Moving Storage Folders in Windows Live Mail

Hi Jerbear, welcome to Seven Forums.
If your pc crashes, you will lose all the mail in WLM. Depending on what email account you have, the messages can be read by accessing it directly. Here's a better method. Never Lose Emails.pdf

Try this. In WLMail open the individual folders you created to organize your stuff. Select all of the msgs and DragDrog them to the folder you want to contain all msgs. Do this for each individual folder until all msgs are in one storage folder. Make sure you have moved them (ie - there are no msgs in the folders you no longer want) and that all msgs are in the folder you do want. When you're sure you have everything where you want it, you can delete the empty storage folders. Be careful though - if you didn't move the msgs and you delete the folder - they are gone!

Side note: There is a known issue with the position of accounts and folders in the navigation pane - they don't stick. You can change the position (order) of the folders in the navigation pane as often as you like, but when you return they're in the default order.

Peace!

roncerr,

I think Jerbear has a different issue, but your synopis of mainfolder would be correct.

Here's how I understand it.
1. There are existing WLM folders that Jerbear want to consolidate a new MainFolder.
2. DragDrop in WLM "works" but the next time WLM is launched, the original folders are recreated in the appdata...\Windows Live Mail tree
3. The new DragDropped folders are still also in the new MainFolder

That's as far as I took it. I could have put msgs in the new MainFolder\subfolders using WLM to see what folder actually received the msgs. In other words, I don't know if the recreated are the containers for msgs or the new subfolders are the containers or if the recreated ones are just ghosts WLM created.

I thought that Jerbear could just create the directory tree desired inside of WLM and move the msgs from old to new

Storage Folders
folder01
folder02
folder03
> MainFolder

> folder01
> folder02
> folder03

That solves the tree structure, but the original foldeer0x are created even if I delete them, if memory serves. This solution depends on two things 1) how many machines does this affect and 2) how attached is Jerbear to the presentation of WLM folders from an Explorer standpoint. Everything looks ok from inside WLM.

It's definitely a workaround and it might get confusing doing import msgs since you have a number of folder0x - but it would solve the dilemma.

There's a bug, ya think?

I created the following folders un Storage folders
abc
Main
Main\abc

I deleted abc, kept Main\abc

I put 3 msgs in Main\abc - displayed after WLM restart
moved 3 msgs from Main\abc to abc (using explorer) - 6 msgs (3 orig + 3 dups) displayed after WLM restart
moved 3 msgs from abc back to Main\abc (using explorer) - 9 msgs (3 orig + 6 dups) displayed after WLM restart

This is just a WLM database error - there are only 3 real files. I don't know of a way to rebuild the store.

I still think the correct way is to create a "duplicate" folder tree under MainFolder and copy the msgs from the old to the new inside WLM, not in explorer. But as my testing showed, you still have the original folders recreated, they're empty and not the msg container, but they're there.

Live seems to have some folder management issues - nothing harmful, just bad housekeeping.

edit: The images say Windows Mail, but should say Windows Live Mail, the title widow is correct, my added text is wrong

Jerbear,

You might consider changing the location of your msg(options/advanced/maintenance) store to another drive or another folder. Another drive will save you a step since you won't be overwriting it with w system restore. Another folder - depends on how your system is configured and what type of restore you do.

That way if you have to reinstall anything - all you have to do is change the location in WLM to point to where you store the data - it will prompt you with "A msg store already exists there....do you want to use it...."

Open WLM and click on Folders tab. Select the folder you want to move and select Move.



Jim

Phone Man,

Thanks, that does work - there is another underlying issue

Jerbear,

I think I recreated the scenario you described. As a final test, I tried deleting the ghost msgs - WLM gave me an unknown error on the delete (no kidding - it wasn't really there!)

Make a backup before you try this, Ok?
The sequence seems to be
1) create your main folder and sub folders,
2) move your msgs from old to new,
3) delete the old,
4) empty the trash,
5) close WLM,
6) navigate (explorer) to AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail\Storage Folders and make sure the old folders are really gone, if they are there - verify they are empty and delete them
7) restart windows
8) restart WLM

Please post your results if you try the steps above. Thanks.