Maintaining a comprehensive backup is one of the most important aspects of owning a computer. Although the data files for many commonly used programs are difficult to find for backup purposes, the location of the Outlook Express message store is easy to find. Locate the Outlook Express message store on your computer to copy your folders and saved messages to a portable disk for backup purposes, or to transfer your data to another computer.
Step 1
Click the "Tools" menu in Outlook Express, then click "Options."
Step 2
Click the "Maintenance" tab in the "Options" window, then click the "Store Folder" button.
Step 3
Click and drag with the mouse to highlight the location of the "Store Folder,'' found in the box that follows the words, "Your personal message store is located in the following folder box." Press and hold the left mouse button, and then drag the mouse pointer across the text. This line of text is the full path to the location of the Outlook Express messages on your computer.
Step 4
Right-click the highlighted text and click "Copy."
Step 5
Click the "Start" button, then click "My Computer."
Step 6
Highlight the text in the "Address" bar at the top of the window. Right-click the highlighted text, and click "Paste." The text copied from Outlook Express will appear in the window. Press "Enter" to browse to the folder.
Step 7
Copy all of the files shown in the Windows Explorer window to the portable disk or other storage media. If you changed the location of the Outlook Express message store and there are other files or folders present, copy each file with the extension "DBX."
