Outlook - need to help someone in another state find folders

My dad, has had OE mail for about 10 years.  When I went there about 3
years ago, he had somehow lost all of his folders, so I restored
them.  He has lost them again, but not being there where he lives (and
not having OE on my computer), I cannot remember how I restored them.
So, I do not know how to tell him -over the phone- how to restore them
himself.

I am thinking he may have accidently moved them out of sight, which
would just mean placing his cursor in the right place to bring up
arrows to move it back. But I do not know if that is the problem, and
when I ask him to point to the left edges of the page and drag it, he
does not find anything (though he cannot remember what "dragging" is,
or how to do it, so there is some problem due to his ability to
remember some basic terms in computer use).

I wonder if someone has better ideas for retrieving folders.  Keep in
mind that it can take him 30 seconds just to exit a page, so keeping
the number of steps to a minimum is best.  :)  thanks!

There are a few possibilities. Were they subfolders and the tree
collapsed? (i.e. check the + in front).

Has he checked in Deleted Items?

The worse case is that they disappeared during compacting due to being
bloated. Here is my entire 'canned' reply. You will have to adjust it into
something simpler if this is what happened.

The two most common reasons for what you describe is disruption of the
compacting process, (never touch anything until it is finished), or bloated
folders. More on that below.

Why does OE insist on compacting folders when I close it?:
http://www.insideoe.com/faqs/why.htm#compact

Why Mail Disappears:
http://www.insideoe.com/problems/bugs.htm#mailgone

About File Corruption:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/community/columns/filecorruption.mspx

Recovery methods:

If you are running XP/SP2, or SP3, and are fully patched, then you should
have a backup of your dbx files in the Recycle Bin, (or possibly the
message store), copied as bak files.

To restore a bak folder to the message store folder, first find the
location of the Message Store.

Tools | Options | Maintenance | Store Folder will reveal the location of
your Outlook Express files. Write the location down and navigate to it in
Windows Explorer or, copy and paste it into Start | Run.

In WinXP, the .dbx files are by default marked as hidden. To view these
files in Explorer, you must enable Show Hidden Files and Folders under
Start | Control Panel | Folder Options | View.

Close OE and then in Windows Explorer, click on the dbx file for the
missing, or empty, folder and drag it to the Desktop. It can be deleted
later once you have successfully restored the bak file. Minimize the
Message Store.

Open OE and, if the folder is missing, create a folder with the *exact*
same name as the bak file you want to restore but without the .bak. Eg: If
the file is Saved.bak, the new folder should be named Saved. Open the new
folder and then close OE. If the folder is there, but just empty, continue
on to the next step.

First, check if there is a bak file already in the message store. If there
is, and you removed the dbx file, go ahead and rename it to dbx.

If it is not already in the message store, open the Recycle bin and right
click on the bak file for the folder in question and click Restore. Open
the message store back up and change the file extension from .bak to .dbx.
Close the message store and open OE. The messages should now be back in
the folder.

If the messages are successfully restored, you can go ahead and delete the
old dbx file that you moved to the Desktop.

If you do not have bak copies of your dbx files in the Recycle Bin, then:

DBXpress run in Extract From Disk Mode is the best chance to recover
messages:
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

And see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#4

A general warning to help avoid this in the future:

Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually become
corrupted. Create your own user defined folders for storing mail and move
your mail to them. Empty Deleted Items folder regularly. Keep user created
folders under 300MB, and Default folders as empty as is feasible.

Turn off e-mail scanning in your anti-virus program. It is a redundant
layer of protection that eats up CPUs, slows down sending and receiving,
and causes a multitude of problems such as time-outs, account setting
changes and has even been responsible for lose of messages. Your
up-to-date A/V program will continue to protect you sufficiently. For
more, see:
http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#3

And backup often.

Outlook Express Quick Backup (OEQB Freeware)
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Oct. 1, 2004 ~ Sept. 30, 2010
Imperial Beach, CA

Hi Bruce,
He cannot look in "Deleted" because that folder is not there.
In other words, these were main folders, not subfolders.  He says
there is nothing to the left of the page where folders (inbox, outbox,
sent items, deleted items, etc.) should be.  He can see his mail, but
not the folders.

Looking at the directions you give, they do not seem to apply here,
though admittedly I did not read them to the end.
I do not think that compacting affected this.  I think it is more likely
that his very jerky 86 yr old hands hit something he should not have,
and he has either moved the folders out of sight, or has deleted the
option to see them.

Complicated instructions are impressive, but I know he will not
understand any of the steps, and will not be able to adequately tell me
what results he is getting with each step.  I have already spent over an
hour on the phone just walking him through "tools, internet options,
and delete history".

Hi Bruce,
He cannot look in "Deleted" because that folder is not there.
In other words, these were main folders, not subfolders.  He says
there is nothing to the left of the page where folders (inbox, outbox,
sent items, deleted items, etc.) should be.  He can see his mail, but
not the folders.

Looking at the directions you give, they do not seem to apply here,
though admittedly I did not read them to the end.
I do not think that compacting affected this.  I think it is more likely
that his very jerky 86 yr old hands hit something he should not have,
and he has either moved the folders out of sight, or has deleted the
option to see them.

Complicated instructions are impressive, but I know he will not
understand any of the steps, and will not be able to adequately tell me
what results he is getting with each step.  I have already spent over an
hour on the phone just walking him through "tools, internet options,
and delete history".
-------------------------------------------------

View | Layout | Folder List. Check it.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Oct. 1, 2004 ~ Sept. 30, 2010
Imperial Beach, CA

Download free Netviewer app to get at your dad's screen

http://www.netviewer.com/en/?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=Google&utm_campaign=uk&gclid=CJ-5tIDe06UCFY8e4Qod6kdpkA

There are two apps, one for sharing, one for tech support/grabbing his
screen and working on his computer.

DAS
--
To reply directly replace 'nospam' with 'schmetterling'
--

He's not my dad. Reply to the OP instead..
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Oct. 1, 2004 ~ Sept. 30, 2010
Imperial Beach, CA

Of course I meant Blog, but I am continuing the thread instead of starting a
new branch.  Should be obvious, no?

DAS
--
To reply directly replace 'nospam' with 'schmetterling'
--

If your reply is meant for a specific person, you reply to that person.
Isn't that obvious? If I wanted to reply to the OP right now, I sure as
heck would not be doing it in this part of the thread.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS-MVP Oct. 1, 2004 ~ Sept. 30, 2010
Imperial Beach, CA

Your new to the Usenet, are not you. NNTP service does not work the same as
HTTP forums. You reply to the person who posted, even though it "branches"
the thread. Most news readers (including your MSOE) can handle branched
threads.

--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum

And you are new to spelling:  "Your new..."

...but I do not make a song and dance about it.

DAS
--
To reply directly replace 'nospam' with 'schmetterling'
--

And you are a HoopleHeaded moron.

Says DAS, as he sings and dances about it!  ;)

--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum

DAS
--
To reply directly replace 'nospam' with 'schmetterling'
--