Vista - Outlook Express transfer to Vista

As I indicated a ffew months ago, the actual rule is now a Unicode string
and it wasn't before. So one has to modify that.

Here's what I posted on December 12th:

<quote>
Okay there are actually 4 issues, but I figured out two of them.

This is for a single rule at the moment. I'll try and program it so it
doesn't have to be done rule by rule.

First export the rule from the machine with OE:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{GUID}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook
Express\5.0\Rules\Mail\002

where GUID is the Identity and this is rule 3

Then edit the reg file with Notepad.

Do replace for

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{GUID}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0

with

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Mail

Then save the file.

Then the search strings have been changed to Unicode so set the cursor where
the Rule Criteria start. Then do a second replace until the end of the file
and search for

,

replace with

,00,

Then in the last line of each criteria add

,00

Then save.

Then create a mock rule in the registry with WinMail and close WinMail.
Then delete that mock key in the registry. Make sure the rule number in the
saved reg file matches that that you just deleted.

Then merge the file into the registry.

Open WinMail and go to Tools | Message rules and you see the new message
rule spelled out okay when you click on it, except for the folder name. You
will still have to specify the folder names again because those are coded
numerically, I think.

Anyway, that will work, but its a bit involved to do manually.


</quote>



steve

"Jerry S" <notdisclosed@nada.tld> wrote in message
news:O9LB0ZkWHHA.1688@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> That's odd, because in practice it works exactly as described. If you're
> referring to the location that the rules are stored, that's covered in
> steps
> 3d - 3f. If you're referring to the pointers within the rules that
> reference the objects within the OE data stores, that is covered in step
> 5.
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jerry S
>
> "Steve Cochran" <scochran@oehelp.com> wrote in message
> news:8863F238-DB75-4479-AF76-16BE786D91A4@microsoft.com...
>> Your method for importing rules won't work because of the issues related
>> to the storing of the strings in the registry between OE and WinMail.
>> One also has to change those strings.
>>
>> steve
>>
>> "Jerry S" <notdisclosed@nada.tld> wrote in message
>> news:u8b0FGVWHHA.5060@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>> Ok, the steps may be easier to read in this post. The formatting didn't
>>> come out quite right in my last post.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hey Tony,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> To completely transfer your OE mail to Windows Mail you should not only
>>> transfer your messages but your account information and rules along with
>>> your address book. This isn't a comprehensive "Move OE to your new
>>> Vista computer" article but, I have included instructions on how to move
>>> your accounts and rules over from OE to WM in addition to the link to
>>> the website that is included that walks you through migrating your
>>> actual mail.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> See the website:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> This site gives great information on moving your data stores from OE on
>>> one machine to WM on another and is what I used to begin my e-mail
>>> migration from my old computer to my new one.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> A word of warning though, ** if you have your account set to leave mail
>>> on your mail server for a period of time ** after you get your accounts
>>> setup and all of your mail has been imported you will end up downloading
>>> duplicate messages for all the items you have out on your mail server.
>>> So, if you leave copies of your messages on the mail server for 10 days
>>> you will receive duplicate messages for everything you have gotten in
>>> the last 10 days. To prevent this you can turn this off in OE6 under
>>> Tools>Accounts>Mail>"Account Name">Properties>Advanced>Delivery and then
>>> perform a send and receive. If you have web-mail with your ISP use that
>>> to verify that there are no messages left on your mail server. I wasn't
>>> thinking when I did my move and had to delete about 120 messages.
>>> You'll want to verify that the duplicates are gone as I cannot easily
>>> test performing the send and receive will get rid of the messages on
>>> your server.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Also, make your life a bit easier and export your account settings to
>>> .iaf files from OE and import those into WM. You can find the button to
>>> export under Tools>Accounts>Mail. You can import these account settings
>>> files into WM in the same location in WM. Go to Tools>Accounts>Mail and
>>> import the files from the location you saved them to. This will save
>>> you some time in futzing around with configuring your e-mail settings.
>>> It's also not a bad idea to export these and store them someplace safe
>>> so that in the event your computer crashes you can bring your account
>>> settings back quickly.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> As for inbox rules, luckily the registry format for rules is identical
>>> so you can, with a little text editing, import your rules as well.
>>> Granted to make this worthwhile you need to have enough rules that would
>>> warrant going through the following process. I had about twenty so
>>> recreating all my rules from scratch wasn't, in my opinion, a good use
>>> of my time. I would recommend you perform the following after you have
>>> imported your mail and you address book.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> To import your rules:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 1. Find out what identity you're using:
>>>
>>> a. In OE go to Tools>Options>Maintenance and click on the "Store
>>> Folder" button.
>>>
>>> b. In the store folder button you will see a number enclosed in curly
>>> braces. ex.
>>>
>>> {F67B35AC-B631-46C8-88AA-6EFC5B2933A9}
>>>
>>> This is your identity number. I'll reference it further as
>>> <identity>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 2. Export your rules:
>>>
>>> a. Open regedit.exe
>>>
>>> b. In regedit, navigate to
>>> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\<identity>\Software\Microsoft\Outlook
>>> Express\5.0\Rules
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> (you may see "6.0\Rules", it's 5.0 on my computer and I'll reference 5.0
>>> from here on)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> c. Right-click on "Mail" and select "Export"
>>>
>>> d. Give it a name you can remember in a place on your computer you can
>>> find and click "Save".
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 3. Edit your rules to import on your new computer:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> a. Make a copy of the file you just saved and name it <whatever your
>>> file was called>_Import.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ex. If your computer is setup to show extensions you will see
>>> "MyMailRules.reg" rename this file to "MyMailRules_Import.reg"
>>>
>>> if you don't see extensions you will only see "MyMailRules" and once
>>> renamed "MyMailRules_Import"
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> b. Right-click on your new file (the one named ..._Import) and select
>>> "Edit"
>>>
>>> c. In Notepad select "Edit>Replace"
>>>
>>> d. In the 'Replace' dialogue copy and paste the line up to 5.0 from the
>>> first line of your ..._Import file:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ex. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\<identity>\Software\Microsoft\Outlook
>>> Express\5.0
>>>
>>> into the "Find What" field.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> e. Then paste the following line exactly as it's shown:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Mail into the "Replace
>>> With" field.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> f. In the replace dialogue, click on "Replace All"
>>>
>>> g. Save your file.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 4. Import the rules on your new computer:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> a. Copy the ..._Import.reg file to your new computer
>>>
>>> b. Double-click the file and when asked, "Are you sure..." answer yes.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 5. Fix the Imported rules:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Because rules can reference specific locations in the mail folder
>>> structure within OE some of your rules may be pointing to locations that
>>> don't technically exist anymore. The same can hold true for rules that
>>> referenced contacts, since you have moved to a new computer the contacts
>>> may be seen as completely new. However, the structure of the rules is
>>> intact so, you just need to repoint to rules the folders or contacts you
>>> want them to work with. Modify each rule to match your requirements and
>>> you should be golden.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>

It may depend on whether it's exported as a Regedit 4 or Regedit 5 (Windows
Registry Editor Version 5) file.

"Steve Cochran" <scochran@oehelp.com> wrote in message
news:69FF5A7D-9966-473F-B5A8-4783B94CDE57@microsoft.com...
> As I indicated a ffew months ago, the actual rule is now a Unicode string
> and it wasn't before. So one has to modify that.
>
> Here's what I posted on December 12th:
>
> <quote>
> Okay there are actually 4 issues, but I figured out two of them.
>
> This is for a single rule at the moment. I'll try and program it so it
> doesn't have to be done rule by rule.
>
> First export the rule from the machine with OE:
>
> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{GUID}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook
> Express\5.0\Rules\Mail\002
>
> where GUID is the Identity and this is rule 3
>
> Then edit the reg file with Notepad.
>
> Do replace for
>
> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{GUID}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0
>
> with
>
> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Mail
>
> Then save the file.
>
> Then the search strings have been changed to Unicode so set the cursor
> where
> the Rule Criteria start. Then do a second replace until the end of the
> file
> and search for
>
> ,
>
> replace with
>
> ,00,
>
> Then in the last line of each criteria add
>
> ,00
>
> Then save.
>
> Then create a mock rule in the registry with WinMail and close WinMail.
> Then delete that mock key in the registry. Make sure the rule number in
> the
> saved reg file matches that that you just deleted.
>
> Then merge the file into the registry.
>
> Open WinMail and go to Tools | Message rules and you see the new message
> rule spelled out okay when you click on it, except for the folder name.
> You
> will still have to specify the folder names again because those are coded
> numerically, I think.
>
> Anyway, that will work, but its a bit involved to do manually.
>
>
> </quote>
>
> "Jerry S" <notdisclosed@nada.tld> wrote in message
> news:O9LB0ZkWHHA.1688@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>> That's odd, because in practice it works exactly as described. If you're
>> referring to the location that the rules are stored, that's covered in
>> steps
>> 3d - 3f. If you're referring to the pointers within the rules that
>> reference the objects within the OE data stores, that is covered in step
>> 5.

Oh. I hadn't thought of that. I'll have to look and see how I did it.

But if you look at the Value Value (<G>) under Criteria for the rules(eg.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows
Mail\Rules\Mail\000\Criteria\000), you'll see in XP (server 2003) that the
string is not Unicode, but if you look at the same in Vista, you will see
that it is in Unicode. So I don't know how the export method would be
involved.

steve

"Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM" <franksaunders@mvps.org> wrote in message
news:4C7E65F3-C960-411F-BBF6-B9BF059CD853@microsoft.com...
> It may depend on whether it's exported as a Regedit 4 or Regedit 5
> (Windows Registry Editor Version 5) file.
>
> "Steve Cochran" <scochran@oehelp.com> wrote in message
> news:69FF5A7D-9966-473F-B5A8-4783B94CDE57@microsoft.com...
>> As I indicated a ffew months ago, the actual rule is now a Unicode string
>> and it wasn't before. So one has to modify that.
>>
>> Here's what I posted on December 12th:
>>
>> <quote>
>> Okay there are actually 4 issues, but I figured out two of them.
>>
>> This is for a single rule at the moment. I'll try and program it so it
>> doesn't have to be done rule by rule.
>>
>> First export the rule from the machine with OE:
>>
>> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{GUID}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook
>> Express\5.0\Rules\Mail\002
>>
>> where GUID is the Identity and this is rule 3
>>
>> Then edit the reg file with Notepad.
>>
>> Do replace for
>>
>> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{GUID}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook
>> Express\5.0
>>
>> with
>>
>> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Mail
>>
>> Then save the file.
>>
>> Then the search strings have been changed to Unicode so set the cursor
>> where
>> the Rule Criteria start. Then do a second replace until the end of the
>> file
>> and search for
>>
>> ,
>>
>> replace with
>>
>> ,00,
>>
>> Then in the last line of each criteria add
>>
>> ,00
>>
>> Then save.
>>
>> Then create a mock rule in the registry with WinMail and close WinMail.
>> Then delete that mock key in the registry. Make sure the rule number in
>> the
>> saved reg file matches that that you just deleted.
>>
>> Then merge the file into the registry.
>>
>> Open WinMail and go to Tools | Message rules and you see the new message
>> rule spelled out okay when you click on it, except for the folder name.
>> You
>> will still have to specify the folder names again because those are coded
>> numerically, I think.
>>
>> Anyway, that will work, but its a bit involved to do manually.
>>
>>
>> </quote>
>>
>> "Jerry S" <notdisclosed@nada.tld> wrote in message
>> news:O9LB0ZkWHHA.1688@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>> That's odd, because in practice it works exactly as described. If
>>> you're
>>> referring to the location that the rules are stored, that's covered in
>>> steps
>>> 3d - 3f. If you're referring to the pointers within the rules that
>>> reference the objects within the OE data stores, that is covered in step
>>> 5.
>
>

The 'Value' data of rule actions is stored as ASCII while the 'Value' of
criteria, while exported as ASCII, is apparently converted into Unicode as
the single byte values from the Regedit file created during the export are
double byte values in the Vista registry.

Since, as you have so eloquently pointed out, the rules were stored as ASCII
in OE and I would be surprised if importing the ASCII values in a Regedit
version 4 file would import differently than the ASCII values in a Regedit 5
file. However, I would change my statement that "the registry format for
rules is identical" to "the structure of the rules are the same" as obviously
a string stored as ASCII is not identical to one stored as Unicode.

In any case, as stated, it works. I wouldn't have posted it otherwise.

--

Thanks,

Jerry S


"Steve Cochran" wrote:

> Oh. I hadn't thought of that. I'll have to look and see how I did it.
>
> But if you look at the Value Value (<G>) under Criteria for the rules(eg.
> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows
> Mail\Rules\Mail\000\Criteria\000), you'll see in XP (server 2003) that the
> string is not Unicode, but if you look at the same in Vista, you will see
> that it is in Unicode. So I don't know how the export method would be
> involved.
>
> steve
>
> "Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM" <franksaunders@mvps.org> wrote in message
> news:4C7E65F3-C960-411F-BBF6-B9BF059CD853@microsoft.com...
> > It may depend on whether it's exported as a Regedit 4 or Regedit 5
> > (Windows Registry Editor Version 5) file.
> >
> > "Steve Cochran" <scochran@oehelp.com> wrote in message
> > news:69FF5A7D-9966-473F-B5A8-4783B94CDE57@microsoft.com...
> >> As I indicated a ffew months ago, the actual rule is now a Unicode string
> >> and it wasn't before. So one has to modify that.
> >>
> >> Here's what I posted on December 12th:
> >>
> >> <quote>
> >> Okay there are actually 4 issues, but I figured out two of them.
> >>
> >> This is for a single rule at the moment. I'll try and program it so it
> >> doesn't have to be done rule by rule.
> >>
> >> First export the rule from the machine with OE:
> >>
> >> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{GUID}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook
> >> Express\5.0\Rules\Mail\002
> >>
> >> where GUID is the Identity and this is rule 3
> >>
> >> Then edit the reg file with Notepad.
> >>
> >> Do replace for
> >>
> >> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{GUID}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook
> >> Express\5.0
> >>
> >> with
> >>
> >> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Mail
> >>
> >> Then save the file.
> >>
> >> Then the search strings have been changed to Unicode so set the cursor
> >> where
> >> the Rule Criteria start. Then do a second replace until the end of the
> >> file
> >> and search for
> >>
> >> ,
> >>
> >> replace with
> >>
> >> ,00,
> >>
> >> Then in the last line of each criteria add
> >>
> >> ,00
> >>
> >> Then save.
> >>
> >> Then create a mock rule in the registry with WinMail and close WinMail.
> >> Then delete that mock key in the registry. Make sure the rule number in
> >> the
> >> saved reg file matches that that you just deleted.
> >>
> >> Then merge the file into the registry.
> >>
> >> Open WinMail and go to Tools | Message rules and you see the new message
> >> rule spelled out okay when you click on it, except for the folder name.
> >> You
> >> will still have to specify the folder names again because those are coded
> >> numerically, I think.
> >>
> >> Anyway, that will work, but its a bit involved to do manually.
> >>
> >>
> >> </quote>
> >>
> >> "Jerry S" <notdisclosed@nada.tld> wrote in message
> >> news:O9LB0ZkWHHA.1688@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> >>> That's odd, because in practice it works exactly as described. If
> >>> you're
> >>> referring to the location that the rules are stored, that's covered in
> >>> steps
> >>> 3d - 3f. If you're referring to the pointers within the rules that
> >>> reference the objects within the OE data stores, that is covered in step
> >>> 5.
> >
> >
>

I originally tried it back then and it didn't work for me, but I immediately
saw the problem which is why I make the suggestions I did in my message.
I've been addresses other concerns lately. <G>

steve

"Jerry S" <JerryS@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8C2FA9FA-5BF2-4C10-9E4D-4674EE8F16F6@microsoft.com...
> The 'Value' data of rule actions is stored as ASCII while the 'Value' of
> criteria, while exported as ASCII, is apparently converted into Unicode as
> the single byte values from the Regedit file created during the export are
> double byte values in the Vista registry.
>
> Since, as you have so eloquently pointed out, the rules were stored as
> ASCII
> in OE and I would be surprised if importing the ASCII values in a Regedit
> version 4 file would import differently than the ASCII values in a Regedit
> 5
> file. However, I would change my statement that "the registry format for
> rules is identical" to "the structure of the rules are the same" as
> obviously
> a string stored as ASCII is not identical to one stored as Unicode.
>
> In any case, as stated, it works. I wouldn't have posted it otherwise.
>
> --
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jerry S
>
>
> "Steve Cochran" wrote:
>
>> Oh. I hadn't thought of that. I'll have to look and see how I did it.
>>
>> But if you look at the Value Value (<G>) under Criteria for the rules(eg.
>> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows
>> Mail\Rules\Mail\000\Criteria\000), you'll see in XP (server 2003) that
>> the
>> string is not Unicode, but if you look at the same in Vista, you will see
>> that it is in Unicode. So I don't know how the export method would be
>> involved.
>>
>> steve
>>
>> "Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM" <franksaunders@mvps.org> wrote in message
>> news:4C7E65F3-C960-411F-BBF6-B9BF059CD853@microsoft.com...
>> > It may depend on whether it's exported as a Regedit 4 or Regedit 5
>> > (Windows Registry Editor Version 5) file.
>> >
>> > "Steve Cochran" <scochran@oehelp.com> wrote in message
>> > news:69FF5A7D-9966-473F-B5A8-4783B94CDE57@microsoft.com...
>> >> As I indicated a ffew months ago, the actual rule is now a Unicode
>> >> string
>> >> and it wasn't before. So one has to modify that.
>> >>
>> >> Here's what I posted on December 12th:
>> >>
>> >> <quote>
>> >> Okay there are actually 4 issues, but I figured out two of them.
>> >>
>> >> This is for a single rule at the moment. I'll try and program it so
>> >> it
>> >> doesn't have to be done rule by rule.
>> >>
>> >> First export the rule from the machine with OE:
>> >>
>> >> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{GUID}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook
>> >> Express\5.0\Rules\Mail\002
>> >>
>> >> where GUID is the Identity and this is rule 3
>> >>
>> >> Then edit the reg file with Notepad.
>> >>
>> >> Do replace for
>> >>
>> >> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{GUID}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook
>> >> Express\5.0
>> >>
>> >> with
>> >>
>> >> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Mail
>> >>
>> >> Then save the file.
>> >>
>> >> Then the search strings have been changed to Unicode so set the cursor
>> >> where
>> >> the Rule Criteria start. Then do a second replace until the end of
>> >> the
>> >> file
>> >> and search for
>> >>
>> >> ,
>> >>
>> >> replace with
>> >>
>> >> ,00,
>> >>
>> >> Then in the last line of each criteria add
>> >>
>> >> ,00
>> >>
>> >> Then save.
>> >>
>> >> Then create a mock rule in the registry with WinMail and close
>> >> WinMail.
>> >> Then delete that mock key in the registry. Make sure the rule number
>> >> in
>> >> the
>> >> saved reg file matches that that you just deleted.
>> >>
>> >> Then merge the file into the registry.
>> >>
>> >> Open WinMail and go to Tools | Message rules and you see the new
>> >> message
>> >> rule spelled out okay when you click on it, except for the folder
>> >> name.
>> >> You
>> >> will still have to specify the folder names again because those are
>> >> coded
>> >> numerically, I think.
>> >>
>> >> Anyway, that will work, but its a bit involved to do manually.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> </quote>
>> >>
>> >> "Jerry S" <notdisclosed@nada.tld> wrote in message
>> >> news:O9LB0ZkWHHA.1688@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>> >>> That's odd, because in practice it works exactly as described. If
>> >>> you're
>> >>> referring to the location that the rules are stored, that's covered
>> >>> in
>> >>> steps
>> >>> 3d - 3f. If you're referring to the pointers within the rules that
>> >>> reference the objects within the OE data stores, that is covered in
>> >>> step
>> >>> 5.
>> >
>> >
>>