i recently had to have my computer reformated.
before it was, i went and had my "windows live mail"
exported to 3 different folders. one for mail, one for contacts and one for
news.
when i got my computer back i tried to import and it said messages can't be
found
in this folder. all the things in the 3 folders have an ext of .iaf.



is there help for my problem or do i need to give up and lose all my
messages and contact lists?
thanks,
bonnie

Whoever exported your Windows Live Mail data did it wrong.
The .iaf file extension is only for saving a specific account info,
not emails or contacts.

You can easily redownload the newsgroup messages.

How many mail accounts are involved? Are all of them POP type
instead of IMAP or HTTP? Have you gone to the provider's site to
see if webmail still has those messages?

Contacts will be backed up at http://contacts.live.com if you used
the Live ID sign-in.

--
Gary VanderMolen, Microsoft MVP (Mail)
Microsoft MVP program: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com


"Bonnie" <121819@newsgroup> wrote in message news:%23UoghzA4KHA.5084@newsgroup

>i recently had to have my computer reformated.
> before it was, i went and had my "windows live mail"
> exported to 3 different folders. one for mail, one for contacts and one for
> news.
> when i got my computer back i tried to import and it said messages can't be
> found
> in this folder. all the things in the 3 folders have an ext of .iaf.
>
> is there help for my problem or do i need to give up and lose all my
> messages and contact lists?
> thanks,
> bonnie
>

An iaf file has the settings for one email account.

You say you 'had' WLMail exported. Who did the export?
--
Ron Sommer
MS MVP- Windows Live Mail

"Bonnie" <121819@newsgroup> wrote in message
news:#UoghzA4KHA.5084@newsgroup

> i recently had to have my computer reformated.
> before it was, i went and had my "windows live mail"
> exported to 3 different folders. one for mail, one for contacts and one
> for news.
> when i got my computer back i tried to import and it said messages can't
> be found
> in this folder. all the things in the 3 folders have an ext of .iaf.
>
> is there help for my problem or do i need to give up and lose all my
> messages and contact lists?
> thanks,
> bonnie

Mail accounts are exported to a *.iaf file(one for each account)
Messages are exported as *.eml and/or *.nws files and only to a user specified blank folder which contains each email/news account and subfolders with *.eml and *.news messages. *.eml messages can be imported, *.nws messages only to the storage folders for archival purposes.
Contacts can only be exported to a *.csv file(containing all contacts) or to a *.vcf file(one for each contact)

Talk to the person who exported your data to determine if the above was actually done..that answer will determine your ability to recover the missing data.

--
...winston
ms-mvp mail
"Bonnie" <121819@newsgroup> wrote in message news:%23UoghzA4KHA.5084@newsgroup
i recently had to have my computer reformated.
before it was, i went and had my "windows live mail"
exported to 3 different folders. one for mail, one for contacts and one for
news.
when i got my computer back i tried to import and it said messages can't be
found
in this folder. all the things in the 3 folders have an ext of .iaf.

is there help for my problem or do i need to give up and lose all my
messages and contact lists?
thanks,
bonnie

good news. I found another folder that had all the wlm in it. I guess I
exported everything correctly.
now how to I get all the email accounts from storage to the top, where they
were and all the
news groups to where they go??
where do I find my contacts? I didn't have a sign in for live mail.
thanks for all the replies to my post.
bonnie



"Bonnie" <121819@newsgroup> wrote in message
news:#UoghzA4KHA.5084@newsgroup

> i recently had to have my computer reformated.
> before it was, i went and had my "windows live mail"
> exported to 3 different folders. one for mail, one for contacts and one
> for news.
> when i got my computer back i tried to import and it said messages can't
> be found
> in this folder. all the things in the 3 folders have an ext of .iaf.
>
> is there help for my problem or do i need to give up and lose all my
> messages and contact lists?
> thanks,
> bonnie

You don't....those folders only contain messages.

Setup each email account and newsgroup manually or by importing an iaf file.
- to setup an email account
WLM Menu/Tools/Accounts -> click Add or Import

Once accounts are setup with their default created folders and any user created folders(you create after adding an account) you may copy(not move) email messages from the Storage folders Imported folders/subfolders to the appropriate account. You can not copy or move newsgroup messages(download them again). Note: You should consider leaving imported messages in the Storage folders since removing an account will delete the account and all messages in WLM and your hard drive but not the Storage folders.)

If you were not using a Live ID and did not backup your contacts(in the Contacts module/menu) to a csv file, reenter your contacts manually.

--
...winston
ms-mvp mail
"Bonnie" <121819@newsgroup> wrote in message news:OUnaSIF4KHA.1660@newsgroup
good news. I found another folder that had all the wlm in it. I guess I
exported everything correctly.
now how to I get all the email accounts from storage to the top, where they
were and all the
news groups to where they go??
where do I find my contacts? I didn't have a sign in for live mail.
thanks for all the replies to my post.
bonnie



"Bonnie" <121819@newsgroup> wrote in message
news:#UoghzA4KHA.5084@newsgroup

> i recently had to have my computer reformated.
> before it was, i went and had my "windows live mail"
> exported to 3 different folders. one for mail, one for contacts and one
> for news.
> when i got my computer back i tried to import and it said messages can't
> be found
> in this folder. all the things in the 3 folders have an ext of .iaf.
>
> is there help for my problem or do i need to give up and lose all my
> messages and contact lists?
> thanks,
> bonnie