Windows 7 - HELP!! Mail Problem!!

Alright, sorry if I sound frantic, but this is a pretty big deal.

My mom finally got around to buying Windows 7 Professional Upgrade for her computer. It had Windows XP previously. It has 4GB RAM and a 2.6GHz CPU, so I knew it could handle anything 7 threw at it.

Well, my mom isn't too familiar with software and therefore use Internet Explorer and Outlook Express. IE was fine, as she upgraded it when Windows Update asked her to. My problem obviously lies in Outlook Express.

She had several hundred emails in there, very important ones she'd kill me for if I lost. Same with a whole address book.

Well, since she has so many things installed, I went the "Double upgrade" route. I got a Vista Business disc, upgraded to it from XP, then upgraded to Windows 7 from that. Worked pretty well, for the most part. Well I then remembered Windows 7 didn't have a built-in mail client like the earlier versions did. So I went and got her Windows Live Mail from the Essentials pack.

Well, it won't detect any previous emails. I went to the Import section and clicked to import from Outlook Express 6 and it said it couldn't automatically detect them and ask me to choose the folder. Since Vista and 7 reworked the whole Application Data thing, I really have no idea where the emails woulda gone. There's still an "Application Data" folder that it won't let me on, despite the account being an administrator.

I know when going from XP to Vista, Windows Mail automatically imports everything.

So I'm really worried right now - hopefully one of you Windows 7 geniuses knows how to fix this problem. PLEASE, PLEASE tell me Windows didn't erase her messages! If anybody has any insight, please let me know, I'm hoping to get this fixed before my mom even finds out that I lost her mail.

Thanks!!

Hey

Can you give us more info on what is where (drives, OS, mail cleints) and how you upgraded. DO you have a backup to restore from?, the win 7 dvd?

Kennjo

If you are on Windows XP and planning to UPGRADE...

YOU MUST DO A CLEAN INSTALL. There is no upgrade path. There are user migration tools you can use, but you will need to backup your files and do a clean install. It causes conflicts that you are experiencing now.

I have seen several threads about this and just want to clarify. The upgrade from Windows Vista is a valid upgrade path, but Windows XP to Windows 7 is not

Go to the c drive. Look for a folder windows.old. The information should be there. I truly know how you feel, and I hope that things work out. I can give you a bit of hope, by telliing you with the people we have here, if there is a way they will find it.

Um... I thought I specified most of that in my first post. Unfortunately, no, I don't have a backup.

What I did was "upgrade" from XP to Vista, so it put her computer on Vista while keeping everything intact. Then going from Vista to 7 was that seamless upgrade method people mention. It works for 99% of things, but for some reason the emails disappeared.

That's only if you do a clean install. I don't think upgrades give you a Windows.old.

Now, when I upgraded it to Vista, towards the end of setup I saw a "Windows Setup Rollback"in the boot menu... is that possible?

Alright, guys, after much messing around I got it.

Her contacts were moved to C:/Users/[Mom]/Contacts, and were already imported upon opening Windows Live Mail. The emails got moved into C:/Users/[Mom]/AppData/Local/Identities, rather than under Application Data in XP. All the files were there - I couldn't find it because the default search doesn't search hidden/system folders, apparently. I just copied the Outlook Express folder to the desktop, imported it, rearranged her folders as they were before, and it's all set!

So in case anyone else does a double-upgrade (And what I mean is upgrading XP to Vista, then upgrading that Vista to 7), that's how you get messages back!

The much better way is to open outlook express before you upgrade, then export the emails to a file. Once you have upgraded to windows 7 you can import the file into whatever email client you wish to use.

When upgrading any OS, ALWAYS make a backup of important files like emails, pictures and documents.

Hi
You were lucky. this was the second time if I recall. do yourself a favor. Get permission first, make a back up, and make another one just in case.

glad it worked out

Kenn J++