Inbox messages in Outlook Express 6 all gone

[Dolla]

When I entered my Outlook Express today then I found that all the inbox messages have gone but they were still there last night. Is there anyone who can tell me what is the cause of this issue. Thanks

[Zachary]

You can find a hidden file that is the old inbox. It is generally in the Windows\Application Data\Identities\{GUID}\Microsoft\Outlook Express folder. The identity has a globally unique identifier or {GUID}. The one you are using now will be called 'Inbox.DBX'. There is also utilities to recover data from these old OE files.

[Dolla]

Thanks for the reply, but is there any other free of charge method to recover the Inbox.DBX file. Also can you tell me how it happened and is my computer infected by virus or something else?

[Coolestman]

I dont thing this is a virus problem. Actually, if your inbox is too full then also it causes this problem. I dont know any free tools to fix this issue but on the oehelp website you can get some app that would help you out.

[Dolla]

Thanks for the reply, I wont bother to recover those email messages in my laptop since I have got the other desk top backup. Also, thanks for telling me that it might be caused by the too full inbox and I will watch out for the inbox folder capacity.

[Shardik]

If everything else fails if you cannot find your messages back, have a look at Foxtract.
This tool scans your corrupted dbx file and will extract your e-mails, even if the trees are corrupted (Outlook Express uses tree structures to retrieve the messages).

This tool is free, GPL licensed, the source code is freely available.

--> http://code.google.com/p/foxtract

[AkashicVisit]

I realize this thread might be inactive, but I was hit with the same problem this morning. I knew it was because the inbox was bulging, thanks to someone sending 300 MB of pictures (of plants).

Normally, if you close a few programs, OE 6 is a bit forgiving. You can create subfolders and move things around, delete some files, archive some, and then all is well.

This time, inbox.dbx went from 1.5 GB to 270kb in an instant and I am at a loss to know whether any of the recommended recovery strategies work when the inbox is no longer displaying its previously correct size. Obviously, I am stressed to do not want to create a worse mess.

Many thanks for your excellent forum.