Number 213 - February 2001
E-Mail: Back It All Up
- Source: Tip World, via TAPCUG's DataLine
    Almost every month, we're asked about how to back up the mail files, and this month is no exception. Since we do get so many requests about backing up mail files, we decided to write a batch file to do the job more or less automatically.

    Before you create the batch file, you need some information about the location of your mail files. Unless you already know where they are, click a blank spot on the desktop and then press F3 to open the Find dialog box. In Named, type

    *.mbx

    (mbx is the extension of your mail files). Now, click the arrow at the right side of the Look In list box and choose Drive C. Click Find Now to continue. Once you find where the files are located (ours were in C:\WINDOWS\ Application Data\ Microsoft\ Outlook Express\ Mail), you can start writing your batch file.

    To generate the batch file, open Notepad and then type the following as shown here. The code is all on a single line. Don't omit the quotation marks.

    copy "C:\ WINDOWS\ Application Data\ Microsoft\ Outlook Express\ Mail\ *.mbx" a:

    Choose File, Save As and name the file MailBack.bat. Locate a folder for the file and click Save. Now, run Windows Explorer and copy a shortcut of your new batch file to the desktop. To do this, use the right mouse button to drag the file's icon to the desktop. When you release the mouse button, choose Create Shortcut(s) Here.

    Right-click the shortcut's icon and choose Properties. When the Properties dialog box opens, click the Program tab. Select the check box labeled Close on Exit and then click the arrow at the right side
of the Run list box. When the list expands, select Minimized and then click OK to save your changes and close the dialog box.

    To use the batch file, place a formatted {and preferably blank) floppy disk into Drive A and double-click the MailBack icon. Although you won't see anything on the screen, the program will copy your mail files to the floppy disk.

    It's possible that your mail files could become too large for a floppy disk. If this is your problem, and you can't clean up the mail files, you can change the batch file so it copies the files to a new location on your hard disk. For example, if you create a new folder named MailBackup, you can modify your batch file as shown here.

    copy "C:\ WINDOWS\ Application Data\ Microsoft\ Outlook Express\ Mail\ *.mbx" c:\Mailback

    All else remains the same.

    TOGGLE Editor's Note:

    With a little imaginative creation of subdirectories, you can save that deathless prose in your e-mail by, for example, day, month, or year, or whatever, by creating appropriately named subdirectories and then naming one of them as the destination in the batch file, instead of c:\Mailback.

    Once you have backed up your e-mail, you can then safely release precious space in the e-mail folder, by deleting the saved messages, because you can always find them in your back up file.

    Like most things of this sort, you would be wise to practice this procedure a few times to be sure that, indeed you have saved what you thought you did.
  Number 213 - February 2001