an earlier version of Outlook Express and have never used version 4.5, you are NOT affected by the issues in this document and you do not need to read any further.
If you have already been using Outlook Express 4.5, please follow the steps below to make sure that you maintain your mail during the reinstallation process.
When you reinstall Outlook Express 4.5, you copy the entire folder called "Microsoft Internet 4.5" or "Outlook Express 4.5" to your hard disk. When you do so you may see an alert box with text similar to the following:
An item with that name already exists in this location. Do you want to replace it with the one you're moving?
You should NOT replace this folder or your saved mail will be deleted.
Outlook Express keeps your mail data in the folder called "OE User(s)." This folder is kept in the same folder as the Outlook Express application (currently on your hard drive). To preserve your mail when reinstalling version 4.5, you must be sure that the "OE User(s)" folder is NOT overwritten. To do so, follow these steps carefully:
1. Locate the folder called "Outlook Express 4.5" on your hard drive and open it. Inside the "Outlook Express 4.5" folder, locate the folder called "OE User(s)" and drag this folder to the desktop.
2. Open the window that contains this text file and copy the folder that you see there to the same location on your hard disk as your previous install. If you are installing both Microsoft Internet Explorer and Microsoft Outlook Express, the name of the folder you are copying is "Microsoft Internet 4.5." (If you are installing only Outlook Express, the name of the folder you are copying is "Outlook Express 4.5.")
Note: When you are prompted to replace the current folder, click "OK."
3. Open the "Microsoft Internet 4.5" folder (or the "Outlook Express 4.5" folder) that you just copied onto your hard disk. Locate and open the folder called "Outlook Express 4.5 Folder." Move the "OE User(s)" folder that you copied to the desktop in step 1 into the "Outlook Express 4.5 Folder."
4. Double-click the new Outlook Express 4.5 application to start it. Your mail will be just as it was before you installed Outlook Express 4.5.
Advanced users: You can keep your "OE User(s)" folder anywhere on your hard disk if you place an alias named "OE User(s)" in the folder that contains the Outlook Express 4.5 application.
