Windows 7 - how to open a .DBX file

Hi all
   I have found a folder containing .DBX files and having changed from XP to Win7 I think it is all my email folders saved from the XP operating system, the problem is as windows7 will not work with OE I have nothing to open them with, I am using Libre Office writer for text, and windows live mail for emails, is there a free program that I could download to read the saved mail? regards Robert.

Hi,

You need Outlook Express to open .DBX file.

The file that you want to open needs to be in the folder where OE expects to find its data. In OE, right click you Inbox and pull down to Properties. In the Inbox Properties dialog you'll see "This folder is stored in the following file:" Put your dbx in that folder (give it a name that doesn't try to replace any files in there) and restart OE. You dbx file should be in the Folders sidebar.

You can open this .DBX file in Outlook Express by simply copying the file to the location that contains the files your current version of Outlook Express is using.

In Outlook Express go ahead and right click on the Inbox and select Properties.

In this dialogue box you it will says “This folder is stored in the following file:”

Just make a note of that location and put your dbx file full of funny e-mails into that folder. Be sure and give the file a unique name so you don’t overwrite any of the existing .DBX files.

Once that is complete, restart Outlook Express and your saved e-mail will show up as one of the folders along with the Inbox and so forth.

Regards

Using Outlook express you can open it.

DBX folders have names corresponding to their email mailbox. For example, common names are Inbox.dbx, Sent Items.dbx, Drafts.dbx, and Deleted Items.dbx. Folders.dbx stores the master index for all the mailboxes. If it is missing, Outlook Express will re-index the mailboxes and recreate it.

DBX mail folders can be imported into Windows Mail (included with Windows Vista) by selecting File → Import → Messages, then choosing Import mail from an OE6 store directory and selecting the DBX folder you would like to import.

DBX folders can be imported into Windows Live Mail (included with Windows 7) by selecting File → Import → Messages → Microsoft Outlook Express 6 and locating the appropriate DBX folder.

NOTE: DBX folders should only be opened in Outlook Express or imported using another program. If opened or edited manually, they can become corrupted and cause Outlook Express not to function properly.

Hi all
    Thanks for your prompt replies, but it looks like I am snookered.

As I am using windows7 I do not have Outlook Express or Outlook, because these programs will not work with Windows7,
I am told that the French complanied that as Outlook Express etc was built into the Microsoft operating systems that there was not enough competition, so M'soft took out the mail program (well on the EU operating system CD's they did, I don't know about the American ones) so that we in England have to find a mail program that will work with Windows7 and not many want to.
So my mail program is now windows live mail which seems to work with W7 but I am not excited about it, and it looks like I am stuck with it for the time being, so if there is nothing else that will open the DBX files it looks like I will have to save them for the future, so my thanks for your help and input. Regards Robert.

if you want to do it on window Live then also there is one option you can try below one if it is feasible to you

Extract Emails from DBX Files and Copy Them Back to Windows Mail or Windows Live Mail.

1. Download DBXTriever.

2. Install it by double clicking on the zip file downloaded in step 1, then double click the exe file which is contained in the zip file. Follow the wizard to finish the installation process.

3. Launch DBXTriever (you can launch it from Start -> Programs -> DBXTriever -> DBXTriever). Go to File -> Open, and select the dbx file where your emails are stored.

4. Go to Edit -> Select All to select all emails.

5. Go to File -> Save Selected Messages to save all selected messages as eml files. You will need to specify a location for the eml files.