Windows 10: How do I restore Windows Live Mail?

My solution was successful and I managed to get into all my contacts and emails. I'm reading that you set up a new account. I suspect that this action may have broken the links for the program to find your emails. From my experience, unless actually deleted, the emails etc. still reside in your directories. i.e. Computer\Users\<name>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsLiveMail\<account> but the contacts are somewhere else. The data has to be imported /exported using the program before any major changes. What I do know is Win10 update doesn't work automatically unless you work as an "administrator." It doesn't assume you can automatically make changes to your system. Use the "Open as an administrator" function in program startup.

However, I had a different problem with win10 that developed by deleting a Printer driver that I thought was not working right. Low and behold, I found myself in the dreaded Win10 auto reload loop. After many attempts and likely almost screwing up my registry files, I was able to restore an older backup version of Win7. Of course I keep getting prompts to roll over to Win10, but I am hesitant. (Leave well enough alone.)

Bottom line is that one must do a thorough backup and restore on Win7, including email stuff, before proceeding with Win10. I find myself going to a real "expert" before I go further since I can at least work with what I have now.

Sorry I can't help more.

 

Did you look in C:\Users\ logon \AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail, for your content?

 

Perhaps it is in the c:\\ windows.old folder in the above stated folder? Edit: let me clarify that. The upgrade creates a c:\\windows.old folder. Look in there for the above stated folder.

 

Hi Robin,
The system I upgraded did indeed have WLM2012 and it survived the upgrade. I did, however, export email and contacts prior to the upgrade just in case. The only problem I found was a partially corrupt list of folders, which kept giving an error. I googled how to fix it, (rebuild the folders for an IMAP account), and everything is fine now.

I suspect your lost email information can be found in the Windows.old folder (which I believe is not indexed for searches).

Also, if your W7 image was made using Macrium, you can actually mount that image, find your file(s) and grab them off the image, without having to go back to W7.

Agent Ransack is a great tool for finding stuff on your computer.

 

Yes, I likely did get them from there. It's been awhile since I looked. I hope your comment helps Ms. Robin.

Thanks for posting.

 

Thank you all for the suggestions, I've run multiple searches for the storage folders I created in Live Mail 2011 for all of my family history genealogy correspondence and my computer tells me it can't find any such file. I have located the windows.old folder and the appdata folder but when I imported the content of the livemail folder and opened it in live mail the imported folder was empty.

I appreciate your efforts, I was just hoping there was something easy that I was just missing.

If I use the jumpdrive I ran a system back-up on before I did the upgrade, will it restore my email contents and everything to the way it was before my horrendous decision to run the windows 10 upgrade?

Edited to add: I just re-read the line about windows.old not being indexed for searches. I will try the Agent Ransack tool to see if I have any luck there.

I used the Microsoft system back-up in the control panel of the computer to back up the system which I do on a monthly basis.

 

Is the WLM folder that you tried importing located in the windows.old folder? If so, how large is the folder? Is the Microsoft system backup that you used to back up the system just the regular backup function in the Backup and Restore control panel? or did you use the link in the upper left that says Create a System Image? If you used the create system image, it will have the WLM files. If you used the first, I am not sure, I've not used that, maybe someone else will have used it and can tell you. (if you are not sure, the system image would show on the flash drive as "WindowsImageBackup".)

 

Thank you! *Party
Agent Ransack rocks *Dinesh

I was able to locate the files with Agent Ransack and save them to my desktop where I was able to successfully import them into Live Mail. I was even able to find and import my calendar and contacts; most importantly my family history correspondence file with every email I've exchanged with others doing genealogy research on various branches of my family tree. Of course I also figured out that the reason Agent Ransack found the files when my system searches hadn't was because I forgot to change the view setting to include hidden files.

Thank you for your help, at least I'll be keeping Windows 10 for a little longer. I also didn't know that the back-up on the control panel that my computer nags me to do regularly might not/probably doesn't include emails and such. I'll use the system image option instead from now on.

 

YAY!!! Well done! *Thumbs

 

Please get yourself Macrium Reflect Free, and an external hard drive, and make "images" of your hard drive on a regular basis. This is the best, most reliable way to back up and restore your data + operating system. You can even "verify" images when making them, so when you go to restore one, you don't get caught with an "image is damaged" error and out of luck.

Keep W10 - you'll be happy in the long run! ;-)

 

*Ditto I agree with simrick about Macrium, you should definitely get it and make sure you make an image on a regular basis. I use Windows Live Mail 2012 on my Windows 10 machine, it was upgraded from 8.1 and works really well.

I do a full image using Macrium once a week to an external drive and a File History back up to another external drive.

You'll like 10 after you've used it for awhile I'm sure so give it a chance. *Smile