Export messages fails using Windows Live Mail 16.4.3528.0331 on Windows 8.1

Anonymous
2016-02-12T21:45:50+00:00

I am using Windows Live Mail Application Version 2012 (Build 16.4.3528.0331) on a Windows 8.1 laptop.

I am buying a new laptop which will come with Windows 10.  I am trying to export the emails from two of the three accounts I have in the current application to back them up and to hopefully import to the Windows 10 email application.  (The third account is a web based account so it does not need to be backed up locally.)  I want to keep the communications on my local computer and back up drives.  

I am following the Microsoft directions for exporting the emails from the application.  Although I had no problems exporting the contact files from the application, I am not able to export the emails.  A couple of different things have happened.

1 - At first I received a message indicating the data had been exported, but when I went to the folder to which it should have gone, the folder was empty.  (I tried this several times.)

2 - Then I was able to get as far in the process as browsing to find the folder I wanted to put the emails in, I was able to select the folders I wished to export, I was able to click on "next" and a split second later (way too short a period of time for the number of emails involved) to click on "finish." None of the emails were exported to the new file.

3 - I repeated the process as in step 2 above twice and instead of attempting to export only selected files, I attempted to export all files.  I had the same results - no emails were exported or in one case only one draft email was exported.

I feel confident I am following Microsoft's directions for this process as depicted in their Microsoft Essentials part of their website.  Would appreciate some advice.  I know I can simply copy the files from the section on my hard drive where they are stored.  My concern about using that approach is that importing them to the Windows 10 email application may not work.

Windows for home | Other | Email and communications

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-05-20T19:16:31+00:00

    I have Windows 8.1 Pro, which I got so I could use Windows Media Center. Unfortunately, Microsoft in their infinite wisdom made the stupid decision not to support WMC in Windows 10. A choice between 10 with no WMC but Windows Live Mail exporting properly and 8.1 with WMC and a minor inconvenience in the way I backup my emails is a no-brainer. 10 gets a thumbs down and I'll stick with 8.1.

    If Microsoft upgrade my machine to 10 without my permission, I will simply reinstall the latest of my regular backups of 8.1 C: drive.

    In fact, I suspect that forcing such an upgrade without the computer owner's permission is probably illegal. I must ask the question of some of the legal experts I know.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-05-20T01:31:34+00:00

    Well I found the fix for this LOL My system upgraded to Windows 10 last night without asking me. My first experience was bad, but I didn't want to wait the 6 hours hours to revert back to 8.1. So far Windows 10 has been great and I can now backup WLM like before.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-05-04T23:55:24+00:00

    Thanks. When I get some time I'll do what you said, but I think Microsoft needs to address this. What's the point of having an Export function if it doesn't work?

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-05-02T10:25:19+00:00

    To backup up my emails, I create a folder with the date in its name on a backup drive,

    Just to add another possibility which is automated: use File History. On Windows 8.1, you don't have any choice what to back up like you have on Windows 10, but it's easy enough to change the location of the store folder (the one called Windows Live Mail in your instructions) to a folder in the Documents folder. Thereafter, it will be automatically backed up to the File History drive.

    To move the store folder, in Windows Live Mail press Ctrl-Shift-O for Options. On the Advanced tab, click Maintenance and then Store folder. Follow the instructions to Change ... the location.

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  5. Anonymous
    2016-05-02T09:18:40+00:00

    Dave, have you tried copying the following folder or just its contents?

    C:\Users<user>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail

    Replace <user> with your appropriate user. As AppData is normally a hidden folder, I created a shortcut to take me directly to the 'Windows Live Mail' folder. For anyone who does not know how to this, in Windows 8.1 I did the following, in each case without the quotes:

    1. Opened File Explorer and went to 'C:\Users&lt;user>'.
    2. In the address bar of File Explorer I added '\AppData\Local\Microsoft' to the address and hit return.
    3. I right clicked on 'Windows Live Mail' and selected 'Create shortcut'.
    4. I went to the shortcut and used Cut and Paste to move it to a convenient location.

    To backup up my emails, I create a folder with the date in its name on a backup drive, then go to the mail folder using the shortcut, select everything in the folder then Copy and Paste the folder contents into my backup folder. It does copy rather more than just the emails, but it takes a similar time to the time it used to take before Microsoft broke the proper mechanism.

    To restore, I find or create an empty email folder in WLM, then I open File Explorer and go to the backup. I open the folder containing the emails I want to restore and select the .eml files, but ignore any other files, then drag them into the empty WLM folder. Then I can view each email, move the ones I want to restore to their correct locations and delete any remaining ones from WLM (they are still in the backup).

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