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Aurora
l33t
Joined: 26 Sep 2003
Posts: 658
Location: Classified
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 Posted: Tue May 04, 2004 10:35 pm Post subject: [howto] Outlook Express eMails --> Thunderbird (in Linux) |
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Well... I decided I would write this howto when I had a problem moving my Outlook Express eMails in Windows to Thunderbird in Linux. When I posted if others had done this before successfully, there were some ideas tossed around but none that worked as quickly as I wanted. 
Granted, some might think this howto is pointless and stupid (as it's quite a logical thing to do), but it's my first howto on the Gentoo forums, and I had a few issues when I first tried to do this, so be nice 
First, it's important to note you must still either (A) have Windows installed with your Outlook eMail on the Windows machine, or (B) have access to a Windows installation with your eMail store on a CD or on a network you can access.
Also, Outlook Express likes to store your eMails in a strange location. Normally it's located (when using Windows XP) in:
| Code: | | C:\Documents and Settings\[account-name]\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{some-strange-letter-number-combination}\Microsoft\Outlook Express |
Now, it's wise to back this up to a CD or another medium before you begin in case your hand slips and you accidentally delete your eMail store.
Go to the Mozilla website (http://www.mozilla.org) and download and install Thunderbird.
In your Linux installation, open Thunderbird and "set" everything up (granted, you won't have your eMail messages yet). Take your entire Thunderbird directory (found at: ~/.thunderbird) and copy it to a CD or another medium you can easily access from Windows.
Inside the .thunderbird directory you will find a folder called "Local Folders." You'll need this in a moment.
In Windows, you'll need to find your Thunrderbird eMail store. It is normally located at:
| Code: | | C:\Documents and Settings\your-account\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\default\some-random-number.slt\Mail |
Take the Local Folders directory which you should have from your Linux Thunderbird, and overwrite the Windows "Local Folders" directory you have in Windows.
i.e., the "Local Folders" from Linux is what you're going to need instead of the original Windows "Local Folders" Thunderbird creates.
Once you have the Linux Local Folders directory in place, open your Windows Thunderbird, and import your Outlook Express eMail by doing the following:
| Code: | | Tools --> Import --> Mail --> Outlook Express |
*note* Now would be a good time to import your address book from Outlook Express, and then export the address book into the standard ldif format Thunderbird prefers. It's easily imported, then, once in Linux again. Also, exporting the address book from Outlook Express into a .csv format will not work well at all. Thunderbird has a hard time reading this file accurately (even though it is supposed to be a widely used format). */note*
This will import all of your eMails from Outlook Express into your Local Folders directory that you placed in your Mozilla profile.
At that point, you can boot into Linux and copy over your Local Folders directory in your Windows application data folder (i.e., C:\Documents and Settings\your-account\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\default\some-random-number.slt\Mail), overwriting the original one you had in place. Now, when you open Thunderbird, you will have all of your Outlook Express folders in your "Local Folders" subdirectory. You can then take all your directories and copy them to wherever you want (i.e., your eMail account's main folder, etc.).
Hopefully this helps.  There might be some steps that aren't necessary (such as copying your Local Folders directory from Linux to Windows). I have been told by some that both Linux and Windows have a Local Folder structure identical to each other. Nevertheless, I wanted everything to work flawlessly, so I included this step in this short howto.
Feel free to post ideas/thoughts on this howto.
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"My downfall raises me to infinite heights." -Napoleon Bonaparte |
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dhurt
Apprentice
Joined: 14 May 2003
Posts: 278
Location: Davis, CA
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| Posted: Wed May 12, 2004 7:50 am Post subject: |
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I can report the same works wonderfully in with regular outlook email and contacts. I am right now finally getting rid of the last M$ machine that i have thanks to this Five years worth of email that I could not part with.
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"And isn't sanity really just a one-trick pony, anyway? I mean, all you get is one trick, rational thinking, but when you're good and crazy, ooh ooh ooh, the sky's the limit!" -- The Tick |
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Aurora
l33t
Joined: 26 Sep 2003
Posts: 658
Location: Classified
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| Posted: Wed May 12, 2004 12:59 pm Post subject: |
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| ender2431 wrote: | | I can report the same works wonderfully in with regular outlook email and contacts. I am right now finally getting rid of the last M$ machine that i have thanks to this Five years worth of email that I could not part with. |
Glad I could help!
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"My downfall raises me to infinite heights." -Napoleon Bonaparte |
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Sabbie
n00b
Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 24
Location: Netherlands
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| Posted: Thu May 27, 2004 10:22 pm Post subject: |
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Kmail (or at least the Kmail integrated with Ximian's Kontact) has a function to import Outlook express mail. Maybe this can be usefull?
I'm trying it right now, but I had to convert my Oulook mail to Outlook Express first.. |
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