My sent file automatically became archived (too big, I suppose - nearly 1 gb) and started from scratch. Now I can't access any of those messages. I tried simply to rename it to the active file. Doesn't work. How can I restore it to extract the messages I want to save.

I didn't realize Outlook Express did that. Are you sure nothing else changed? Are all the other mailboxes intact? Did you search for another sent items.dbx on your HDD? Do you have a backup? EEOC

I don't know what is supposed to be normal. It happened a couple of times before with my inbox, but not in a long time. At the time I didn't about the dbx files - not that PC savy. Took a awhile to figure that out. As I said this is a sent file. The active new file created by the PC is noted as "Sent Items (2)" Didn't do anything special. Just logged back on from a few hours offline and it was gone. As a nearly 1GB file, it's too big for Word pad. I am going to save a copy then try to split the file (free software I found online), open up the segments and deleted some info and rejoin and see if the smaller file will re-establish.

I'm confused. What are you trying to restore? A sent items.dbx? If you have a Sent items(2).dbx where is the first one, and what happens when you click on it? EEOC

I GOT IT BACK :-) Didn't have to jump thru hoops. Closed Outlook (I think that may have been the simple problem - it was opened when I tried to replace the existing file) Name changed everything that said "sent". Renamed the deleted file and it restored. Then transferred out a lot of messages. A lot of attachments on my messages take up a lot of memory.

Do you compact your Outlook Express mailboxes? If not, you might want to consider that. EEOC

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