Migrating Outlook Express To a New Computer

I was on-site yesterday visiting a client and discovered I needed to transfer their email and Address Book from their failing hard drive to the new hard drive I had setup for them. She uses Outlook Express, and it is not a simple process to migrate email data between hard drives or computers, especially when the data hasn’t been exported before the hard drive started to fail.

Once I had the new hard drive setup and working running Windows. I hooked up the old hard drive via an external hard drive USB enclosure to the new computer. I was thrilled that it was able to read it! I did some Google searches and found the exact locations of where Outlook Express stores its data, and the process in which to import it.

I opened up Outlook Express for the “first time”, and setup the client’s email account.

In my research, I found the the first thing to know in this process is that you can’t simply copy and paste the Outlook Express files from the old hard drive location to the new hard drive. The data must be imported through Outlook Express for it to be recognized.

Since these files are hidden, the first thing to do is unhide them. Go into the Control Panel -> Folder Options, and select the ‘see hidden files and folders’ option, and click ‘ok’.

In Outlook Express, Click on File -> Import -> Messages.

Navigate to the old hard drive and find the
C:\Documents and Settings\<User>\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\ {GUID}\ Microsoft\ Outlook Express folder.

Cick ‘open’. Outlook Express should find the files it needs automatically and import them.

To import your Address Book (contacts), open the Address Book program on your computer. It can be found by going to Start Menu ->Programs -> Address Book.

Next, go to File -> Import -> Address Book, and navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\ {Username}\ Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book and click ‘open’. All of your contacts should be automatically imported, and show up in Outlook Express as well.

This process honestly wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be. I have honestly heard it can be a real nightmare. I suspect I got lucky when I found the right Google results. Most of the results pointed to articles describing the fairly simple process of exporting the correct way and then importing, not going to where the actual files are stored.

I can only hope this article helps many, and I strongly encourage you and potentially your clients to upgrade to Windows Live Mail after you finish setting up Outlook Express, and the latter is over a decade old.

Cannot connect to Shaw FTP or E-Mail

As of a couple of years ago, Shaw Cable blocked FTP access to it’s webspace accounts from non-Shaw customers and IP Addresses.

Those who may have previously been Shaw Cable customers could no longer connect to Shaw’s webspace via FTP if they are trying to access those services from non-Shaw Cable internet connections, through programs such as Outlook or Thunderbird. Though, webmail can still be accessed by non-Shaw customers.

The solution? Hopefully a friend uses Shaw Cable, and you can download all of your content and upload it to a provider such as GoDaddy.com (their ftp instructions).

As for e-mail, if you still have mail coming to your previous Shaw e-mail accounts, log into the webmail service at http://webmail.shaw.ca, and forward all of your email to another account you can use for access through Outlook or Thunderbird. Another alternative is to use Yahoo Mail Canada, which still allows POP3 and SMTP access (go to your account settings, then ‘pop and mail forwarding’, as I recall). The USA version does not provide this service for free, it’s only available in the Plus version ($20 a year).

Learn how to setup your mail through Outlook 2007 (coming very soon)

What is Phishing?

Phishing scams are also a big problem. A good example is when someone sends an email that appears to be from your bank, but when you enter your information in the fake web form, the scammers steal your data.

Another definition describes it as a form of social engineering, characterised by attempts to fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as passwords, or credit card information.

According to Symantec, these are the ways to protect yourself from Phishing attacks…

• Be wary of emails asking for confidential information—especially of a financial nature. Legitimate organizations will never request sensitive information via email.
• Don’t get pressured into providing sensitive information. Phishers like to use scare tactics, and may threaten to disable an account or delay services until you update certain information. Be sure to contact the merchant directly to confirm the authenticity of their request.
• Familiarize yourself with a Web site’s privacy policy.
• Watch out for generic-looking requests for information. Fraudulent emails are often not personalized, while authentic emails from your bank often reference an account you have with them.
• Never submit confidential information via forms embedded within email messages.
• Never use links in an email to connect to a Web site. Instead, open a new browser window and type the URL directly into the address bar.
• Maintain effective software to combat phishing. [many anti-virus programs now] automatically detect and block fake Web sites. They may also authenticate major banking and shopping Web sites.

Using Outlook to Access web-based Email

You will need a paid email account from Yahoo or Hotmail

Go to the mail settings and you should get POP information

Enter the POP information into Outlook and you’ll be able to access the email from Outlook.

There are free programs that are available that will allow you to access Hotmail or Yahoo, but they’re finicky in that they sometimes work, and sometimes don’t. One such example is YPOPs from www.ypopsemail.com, though it doesn’t always work.

Hotmail support is built into Outlook, but only works with Hotmai accounts created before 2004, and it’s hit-and-miss. Hotmail currently has no stable way, paid or otherwise, to access it from Outlook or any other client. You must go to the website to check your email, which is rather silly. 

POP3 access is not free with the US version of Yahoo Mail, but it is with the Canadian version at http://mail.yahoo.com. If you have an account with the US version, you can forward it to your Canadian Yahoo account. For Yahoo Canada, the send and recieve information for the incoming is ‘pop.mail.yahoo.ca’, and the outgoing is ‘smtp.mail.yahoo.ca’.

To access your Account Settings in Outlook, click on the ‘Tools’ menu and choose ‘Account Settings’ to review the information.

Websites saying web-based email address is invalid

Some websites may be rejecting free webmail addresses because that is what spammers use

You may want you to use an ISP-based email from the company that provides you your internet connection

If you haven’t checked your email in a couple of months, the account may still exist, but may be inactive and dormant. Try logging into your account and try again.

source: techguylabs.com

Backing Up Outlook Express

There are two parts to this: backing up messages and backing up the address book. To find your message store click Tools, Options then select the Maintenance tab. Click Store to find where Windows is putting your mail. Backup that folder. You can save the address book using the File>Export command. Details are in the Microsoft knowledgebase: [http://Support.microsoft.com/kb/270670]

Or you can use the tool Amic Email Backup.

source: callforhelptv.com

Can’t Send Mail Via POP On Yahoo Mail!

Check with your ISP to make sure they’re not blocking port 25 (outgoing) or port 110 (incoming), or check your router or firewall to allow traffic on that port. Also check your antivirus software any settings that may relate to e-mail. Depending on which company provided you with the email account, some companies use different ports to access the mail on the server. A Google search will usually come up with an answer to this, but you may have to contact your internet service provider.