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
    2016-02-25T16:27:00+00:00

    I would have expected a repair to have produced a similar result to uninstalling and re-installing the application ...

    For what it's worth, repair is much more likely to solve problems caused by something wrong with program files. It seems that re-installing simply puts back the program files that were removed by uninstalling, while repair actually checks that all the program files are present in the correct versions and that they're properly registered where necessary. 

    I had searched for a possible thread before submitting my question but did not find your thread. Apologies for causing any problems to the community.

    You haven't caused any problem, and posting as you did is exactly how it's supposed to happen. However, in this particular case, there's a well-defined problem that affects a well-defined group of users, so it makes sense to pool the reports and expertise in a single thread, even though the forum rules don't actually allow for that.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-02-25T14:36:29+00:00

    Thank you for the reply.

    I have tried your recommendation of performing a repair using wlarp.exe. Unfortunately, it made no difference. I would have expected a repair to have produced a similar result to uninstalling and re-installing the application, and the results appear to be the same.

    My suspicion is that there is something inside Windows itself that has changed that is affecting the operation of the Windows Live Mail 2012 application.

    It is not the first time I have seen updates to Windows causing problems for applications. When I had a Vista PC, which I replaced with my current 8.1 desktop. I had a Roxio video editing application, a feature of which stopped working as a result of an update. However, unlike that problem, my current issue relates to two products from Microsoft.

    Are there any other things I can try, other than uninstalling the updates to see if I can find which one is causing the problem?

    Also thank you to ¡Firedog. I had searched for a possible thread before submitting my question but did not find your thread. Apologies for causing any problems to the community.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-02-25T14:11:16+00:00

    Windows Live Mail 2012 on Windows 8.1

    ... I hope someone can point me to the rogue update.

    Yes, it's apparently KB3126593 that's interfering with the export function. I'll append your question to the thread that deals with this particular fault. There's no solution as yet except uninstalling the update.

    It might get someone at Microsoft interested if all those affected by this fault give feedback on the KB page (at the bottom of the page). Something like This update causes the 'Export email' function to fail in Windows Live Mail 2012 16.4.3528.0331 on Windows 8.1.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-02-25T12:51:08+00:00

    Hi,

    Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

    I suggest you to try repairing Windows live mail & check if the issue persists.

    Please follow the steps below on how to repair Windows Live Mail:

    1. Go to Control Panel.
    2. Under Programs, click Uninstall a Program.
    3. Locate Windows Live Essential then click Uninstall/Change.
    4. When a window appears, select Repair all Windows Live programs.
    5. Restart your computer after the repair.

    You can also follow the steps below:

    1. In the folder pane, locate C:\Program Files\Windows Live**Installer**there is a repair utility. 

    2. Run wlarp.exe file.

    1. Click Repair all Windows Live program. ****4. Follow the on-screen instructions to repair Windows Live program.

    Thank you.

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  5. Anonymous
    2016-02-25T10:50:49+00:00

    I use Windows Live Mail 2012 on Windows 8.1 to access six different email accounts covering my ISP's email services, and Outlook and Gmail email. This is on my main desktop PC running 8.1 64-bit, and a Windows tablet running 8.1 32-bit.

    Since the February round of Microsoft updates were applied a couple of weeks ago both computers show the same problem.

    I used to use the 'File->Export email->Email messages' in WLM to backup my emails, but this no longer works correctly. Originally, it would go through all the accounts that WLM is configured for and produce a copy of the emails into a folder of my choice including the folder structure used with WLM. I used this for backup every few days; however, since the updates the export stops after it has exported just one email.

    Rather than going through around 40 updates to 8.1 and other Microsoft products and uninstalling them one by one (although updates can be applied in bulk, they have to be uninstalled individually) and hoping that the uninstall actually restores the normal operation, I hope someone can point me to the rogue update.

    I have already tried uninstalling and reinstalling WLM on one of the computers, which made no difference.

    As an interim backup, I have to enable viewing of hidden files in File Explorer and go to

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

    and copy the folders/files there to create a backup.

    Any assistance will be appreciated.

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