First, check to see what version of Outlook Express you are using. This is done by clicking "Help" on the menu, and then "About Microsoft Outlook Express". The instructions I am going to give are for Outlook Express 6, more specifically, version 6.00.2900.2180, although they should work for any version of Outlook Express 6. If you have version 5, the screens may not be in the same order, but you can probably figure out how to do it with these instructions as a guideline.
Also, if your "new laptop" is running Windows Vista, it will not have Outlook Express. Microsoft has renamed Outlook Express to "Windows Mail". I have not tried to import messages from Outlook Express 6 into Windows Mail, but you can probably do it. Use these instructions as a guideline and try to figure it out.
These instructions assume someone is using Windows XP.
Make sure you are in the proper "Identity". Outlook Express can use multiple identities, in case you want to have an e-mail account completely seperate from say a personal account and a work account. Most people have only 1 identity, but to check, go to "File", "Identities", then "Manage Identities...". It will probably show that you have only 1 identity, and it is probably called "Main Identity". If so, just close out of that "Manage Identities" window and continue on.
Click "Tools".
Click "Options...".
Click on the "Maintenance" tab.
Click the "Store Folder..." button. This will bring up a small window telling you where your messages are located. Right-click somewhere on the words where it tells you the location. Example, if it starts off with "C:\Documents and Settings\", just right-click somewhere on the words "Documents and Settings", and then left-click on the option "Select All" from the pop-up menu. Now, right-click on the area where the words are, they should be highlighted now (and probably in blue), and left-click on the option "Copy" from the pop-up menu. Now you may click the "Cancel" button on that window, and then the "Cancel" button on the "Options" window.
You have now copied the location of where you messages are stored onto your clipboard.
Now you have to simply get to that folder and that is easy. Open up your "My Computer" window. In the address bar, paste the store folder location by right-clicking and selecting "Paste" or by pressing "CTRL-V" on the keyboard. If that is too hard, or if you are an advanced user and want to open it even quicker, hold down the Windows Logo key on your keyboard and while holding it down, press and release the "R" key, THEN you may let go of the Windows Logo key. This basically opens up a "Run..." dialog box. While holding down a "CTRL" key, press and release the "V" key, THEN you may let go of the "CTRL" key. This will paste the location of the store folder into the Run dialog box, and now you can either press "ENTER" or click the "OK" button and the folder should pop-up on your screen.
What you want to do now is copy the ENTIRE contents of that folder. I think the easiest way to do that is by clicking "UP" a level. Depending on whether or not you have your "Standard Buttons" toolbar visible, just click the "Up" button. (If you don't have the "Standard Buttons" toolbar visible, then click "View", "Toolbars", and make sure "Standard Buttons" has a check next to it. If it doesn't, click the words "Standard Buttons" and it will select it.) You should now see (probably) only 1 folder called "Outlook Express". Right-click on it and select the option "Copy". Now I recommend going to your "Desktop" and pasting it there by simply right-clicking and selecting "Paste". Once you have a copy of it there, I recommend closing the original folder called "Microsoft" which should be on your Task Bar at the bottom of the screen, this way you won't accidently delete the original files until you're sure this works for you.
Now copy the "Outlook Express" folder from your desktop onto a CD, DVD, flash drive, external hard drive, or whatever medium has enough space for it, and copy it to your target computer, in your case, this will be your "new laptop".
Now open up Outlook Express 6 on the target computer.
Click "File", then "Import", then "Messages...". Select "Microsoft Outlook Express 6" from the list, then click "Next".
Select the radio button that says "Import mail from an OE6 store directory", and then click the "OK" button.
Click the "Browse..." button and find and select where you copied the messages to on your target computer (new laptop), and then click the "OK" button. Now, click the "Next" button.
Now it will (hopefully) show you your folders. By default, the radio button should be on "All folders", you'll probably want to leave it that way. But if you want to copy only certain folders, select the radio button that says "Selected folders:", and then while holding down the "CTRL" key, click on each folder you want to import, this will highlight them (probably in blue). Let go of the "CTRL" key when you're done. Whichever option you decide to do, "All Folders" or "Selected Folders", click the "Next" button when you're ready.
The computer will now process your request, and depending how many messages you have, it could take 1 second, or it could take 5 minutes, also it depends on the processing power of your computer.
When done, it should say: "Congratulations! Your data from 'Microsoft Outlook Express 6' was successfully imported into Outlook Express.".
Click the "Finish" button.
That's it, you're pretty much done. However, you may want to keep a copy of that "Outlook Express" folder you copied just in case you need it for a backup someday. Also, an easy way to backup Outlook Express, is by copying that folder anytime you want. Just make sure your Outlook Express program is not currently running when you copy that folder because it may not "finalize" some of the files until it is completely closed, and you may get data corruption if you copy the folder while the program is running.
Also, you may have forgotten about the Address Book and about copying that. This is easy to do, I won't explain it in as much detail as above but you can figure it out, do this:
While in Outlook Express 6, click "Tools", "Address Book...", "Help", "About Address Book". In the "File:" box that appears, that shows you where your Address Book is located. Copy that file to your new computer, run through the wizard by clicking "File", "Import", then "Address Book...". You'll figure it out from there.
Also, you may want to remember that Outlook Express stores the messages in a DBX file and the address book in a WAB file. Remember, DBX and WAB. If you were to forget your Outlook Express password, all you have to do is copy the entire contents of the folder where the DBX files are located, and for the address book, the WAB file. Even if you can't get into Outlook Express, use the Windows Explorer search command and search for either *.dbx, or *.wab files. This may bring up many files and locations, because if you are an "Administrator", you MAY have access to every users files on the computer, regardless of whether or not they have put a password on their Windows profile, or their Outlook Express e-mail program.
- TC