There are, as usual, several ways to protect yourself from a drive failure and loss of your email. This tip is for users of OE only.

Your email is all stored in a single folder and, if you can find that folder, you will find that it contains a large number of files. Most of these files will have the extension of ".dbx" if you are configured to show the extension. Microsoft uses a proprietary format, which makes these files quite difficult to view except with OE. In addition, the individual files are not useful without the index, which is stored in a separate file within this folder. If you want to backup your email, it is possible to save the entire folder someplace. It is relatively easy to copy the entire folder to an external drive or to a second drive. Should you experience a problem that causes the loss of your email, you can merely copy the folder back to its original location. Sounds simple enough.

First, you have to find the folder. That is done via Tools/Options/Maintenance. There you can click on "Store Folder" and it will have the address of the folder you are looking for. You may notice that it is really buried deep into the system. Now that you know where it is, you can copy that address for future reference and periodically save the folder as backup. If you are not satisfied with trying to remember the default location of the messages, it is simple enough to move the folder somewhere else. For example, you could place the folder directly on the C: drive which would make it easier to find next time. That can be done by clicking "Change" and following the instructions. An even better solution is to place the email folder on a separate partition, which prevents it
from being destroyed if you’re C: drive should be corrupted by some foreign invader. Changing the location of the email folder will automatically move all your email to the new location.

So now you know how to save and restore your email. However, there is another step you may wish to take. Suppose you decide to backup you email once a week or every seven days. Should you have to restore the backup, you will only lose seven days worth of emails. Would you like to know how to recapture them, also? The answer lies within the options available in OE. The following will work with most ISPs although there may be some that do not allow this feature.

Open Tools/Accounts, select the account you are concerned with and select Properties/Advanced. Place a checkmark by "Leave a copy of messages on server". Now place a checkmark by "Remove the messages after" and set it to 8 or 9 days. Now place a checkmark by "Remove from server when deleted from Deleted Items". Now your email server will retain messages for 8 or 9 days. You don't have to worry about OE retrieving the messages each time you connect to the Internet since OE maintains an index of downloaded messages and will not download the same message a second time. However, if you have to restore from a backup, that index will not be up-to-date and the messages will be downloaded again. By telling the server to delete messages when you have deleted them, that should reduce the number of messages saved on the server - only the ones you intended to keep anyway.

One additional thought. If you decide to move the email folder, why not move it into My Documents? If you have already made sure you keep all of your critical information in My Documents, wouldn't it make sense to put your email there also? Now you can merely copy My Documents to that external drive once a week and you should be pretty well protected from major disasters.

It really pays to learn how to maintain and protect yourself. Once you have set up a procedure like this, it becomes something you can easily do once a week and feel more secure.

Computing should be FUN!!!

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