Archived Articles

Beginner How to

Working with Views and More

VBA and Custom Form Samples

Outlook Forums

Many people who upgraded from Windows XP to Windows 7 were using Outlook Express. Unfortunately, Windows 7 does not include a mail client and these users decide to switch to Outlook instead.

If Outlook is installed and configured on the old computer, you can export from OE to Outlook then move the *.pst file to the new computer. See Create a profile (Outlook2007) for the steps required to create a profile and use the old *.pst file.

If Outlook is not installed on the old computer, you need to either install it on the old computer and export from OE to Outlook then move the pst or install Windows Live Mail on the new computer and move the OE dbx files to the new computer, then export to Outlook.

I think its easier to install Live Mail and move the dbx file.  The steps below will tell you how to do this.

On Windows XP:

Find and copy the entire Outlook Express data folder on Windows XP. To find the location of the message store, go to OE's Tools, Options Maintenance tab and click on Store Folder button.

Select and Copy the folder path in the Store dialog. It should look something like the following, if you were using the default folder path:

C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{FA572F59-2087-498C-A7A9-F546571D6ECF}\Microsoft\Outlook Express

Close the dialogs and OE and paste the folder path in Windows Explorer's address bar. Press Enter. This will open Explorer to the location of OE's dbx files. Copy the contents of the entire Outlook Express folder, including the folders.dbx file to the Windows 7 computer, placing it in your My Documents folder. If you are moving it on a USB drive, you don't need to copy it to the Windows 7 hard drive, Live Mail can read the files from the USB drive.

The Address book uses the wab extension and is at C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book - it may be named username.wab. Copy it to the Windows 7 computer too.

On Windows 7:

Import Outlook Express Email into Live Mail:

1. Download and install the Microsoft Live Mail client
2. Open it and go to File, Import Messages.
3. Select from Outlook Express 6
4. Browse to the Outlook Express folder you copied.
5. Select the folders you want to import and finish the wizard.

Import Address book (wab) in Live Mail:

1. Open the Live mail address book module
2. Go to File, Import. Windows Address book
3. Browse to the *.wab you copied and complete the wizard

If you want to use Windows Live Mail, you're done and ready to go.

If you want to use Outlook, you'll need to export the messages and address book from Live Mail to Outlook.

1. Go to File, Export, Messages
2. Choose Microsoft Exchange.
3. Pick the folders and finish the export. 

Open the Live Mail's Contact module and export the addresses in CSV or vCard format then import in into Outlook. If you export as vCard format, you can drag and drop them from the file system into Outlook's Contacts.