Restoring Mail Messages and Duplicates

I need to understand how email messages are stored in WLM. I see them as
individual files with a filename.eml extension. I have 2 pc's. One had a
problem so reverted to the other with a backup one month old. I now have the
main PC running again but is missing the last months emails. What I would
like to do is effectively merge the emails from the backup PC so that the
main PC has the updated mail from the last month. If I export from the
backup PC all the message and then import them into the Main PC will it just
overwrite any duplicates? There are about 11 mail accounts involved so I
want to make sure I don't end up with 1000's of duplicate messages. Are the
same mail messages stored with the same file name or are they constantly
reindexed in some way. Does the same mail always have the same filename for
life no matter how many times its backed up and restored? Thanks for any
advice.

Merge is not an option...if you export everything you will end up with duplicates but not necessarily in the same location in WLM.
Imported messages post import reside in the Storage folders, thus you can copy the missing messages from that location to your
desired location

One does have the option to selective import folders(not messages)
On the backup pc with WLM create a folder in the Storage folders called 'Missing' or similar name of your choice.
Copy, not move, the missing messages to the Storage folders Missing folder
File/Export/Messages/ <use the browse button and select a blank folder on your machine, external drive, or jump drive)
- follow the prompts and choose the selective Export option to only export the Missing folder contents.
Once exported, copy that folder to the new machine and reverse the process(File/Import/Messages/ etc)
Once complete copy the message to the desired location(account folder or other storage folder), once satisfactory, one can delete
the imported messages(you copied them, not moved them).


--
...winston
ms-mvp mail

"YRAGDRAW" <> wrote in message news:273AE516-8687-430C-B432-...
> I need to understand how email messages are stored in WLM. I see them as
> individual files with a filename.eml extension. I have 2 pc's. One had a
> problem so reverted to the other with a backup one month old. I now have the
> main PC running again but is missing the last months emails. What I would
> like to do is effectively merge the emails from the backup PC so that the
> main PC has the updated mail from the last month. If I export from the
> backup PC all the message and then import them into the Main PC will it just
> overwrite any duplicates? There are about 11 mail accounts involved so I
> want to make sure I don't end up with 1000's of duplicate messages. Are the
> same mail messages stored with the same file name or are they constantly
> reindexed in some way. Does the same mail always have the same filename for
> life no matter how many times its backed up and restored? Thanks for any
> advice.

Thanks for the info. I will try.

I have a couple of other questions regarding the file structure.

1) I assume that the export doesn't have an export messages by date facility?
2) Do the original individual emails always keep the same filename?
3) Why couldn't I access the backupPC mail folder in explorer (by making the
files visible and then just copy those messages after a specific date to the
Main PC and paste them into the correct folders,. Is there an indexing issue
or could it not rebuild the index?

Thanks

"...winston" wrote:

> Merge is not an option...if you export everything you will end up with duplicates but not necessarily in the same location in WLM.
> Imported messages post import reside in the Storage folders, thus you can copy the missing messages from that location to your
> desired location
>
> One does have the option to selective import folders(not messages)
> On the backup pc with WLM create a folder in the Storage folders called 'Missing' or similar name of your choice.
> Copy, not move, the missing messages to the Storage folders Missing folder
> File/Export/Messages/ <use the browse button and select a blank folder on your machine, external drive, or jump drive)
> - follow the prompts and choose the selective Export option to only export the Missing folder contents.
> Once exported, copy that folder to the new machine and reverse the process(File/Import/Messages/ etc)
> Once complete copy the message to the desired location(account folder or other storage folder), once satisfactory, one can delete
> the imported messages(you copied them, not moved them).
>
>
> --
> ...winston
> ms-mvp mail
>
> "YRAGDRAW" <> wrote in message news:273AE516-8687-430C-B432-...
> > I need to understand how email messages are stored in WLM. I see them as
> > individual files with a filename.eml extension. I have 2 pc's. One had a
> > problem so reverted to the other with a backup one month old. I now have the
> > main PC running again but is missing the last months emails. What I would
> > like to do is effectively merge the emails from the backup PC so that the
> > main PC has the updated mail from the last month. If I export from the
> > backup PC all the message and then import them into the Main PC will it just
> > overwrite any duplicates? There are about 11 mail accounts involved so I
> > want to make sure I don't end up with 1000's of duplicate messages. Are the
> > same mail messages stored with the same file name or are they constantly
> > reindexed in some way. Does the same mail always have the same filename for
> > life no matter how many times its backed up and restored? Thanks for any
> > advice.
>
> .
>

Inline

--
...winston
ms-mvp mail

"YRAGDRAW" <> wrote in message news:C7845FF2-FC67-4D8A-B196-...
> Thanks for the info. I will try.
>
> I have a couple of other questions regarding the file structure.
>
> 1) I assume that the export doesn't have an export messages by date facility?
Correct assumption, it does not

> 2) Do the original individual emails always keep the same filename?
Yes

> 3) Why couldn't I access the backupPC mail folder in explorer (by making the
> files visible and then just copy those messages after a specific date to the
> Main PC and paste them into the correct folders,. Is there an indexing issue
> or could it not rebuild the index?
Messages are stored by numerical name, not subject which makes it difficult. Secondly messages may exist in an Explorer view that
are not in the current index(orphans, waiting for the next clean/compact etc). Imo, WLM builds it index much better when imported
rather than, for lack of better word, surprising it by dragging from one Explorer folder to another.

>
> Thanks
>
> "...winston" wrote:
>
>> Merge is not an option...if you export everything you will end up with duplicates but not necessarily in the same location in
>> WLM.
>> Imported messages post import reside in the Storage folders, thus you can copy the missing messages from that location to your
>> desired location
>>
>> One does have the option to selective import folders(not messages)
>> On the backup pc with WLM create a folder in the Storage folders called 'Missing' or similar name of your choice.
>> Copy, not move, the missing messages to the Storage folders Missing folder
>> File/Export/Messages/ <use the browse button and select a blank folder on your machine, external drive, or jump drive)
>> - follow the prompts and choose the selective Export option to only export the Missing folder contents.
>> Once exported, copy that folder to the new machine and reverse the process(File/Import/Messages/ etc)
>> Once complete copy the message to the desired location(account folder or other storage folder), once satisfactory, one can
>> delete
>> the imported messages(you copied them, not moved them).
>>
>>
>> --
>> ...winston
>> ms-mvp mail
>>
>> "YRAGDRAW" <> wrote in message news:273AE516-8687-430C-B432-...
>> > I need to understand how email messages are stored in WLM. I see them as
>> > individual files with a filename.eml extension. I have 2 pc's. One had a
>> > problem so reverted to the other with a backup one month old. I now have the
>> > main PC running again but is missing the last months emails. What I would
>> > like to do is effectively merge the emails from the backup PC so that the
>> > main PC has the updated mail from the last month. If I export from the
>> > backup PC all the message and then import them into the Main PC will it just
>> > overwrite any duplicates? There are about 11 mail accounts involved so I
>> > want to make sure I don't end up with 1000's of duplicate messages. Are the
>> > same mail messages stored with the same file name or are they constantly
>> > reindexed in some way. Does the same mail always have the same filename for
>> > life no matter how many times its backed up and restored? Thanks for any
>> > advice.
>>
>> .
>>