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Question & Answer

We are discussing Surfing through Computers and the Internet
With Nathanael Boehm, Nan Bosler and DCITA

Question:
Is there a fool-proof way of backing up email messages to a CD? I am currently copying them from the Instore Folder in Outlook Express to a folder on my second hard drive as well as copying all the dbx files to CD. However if the CD is played at a later date all emails received after compilation of the CD are displayed. How is this possible and is it therefore necessary to keep updating my backup folder/CD?

Answer:
Nathanael - It depends on why you're backing up; I backup my email to clear space on my hard drive and to make Outlook Express (OE) run faster (especially searching) but still want to have access to older emails just in case.

My email account is broken up into sub-folders named by year (if you have multiple email accounts then include the account name in each folder name as well, ie "Account 1 - 2006"); at the start of each new year I'll copy the DBX file for the previous year to my backup storage device (an external USB hard drive) and then go into OE and delete the emails in that folder (double check to make sure you're deleting the right emails). That way there will still be a DBX file associated with that folder, but clears up space and improves performance.

If I ever need to access email from that year I'll just copy the original DBX over the top of the emptied one.

This is just my personal method and is not recommended for beginner computer users as there is a risk of you irrevocably deleting an entire years worth of email. There is backup and archiving software available that caters specifically for email however I have limited experience with setting these up, and most such software I've worked with is designed for large corporations and government.

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