How do I backup Outlook Express 6.0 if I can't boot into windows?

Question

The computer is giving me the blue screen of death (error 0x0000007f). It loops and I can't fix it. I've tried almost everything. Im to the point where I've already reinstalled windows on another hard drive and Im ready to pull data off my old hard drive. The old hard drive contains all of my Outlook Express files but I don't know how to recover them and make them functional in my new Windows Environment. The link below gives a step by step tutorial but I don't know how to copy registry files from a hard drive that isn't the one with the running OS. http://www.insideoutlookexpress.com/backup/clone.htm

Is this possible?

I've scanned the HD for bad sectors and also the memory on the computer. Copying the .mbx files is a good tip. What about the address book? It seems as though you have to make registry changes, so how do I get them?

Answer 1

Fortunately, if you have access to the contents of the old hard drive it is quite simple to save the e-mails themselves. You will still have to re-program your account, but that is a small matter in comparison.

Simply run a search on the old hard drive looking for files ending in .mbx. For the filename type in: *.mbx

Just copy all those files from the old drive (note the location. You will have to remember that). Then you can paste them into the same location on the new hard drive, replacing the .mbx files there (of course this will overwrite anything that is there on the new drive, so back it up first if you need to), and you will have your e-mails back. Again you will have to re-configure your address, user and password, but this should be what you are looking for.

Answer 2

When do you get the "BSD"? On boot up? Try two things, boot in safe mode and run scandisc, if that doesn't work, boot up in dos and run scandisc or chkdisc. It sounds like you have a bad sector on the HD and that may be repairable. If that works, then back up everything on the new HD (set it up as a slave so you can run both at the same time) and then reverse the two drives, use the new (now backed up) drive as master and the one with the bad sector as the slave. It may still have some life left in it.