Windows 10: Backing Up WLM 2012 Prior To Clean Installation Of Windows 10 Pro

I did the upgrade from Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 10 Pro. Privacy concerns aside, I like Windows 10. I haven't had any problems with software and hardware compatibility. I use 27 different email accounts within WLM 2012, for a variety of reasons. Many of these email accounts have additional folders that I have added. The accounts consist of sbcglobal.net, live.com, msn.com, outlook.com and windowslive.com.

I'm using a Dell XPS-17 L702X laptop with two 500GB internal drives. I will place the WLM 2012 backup on my second internal drive, Drive D. I need to know exactly how to backup WLM to this second drive so that I don't lose any saved emails in the various accounts. I will then import everything from this backup to the clean installation of Windows 10. Is this possible, or will I have to install WLM 2012 on Windows 10 and then add and configure each email account?

Thank you in advance for your time and any assistance provided.

:)

 

WLM 2012 stopped working under windows 10 on Dec 11 after I installed the requested update d-Mail.msp

I had WLM 2011 on a machine. I uninstalled it and installed WLM 2012. WLM 2012 works after adding a Hotmail and an Outlook account. I ran d-Mail.msp and WLM 2012 is broken. Win 10 1511 with all updates.

 

WLM 2012 stopped working under windows 10 on Dec 11 after I installed the requested update d-Mail.msp

ok , I did your procedure on my computer and WLM 2012 still crashes upon opening.

I went to a different pc that has never had any version if WLM installed.

1. installed WLM 2012

2. restart windows

3. start windows and run WLM ... ok it wants me to create accounts ... I cancel that.

4. restart windows

5. apply d-Mail.msp

6. restart windows

7. start windows and run WLM ... ok it wants me to create accounts ... I cancel that.

8. click on contacts ... WLM asks me to login so it can get contacts from my Hotmail account

9. login to Hotmail and WLM 2012 stopped working.

10. restart windows

11. open WLM 2012 and it sops working immediately every time.

Both computers are Windows 10 and fully updated.

 

With Windows Mail Live, everything is stored in: %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail.
Just copy the whole folder to your other drive. In addition, export your contacts to .csv file so you can later import it.

Install Windows 10 then install Windows Live mail 2012. You have 2 choices:

• Copy the folder back to the original location and run Windows Mail
• Or you can open Windows Live Mail, do not create any account. File->Options->Mail->Advanced->Maintenance->Store Folder and change it to the location on the other drive. This is what I do with mine to separate my mails from Windows OS so I don't have to worry about losing mails if anything goes wrong with Windows OS. In addition, The same folder can be used with other OS such as Windows 7/8. and everything is in sync no matter what OS I boot from.
• Import your contacts from cvs file.
• Once done, just open the Windows Live Mail then everything should be there as it was before.

 

Thank you, topgun, for your prompt and informative reply. I have a problem. AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail doesn't exist under my User Account, although the listing is present in my wife's User Account. The AppData file was present under my User Account in the past because I've been to it more times than I can count. I don't know why it disappeared.

 

topgundcp covered the process - here's how I backup/restore/update WLM

The real differences between topgundcp and my approach are Contracts and Rules. I juts copy the Windows Live folder to 'backup' my contacts, then copy it back when I need to restore contacts (no export/import). WLM Rules are stored in the registry [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail\Rules]

%LocalAppData% is the environment variable that takes you to C:\Users\Your_Login_Name\AppData\Local
- it's just shorter than %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local but they all get you to the same location

• Navigate to %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\
  
  
• Copy two WLM folders to an external drive
  
  folder 1: Windows Live
  This folder contains your contacts, no need to export/import, just copy the entire folder
  
  folder 2: Windows Live Mail
  This folder contains your Mail account information and your message Store. It also holds your RSS and News information.
  
• Export WLM Rules from the registry
  reg export "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail\Rules" %Temp%\wlmRules.reg
  copy %Temp%\wlmRules.reg to an external drive
  
  
• Upgrade to Windows 10, Windows Live Essentials Mail should carry over.

If WLM does NOT carry over after the upgrade

• Make sure .NET 3.5 is turned on
  Programs and Features > Turn Windows Features on or off > .NET 3.5
  - restart required
  
  
• Download and install WLM 2012
  
  
• Launch WLM to set up the default locations.
  • Don't add any accounts - just let it set up the default locations.
  • Close WLM
• Rename WLM folders
  • Navigate to %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\
    
  • ren "Windows Live Mail" "x-Windows Live Mail"
    
  • ren "Windows Live" "x-Windows Live"
• Restore your backup copies of the folders
  • Copy the "Windows Live Mail" to %LocalAppData%\Microsoft
    -- or follow topgundcp's instructions to use the WLM message store in a different location.
    
  • Copy the "Windows Live" folder to %LocalAppData%\Microsoft
• Merge the reg file, wlmRules.reg into the registry.

 

• Did you by any chance relocate the "Store Folder" in the past. From Windows Live Mail, from the file menu, go to:
  File->Options->Mail->Advanced->Maintenance->Store Folder
  Should tell you where the Mails, Accounts etc... are stored.
• Are you logging in with MS Account ? if so, switch to local account to see if it's there.

 

Maybe a move instead of a copy at some point. Check
File->Options->Mail->Advanced->Maintenance->Store Folder
to see where WLM thinks it should be located.

If it's not in that location, search for Windows Live Mail kind:=folder

 

Thank you for the reply, Slartybart. I was finally able to track down the AppData folder using %LocalAppData%. However, there are no files or folders in AppData for either Windows Live or Windows Live Mail. I always show "hidden files and folders" but I'm unable to check that since my Folders icon seems to be missing in Control Panel. It seems that I'm out of luck since I can't find any folders for Windows Live Mail, even when I search through Program Files (x86) on my C Drive.

 

Thanks again, Slartybart. It shows as being located at C:\Users\CB\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail but as I previously stated there are no Windows Live or Windows Live Mail files or folders listed there. I do appreciate your assistance. I'm currently trying to track down where my Folders icon in Control Panel went.

 

Hello again, topgun. I've never moved or copied the Store Folder. My problem seems to be that ever since the Windows 10 Pro upgrade from Windows 7 Ultimate I'm missing any and all Windows Live and Windows Live Mail folders and the Folders icon in Control Panel. I'm currently trying to track down my "Folders".

 

Well, I was able to get to my Folders options and sure enough, "Don't show hidden files, folders and drives" was selected. I changed the setting to show these items but there are no folders for either Windows Live or Windows Live Mail. I thank you for your time and assistance. Since I have no email "Store" I guess I have nothing to back up.

 

Thank you, topgun and Slartybart, for your excellent advice. After finally locating my Folder Options I found the folders for Storage, Windows Live and Windows Live Mail. I copied them to my D Drive. I also exported my Contacts, using IAF and csv files. I didn't export the contacts into folders but rather simply exported them to my D Drive. I'm surprised it worked. Anyway, I did a clean installation of Windows 10 Pro x64, completely wiping Drive C in the process. The installation, after two hours, stopped at 99% for an additional five hours. After a lot of research online using one of my desktops, the solution for other people with this 99% hang problem was to simply wait. The next day it was still at 99% so I decided to do a hard shutdown and reboot, with the ISO DVD still in Drive E, at which time it completed the installation a few minutes later. Unlike others with this 99% hang problem, my laptop did not go to the black screen of death or continue to hang. Lucky me.

Upon the installation of WLM to the clean installation of Windows 10 Pro I deleted the Live and Windows Live folders from Drive C and replaced them with my copied folders of the same name from Drive D. I also added to Drive C the Storage folder I had copied to Drive D. Everything went smoothly, although I ended up with a duplication of the Storage folder contents in the reinstalled WLM, which is no problem. I had also copied my Windows Live Contacts folder from Drive C onto Drive D before the clean install but this folder turned out to be useless. Luckily, I had also exported my Contacts from Drive C to Drive D using IAF and csv files. The IAF files on Drive D were useless but the csv files imported into the reinstalled WLM with no problem.

The only other problem I experienced with the clean installation of Windows 10 Pro was a Drive C (500GB) with only 3GB of free space left. Without researching this issue I simply went to my C Drive and noticed two folders that contained a total of 450GB of files. These folders indicated that they "can be deleted". I deleted them and everything is now OK, Windows 10 Pro running like a finely tuned engine.

The one thing I don't understand is why I didn't have to reinstall all my drivers once Windows 10 Pro was installed. It was definitely a clean installation and not another "upgrade". Upon the clean installation of Windows 10 Pro the laptop connected wirelessly to my Wireless modem/router and I was up and running. I didn't have to install a single driver. Did Microsoft retain these drivers somewhere on my C Drive when I "upgraded" from Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 10 Pro? Did Windows 10 Pro then access these drivers during the clean install wiping process, retain them, and then put them back on the wiped Drive C during the clean installation process? In the past, with other Windows operating systems, I always had to use my "Drivers and Utilities" DVD to reinstall the drivers on the clean installation of Windows operating systems. Is it because I "upgraded" first, before the clean installation? I can only assume that if I had bought a retail version of Windows 10 Pro and installed it without "upgrading" first I would have had to reinstall all my drivers.

Thank you again for your time and assistance. Your knowledge and willingness to assist me made all the difference in the world. I would have been dumbfounded without your help. I have a lot of admiration and respect for those who are willing to lend their time, knowledge and experience to others, others being people such as myself who don't have a clue.

I have marked this thread as "Solved", although solving the problem had nothing to do with me. I give all the credit to topgun and Slartybart. Thank you again. I appreciate it very much.

 

During the installation. Windows also install all the drivers available for your PC.
Glad we could help and thank you for the kind words.

PS. I had the same problem with contacts in the past. By simply copy the folder "Windows Live" did not work for some reason so I always suggest to export and I am glad you did.

EDIT: another suggestion to you is to open the Admin command prompt, copy and paste the line below and run:

Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup&dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth&sfc /scannow&pause

The commands above will clean up alll the remnants from the installation and check for system files corruption. You should be able to reclaim some more free space. It will take a while so be patient.
@Slartybart
FYI, Tested by deleting the contacts folder then re-import from backup csv file. The contacts shown up in Windows Live Mail but the Contacts folder is still empty so I am not sure where WLM stores the cantacts.

 

WLM 'evolved' and things were always confusing (too many Windows Live folders). Things changed in each version (WLM 2009, WLM 2011, and Windows Essentials Live Mail 2012) I think some things changed again in 2013 or 2014 but MS didn't change the version. MS tends to orphan their mail clients when a new OS is released.

If you don't reference the correct folder - you're screwed ... I have to triple check every time

The actual contact information is stored in a DB ... it's been a while since I dug deep
but the data file is contacts.edb

Search returns
Code: %AppDataLocal%\Microsoft\Windows Live\Contacts\default\DBStore\contacts.edb %AppDataLocal%\Microsoft\Windows Live\Contacts\default\W4CR1\DBStore\contacts.edb %AppDataLocal%\Microsoft\Windows Live\Contacts\default\15.4\DBStore\contacts.edb %AppDataLocal%\Microsoft\Windows Live\Contacts\default\15.5\DBStore\Backup\new\contacts.edb %AppDataLocal%\Microsoft\Windows Live\Contacts\default\15.5\DBStore\contacts.edb[/quote] The first three are from a restore operation (dates are old) - the 15.5 files are current (both file dates match). I'm not sure why there's nothing in your 15.5 folder.

See what searching for [ contacts ext:edb ] tells you on your machine.

most of the other stuff in %AppDataLocal%\Microsoft\Windows Live\ relates to updating or repairing the applets