Hi Selina, I replied to a similar question two days ago (3/14/2004 2:10 PM) which should be in the PCSOFT Archives at http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/pcsoft.html. Parts that apply to your situation follow: Opening the files (.dbx) in the Outlook Express (OE) Store Folder is not necessary, all you need to do is save them. Apparently you know it's location so just copy the entire Store Folder to another location on your hard drive or to removable media (CD-R/RW, Zip, etc.). Then once you have OE reinstalled, simply copy the .dbx files back to the OE Store Folder or replace the entire folder with the saved folder. Once you have your address book reconstructed, I suggest you make a back up and, thereafter every time you make a change to it. To save the Address Book, in OE bring it up (hold Shift & Ctrl and hit the letter "B") and go to "File/Export/Address Book (WAB)" then save to 3½ Floppy (A:) or another location. The address book and other information I suggest you save will easily fit on a floppy. I usually keep two backups in two different secure locations. To save your Favorites and Cookies, open Internet Explorer and go to "File / Import and Export". The Import / Export Wizard will walk you through the steps for exporting. After reinstalling IE, reverse the procedure and "Import". Your OE settings (mail rules, signatures, etc.) can be backed up / saved by saving two entries in the Registry. Go to Start / Run and type "regedit", sans quotes, and hit Enter. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER and select "Identities". If you have more than one, select the one that has all your settings for mail rules, etc. From the File menu, select "Export". Export the HKEY_USERS / .DEFAULT / Identities the same way. They will be saved as a registry file (.reg) and when you're ready to restore them, double-click the file and say "Yes" to the confirmation for them to be added to the registry. You can also export your settings for OE Internet Accounts (Tools / Accounts). Select the account and click the "Export" button. Good luck... and back up, back up, back up. :-) Sven Swanson, Sr. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Selina W. Dunworth" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Monday, March 15, 2004 7:42 PM Subject: [PCSOFT] Lost addresses and OE folders Dear all: I developed a problem sending email. It kept going to an address I had deleted from my address book. Thinking I had a back-up of my address book, I deleted the OE address book and now OE is all messed up, so I will have to reinstall IE. I need to save my message folders and reinstall IE, but the folders all have a .dbx extension and I can't figure out how to open them once I save them. I am using Webmail for the time being, and will reconstruct my address book. I tried to recover it from the recycle bin, but it didn't work. HELP!! Curious about the people moderating your messages? Visit our staff web site: http://freepctech.com/staff.shtml