windows live mail issues of lost folders

rajendra786 · 04 Aug 2011

dear all,
I am using windows live mail , i had configure my email provided by my local ISP provider but there was some problem in receiving email as i was getting popup to enter username and password , after i entered correctly even then also it was keeping on appearing , hence i deleted my email by selecting properties etc and again configred my email, but to my surprise all my inbox/sent etc old messages disappeared, how to recover this as in outlook express it use to never happen, finally is it possible to install outlook express in place of windows live mail??

Joan Archer · 04 Aug 2011

Welcome to the forum, as to you last question no it's not possible to install Outlook Express, that is a very old email client and will not work in Windows 7.

When you set up your email account did you remember to tick the box to remember your password ?

I don't know if it would work but you could try doing a System Restore to a date just before you lost them.

That's all I can think of for now but I'm sure the experts will be able to give you more help when they come along, have you looked in the Tutorials to see if there's anything there that could help ?

mjm6783 · 04 Aug 2011

The greatest advantage that I have seen in Windows Live Mail is merging my existing web mail accounts. You said your e-mail was through your ISP provider? Unless you have some really extreme need to retain that address, I would switch to a free web based email. The ISP mail systems I've used have all had decent but kind of clunky interfaces.

roncerr · 04 Aug 2011

rajendra786 said:

1) i was getting popup to enter username and password...
2) i deleted my email by selecting properties etc and again configred my email, but to my surprise all my inbox/sent etc old messages disappeared...

1) WLM has an account setup dialog for each email account that is very similar to that of Outlook Express and Windows Mail, so if it is set up the same it will work the same.
2) Unfortunately, WLM associates a separate inbox with each pop3 account. It's understandable to decide to delete a particular account in order to set up it's properties from scratch however that is dangerous since the inbox (and any other folders associated directly with that account) will also be deleted. WLM includes "Storage" folders at the bottom that are not associated with a particular account so you can save your emails there or use the "export" feature to save them. Since you have already lost them, all I can think of is some type of data recovery software like: Recuva - Undelete, Unerase, File and Disk Recovery - Free Download .

rajendra786 · 04 Aug 2011

thanks for guidance, but wondering how i can recover atleast subfolder which i created within Inbox and i use to store all incoming relevant messages in that particular subfolder viz bank, travel, friends etc, all this subfolder disappeared, i even looked out for this folder in store folder location but nothing is there, i also restored my PC but nothing happened.
windows LM is inferior compared to outlook express, any other program can be installed in place WLM??
can i configure yahoo mail as my email account as i understand this facility is not available in free yahoo mail, please explain me how to use recovery software to recover my old emails

roncerr · 05 Aug 2011

Yes. Yahoo mail (paid version) includes pop3 access via an email client.

Check out this page of screen shots showing what Recuva can do: Recuva - Screenshots

In WLM, the email store location (Explorer path) is designated under Options/Adanced/Maintenance/Store Folder.

Keep in mind you won't see your old emails there w/o Recuva since they were deleted. With Recuva you should be able to see some emails that have not yet been overwritten with new data. Also, keep in mind that the current non-deleted email may also not be visible w/o Recuva unless you change the Explorer view option to show hidden files.

Although I haven't done it myself, I suspect you may want to save all the *.eml files you find and drag them from the Explorer window to a WLM window showing the contents of an empty Storage Folder. Afterwards you can sort them as you like into new folders set up as you want to view them sorted. You can even go back to your previous arrangement with the email in subfolders of a pop3 inbox. Just don't delete the account holding them.