Lost Inbox, HELP!

[djsting]

Ok, so I checked mail and it downloaded from the server (i.e. the mail is no longer on the server) and I was starting to process my new mail when the system crashed.

I have the following files in the PocoMail/Mail directory:
In2.~mbx
In2.idb
In.~mbx
In.dat
In.mbx

In Poco I have an In box though it is completely empty!!! All other folders appear to be fine.

A compress did not help at all.

I need to know how to resolve this and get my lost emails back immediately!! This is a business and I have lost valuable communications!!

I have version 4.8.0.4400

[djsting]

Here's some more info I collected based upon another thread (I've replaced any private info with *****):

I have done the following:
- run Folder > Compress Folder as indicated above
- close Pocomail, delete In.idb in Pocomail data directory
- Rename In.~mbx and In2.~mbx to In.mbx and In2.mbx respectively
- check In and In2 folders for mail

All of the above yielded NO benefit.


[--------------- INSTALLATION DETAILS ---------------]
Following text contains details on your program installation;
you can review the information being sent and delete anything
you would rather not send. Your INI configuration files are
also attached, with passwords removed.

Name: ******
E-mail: *******@sbcglobal.net
Submitted on: 10/19/2009 2:56:52 PM

XMailer=Pocomail 4.8 (4400) - Licensed Version
RegCode=************
RAM=1024 Mb
Win32Platform=NT
Win32MajorVersion=5
Win32MinorVersion=1
Win32BuildNumber=2600
Win32CSDVersion=Service Pack 3
AppPath=C:\Documents and Settings\apape\Application Data\Pocomail\
MailboxRoot=W:\Program Files\Poco\Mail\
SigPath=Signatures\
HelpPath=D:\Program Files\PocoMail\Help\
ScriptPath=Scripts\
AttachPath=W:\Program Files\Poco\Attach\
AddressPath=Address\
TemplatePath=Templates\
IconPath=C:\Documents and Settings\apape\Application Data\Pocomail\Icons\
SkinPath=Skins\
AddressBook=Address
LOSFile=C:\Documents and Settings\apape\Application Data\Pocomail\lmos.dat
AttachPath=W:\Program Files\Poco\Attach\
TempPath=C:\DOCUME~1\apape\LOCALS~1\Temp\
[--------------- END OF SUBMISSION ---------------]

[Eric]

Hi djsting & welcome to Poco Forums,

Ok, so I checked mail and it downloaded from the server (i.e. the mail is no longer on the server) and I was starting to process my new mail when the system crashed.

Sorry to hear about that.
On another note, do you've backups in case something like this happens?
You never can't be to careful.

I have the following files in the PocoMail/Mail directory:
In2.~mbx
In2.idb
In.~mbx
In.dat
In.mbx

What size does that In.mbx have?
Also the In.~mbx may contain your previous mails from a backup.
To be sure, move your In.mbx to another location, but close Poco first.
Next rename In.~mbx to In.mbx and restart Poco.
Does that help?

In Poco I have an In box though it is completely empty!!! All other folders appear to be fine.

Why doesn't that directory display the In.idb = index file for your In folder?

A compress did not help at all.

If corrupted, then it wouldn't help. Only re-indexing your In.mbx will show all your mail again, by deleting the In.idb file.

I need to know how to resolve this and get my lost emails back immediately!! This is a business and I have lost valuable communications!!

I truly understand why it's important, so I do hope some of this may help.

Let me know how it goes.

FWIW I already had several crashes (BSOD's) on my laptop, due to experimenting with security software, but each time Barca Pro worked and all mail was present.
On the other hand I do take my precautions, since you never know what may happen.

[djsting]

Files sizes for the following:
In2.~mbx 0 bytes
In2.idb 22 bytes
In.~mbx 0 bytes
In.dat 699 bytes
In.idb 22 bytes
In.mbx 0 bytes

No, sadly no back up. Not recent at least, there is a back up in my safe deposit box from late June or early July.

Been through the exercise of renaming the In.~mbx as noted in my last post (I probably posed that while you were typing your post so you may not have seen it).

Why doesn't that directory display the In.idb = index file for your In folder?

I do not understand your question here...

Also been through the exercise of removing the .idb file as noted in my last post with no change in results either.

[Eric]

No, sadly no back up. Not recent at least, there is a back up in my safe deposit box from late June or early July.

Pity, there isn't a more recent backup.
Also those files are empty. There's nothing in it.

Been through the exercise of renaming the In.~mbx as noted in my last post (I probably posed that while you were typing your post so you may not have seen it).

I've seen it, so it doesn't make any difference.

I do not understand your question here...

Also been through the exercise of removing the .idb file as noted in my last post with no change in results either.

You already did that exercise, but with no results.
You however didn't mention that In.idb file, so that's why I was curious about it.

Sorry to say, but I think your data for that In.mbx was destroyed as a result of that crash.
Since you don't have a recent backup, there's no way to recover your recent mails.
In this case it's lost forever.

To prevent it in the future, make daily backups and make a backup of your backups.
I know it's a bit late to say it, but it's the only thing I can say at present to stay ahead of certain disasters.

Maybe Support can help a bit more, although I doubt it.
My apologies if my post may sound rude, but for the moment I don't think there's anything to recover your data.

[djsting]

Eric, nope not rude at all just your assessment of the situation and as I was noticing the file sizes I was fearing the same myself though hopeful for better results.

Thank you for your input and assistance.

I presume I can recover my In.mbx from the June back up without any issues. Then any emails that it may contain which have been filed (moved) to another folder may be deleted without it being removed from the other folder right? I've worked in some systems where it is actually the same physical file and if deleted it is deleted from all the folders it resides in, hence my question.

How do you back up Poco? Any suggestions?

[Eric]

Eric, nope not rude at all just your assessment of the situation and as I was noticing the file sizes I was fearing the same myself though hopeful for better results.

Thanks, never easy to give bad news to someone. It may be interpreted otherwise.

Thank you for your input and assistance.

You're most welcome.

I presume I can recover my In.mbx from the June back up without any issues. Then any emails that it may contain which have been filed (moved) to another folder may be deleted without it being removed from the other folder right? I've worked in some systems where it is actually the same physical file and if deleted it is deleted from all the folders it resides in, hence my question.

Yes, you can recover it without any problems.
Just close Poco and delete your current In.mbx and other related files.
Next copy the old In.mbx back.
Restart Poco, so that In.mbx will be re-indexed again.

Any mails deleted from that folder won't be deleted in other previous folders. It's only your current one where those will be deleted.
Don't forget to compress afterwards, so your In folder will be refreshed and reduced in size. All deleted emails will be gone forever.

How do you back up Poco? Any suggestions?

I'm not running a business, so it's a bit different.
First of all Barca Pro takes backups at certain intervals when closing it.
Once a week an image is made of my data partition. Once a month the entire drive is imaged.
All done to an external drive and from that external drive a backup is done each month to another external drive (1 TB).

For taking images I use ShadowProtect Desktop. Incremental and full images.
Further more I work in snapshots with FirstDefense ISR.
No longer available, I'm afraid.

On my netbook I do use Rollback Rx, so I can work there in snapshots too. Up to 60.000 snapshots, although I only use 10 at present.

You can set it to take a snapshot whenever you want, so in case your system crashes, you can go back to the last snapshot taken.
It can be set by time, so that's really easy.

I don't only rely on these programs, but until now I've only once had to recover from an image for my laptop. I guess I've been experimenting too much.

I hope you'll find the right way to keep your data secure from data loss.

Take care.

[MayCat]

I have old file in.mbx only. Can I read this file with Pocomail or Barca?

[Eric]

I have old file in.mbx only. Can I read this file with Pocomail or Barca?

Yes, you can.
Close Poco first, next move your curret In.mbx to a save location.
Put your old file in that Mail directory and restart Poco.
All mails will be reindexed on startup.

[MayCat]

I have old file in.mbx only. Can I read this file with Pocomail or Barca?

Yes, you can.
Close Poco first, next move your curret In.mbx to a save location.
Put your old file in that Mail directory and restart Poco.
All mails will be reindexed on startup.

I tryed. Pocomail doing compressing of folder and deleting ~ 90% messages. I want see deleted messages. Thank you!

[Eric]

I tryed. Pocomail doing compressing of folder and deleting ~ 90% messages. I want see deleted messages. Thank you!

Do you mean Poco compressed that mailbox automatically once you restarted
If that's the case, then all those flagged messages (deleted) will be removed.

There are tools to read *.mbx files, although not free AFAIK.
Otherwise if you use Opera, you can import *.mbox format into its e-mail client.
Just change the extension from *.mbx to *.mbox.

Hope it works now.

[alfred]

Another way to read *.mbx files, the natural way

If you have Thunderbird, just copy the *.mbx file in the inbox folder of Thunderbird, delete the extension of the name ( *.mbx > * ) and open Thunderbird- there it is!

[pfeld1st]

Hello, I am new to the forum but not new to Pocomail.
I have been using it since 2003. I also back up with Mozy.
When I changed to the new computer in 08, it was Vista.
Pocomail tech support had me put the program files and data files in separate folders to overcome some Vista security problems.

Now I have no idea were my sales.mbx folder is.
I also did a compress about five min ago and lost the mail from 2003 to Dec. 13, 2010. I'd like to get it back from either Mozy or from where-ever the compressed file is put.

I have some screen shots but don't know where to attach them.

Like the other gentleman, I am using Pocomail in a business. I have enjoyed using it. But now I need these files back.
Can Mozy go back to Dec. 12 or 13 to get them back in one piece ?

How to proceed ? I can email to you the screen shots or put them up on my server as .JPGs.

Thanks, in advance.

[jbuk]

Now I have no idea were my sales.mbx folder is.

Its easy enough to find where the file is.
Either do a search in windows for sales.* or if you look in PM Options>General Options > Directories you will see the location of your mail folder in Windows.

Don't know exactly how Mozy saves but all you need to do normally is to just restore your last full backup to the correct location followed by any incremental or differential backups.

I would would save your existing PM data to another location on your PC like an external usb disk or stick first so that you then cannot do any more harm during the restore procedure.

Fortunately PM is very easy to restore when disaster strikes.
Good luck.