Bits'n'Bytes

As heard on CJCD

Episode 36

If you've been around computers for a while now, you've probably got a couple thousand emails sitting in your email folders. You've probably got a whole whack of email addresses you don't want to lose, too. Now, what if your system is getting a little older and you're thinking of buying a new one. Are you afraid of losing all those great jokes? Are you not looking forward to retyping all 247 email addresses back into your new computer? Well fear not. There's a way around all that.

First thing you'll want to do is find all your emails you want to save. In Windows XP, click on the Start button and then Click on Search. Pick "All Files and Folders", and below that select "More Advanced Options" and check the "Search hidden files and folders" checkbox.

Now, if you use Outlook Express, type in *.dbx in the "All or part of the filename" box - that's an asterisk, dot d-b-x. Your system will do the search and should find a bunch of dbx files. Some of these will be Inbox.dbx, Sent.dbx and maybe something like Cousin Harry.dbx. Save all of these to a thumb drive, or copy them into a folder so you can burn them to a CD.

If you use Outlook, type in *.pst. Your system should only find one or two pst files. Hopefully, one of them is named after you. If not, pick the biggest one by hovering your mouse over the file - Windows XP will briefly pop up a little window telling you how big the file is. Again, save to a thumb drive or burn the file to a CD.

Now on your new computer, you can Import the dbx or pst files into your email program on your new computer by clicking on File, then Import and then Messages. The program will ask you where to import from. Point it to your thumb drive or burned CD and your messages are all transferred to your new system.

To save all your addresses, do another search. This time search for *.wab files (for Windows Address Book). Copy the files found to your new system using pretty much the same method as copying your messages - just import an address book instead.

Stay tuned next week when I talk about changing the way Windows looks on your computer.

I’m Computer Dave, thanks for your time.