When
so many of us rely so much on our email to operate our businesses or our
personal lives, it is important to take preventative measures to avoid
the ultimate disaster of unrecoverable email.
I
come to this subject as a matter of multiple events on my machine where
one day I would open my mail to discover that all has been lost. The
pit that wells in your stomach upon realization of this occurrence can
be overwhelming. To recover in the event of future losses, each of us
should learn the basics of maintaining and backing up our email.
One
of the important things to do in preventative maintenance, is to clean
your folders and to empty your trash. Most people do not realize that
when the number of messages in a specific folder exceeds a certain threshold
that they begin running on borrowed time.
Exactly
where that threshold is varies from email client to email client, so
what may be true for mine may be different for yours. Personally, I
use the Netscape 4.x Email Client for security reasons more than anything.
The Netscape 4.x Email Client is less susceptible to JavaScript attacks
than any other email client I have used.
What
I do know is that I have repeatedly pushed my client to its limits to
see where the threshold might be. The Netscape 4.x Email Client will
generally break at around 4,500 email messages in one folder, though
it will become shaky at around 2,000 messages.
For
users of other clients such as Outlook Express, Eudora and others, I
cannot tell you the top end of how well the software will perform.
If
there are more than 2,000 messages you wish to hang on to, you should
begin filing your messages in separate folders below the Inbox. This
will help you to find your messages quicker and it will provide more
stability to your email client.
There
are three folders that you must pay regular attention to. They are the
Inbox, Sent Mail Folder and Trash Folder.
Most
people fail to remember that their client is pre-configured to save
a copy of all outgoing email. As a result, this folder can grow to unbelievable
sizes before anyone thinks to clean it out.
It
is important to mention the Trash Folder in more detail since most people
do not realize how it works.
Most
email clients follow a general principle in their operation. Each email
box is generally represented by two files. The first is a textrendering
of all messages in the box. The second is an indexing file that lists
the title of the email and other identifying characteristics relative
to each individual message.
When
you look at the contents of your email box, you are actually seeing
the contents of the indexing file. When you pull up the text of an actual
message, the software is finding the message in the message file according
to the software assigned Email ID as listed in the indexing file.
Now,
when you move a message from one folder to another, including into the
Trash Folder, the only thing that actually moves is the listing in the
indexing file! This is important to understand. A message moved to the
Trash Folder has not been deleted from the origination folder. In fact,
the message is just where it originated until you do the command Compress
Folders or Empty Trash Folder.
The
Empty Trash Folder command will only compress the messages for the item
that is in the Trash Folder. In order to do the same for your entire
email system, you must use the command Compress Folders.
The
simple action of sending email to the trash without compressing the
folders or simply emptying the trash can also lead to great destabilization
of your email client. So please take great care to maintain your email
client software as it should be.
If
there is one thing that I have learned with computers, one should always
prepare for the worst case scenario. Always! In order to be fully prepared
for the worst case scenario with your email, you should do regular backups
of your mail folders.
Here
I will explain how to do that outside of the email client's process
for this purpose. I am also explaining how to do so only for Outlook
Express and Netscape Mail. I have never ran an Eudora client at the
times I was exploring this scenario.
FOR OUTLOOK EXPRESS USERS:
In
your windows Explorer, you will find a folder, most likely with this
precise name. The only difference you might see is in the Application
Key as noted between the {}.
C:\WINDOWS\Application
Data\Identities\
{B074ABA0-9FFF-11D4-AE87-FE1E7BFD5248}\Microsoft\Outlook Express
When
you navigate to this folder, this is the default location where your
Outlook Express Email is stored. Simply highlight the last folder, "Outlook
Express" and copy it to another location. In most cases, this folder
will be way too large to copy to a Floppy Drive. Most likely, you will
need to copy it to a Zip drive or another location on your hard drive.
You
can also save the individual *.dbx files, which outline the contents
of each of your mail boxes, the Inbox, the Outbox, etc.
If
you are really bored, you can send the *.dbx file to Wordpad to view
the actual format of a mailbox from a text standpoint.
You can use this only in a worst case scenario to attempt to rebuild
a broken mail box. Always make backups of the file before trying to
repair it by hand --- Always!!!
FOR NETSCAPE MAIL USERS:
The
location of the mail storage is:
C:\Program Files\Netscape\Users\username\Mail
Of
course, replace "username" with your username.
Within
the Netscape Mail system, you will discover three file types: *.sbd,
*.snm, and (blank).
The
*.sbd is a folder that contains all of your sub-folders. The *.snm is
the indexing file of your email. The (blank), ie. "Inbox"
without an extension, is your actual mail messages recorded in plain
text. You can also send these files to your Wordpad application to view
the contents. Do not save this file when you close it unless you are
trying to rebuild your box, and if so, always make sure you have a backup
before doing so.
If
you delete the *.snm, the *.snm file will rebuild itself the next time
you open your Netscape Mail application.
Taking
these precautions and knowing this information, you will never have
to chance losing all of your important emails again. The time you take
today to backup your email box can save you the worst nightmare ever.
Trust me, I have been there.
Copyright
© 2002, Bill Platt
Bill
Platt owns The Phantom Writers, a company committed to helping people
to establish an Internet presence & promote their businesses through
the use of Free-Reprint Articles. Through June 1st, 2002, you can save
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