DON'T HIT ME....Does anyone know the file and it's location where AOL stores e-mails?

[Ronstang]

I need to use the HD out of my daughter's old machine and before I format it I would like to make sure I have all her e-mails saved somehow. I don't use AOL so I know nothing about it. I have already backed up all her documents etc. and I would like to start making my DivX box but I don't want to loose all her e-mails...

ANy help would be appreciated, thanks

Ron

 

[MrMilney]

Look in the America Online\organize folder for a series of files named after your daughter's screen name. On my wife's machine they are:

C:\Program Files\America Online\organize\screenname (note: no extension)
C:\Program Files\America Online\organize\screenname.abi
C:\Program Files\America Online\organize\screenname.aby
C:\Program Files\America Online\organize\screenname.ARL
C:\Program Files\America Online\organize\screenname.BAG
C:\Program Files\America Online\organize\screenname.AUT

Don't forget the files in the C:\Program Files\America Online\downloads folder.

If you are planning on migrating your daughter's AOL install to another drive your best bet (read "what I've done in the past") would be to copy the entire existing AOL folder to the new drive. Then, install another copy of AOL on the same drive and tell it you want to upgrade an existing version of AOL (even if it is the same version). The installer will locate the existing installation and offer to either copy or move all the existing files (including the mail store) to the new installation. Copy it, then have your daughter use AOL for a few days. If everything seems OK you can then delete the old AOL folder and all its contents.

This has worked for me, YMMV.

 

[VBboy]

Eww, both of you!

On a more serious note: download and use FileMon utility, which lets you see in real-time which program is reading or writing to which file. It's great not only for your AOL purposes, but also for finding out if you got any spyware reading your files or writing to them.

SysInternals - Website

Download FileMon for your OS. Also check out RegMon, to see who is messing with your registry!

 

[Ronstang]

Thanks Mr. Milney, I appreciate it. I have copied her entire AOL folder to my HD over the network so now I know I have all that I need on my machine...I have also burned most of her stuff to CD so I think I am fine to go ahead and reformat the HD. Thanks again.

As for you VBboy, I don't like AOL anymore than you do and I use a cable modem and my local ISP for my internet access. My daughter only has AOL because she refuses to clean her room and I refuse to hook her up to cable until she does. HA HA HA

Thanks guys

 

[FOBSIDE]

Originally posted by: Ronstang
As for you VBboy, I don't like AOL anymore than you do and I use a cable modem and my local ISP for my internet access. My daughter only has AOL because she refuses to clean her room and I refuse to hook her up to cable until she does. HA HA HA

if i were your daughter, i would clean my room so fast. =) you should just tell her that youre going to wipe the hard drive and thats too bad for her. she needs to clean her room if you want her to save your emails.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

Um, you are paying an extra $20+ a month to punish your daughter?

 

[Slogun]

Originally posted by: Gonad the Barbarian
Um, you are paying an extra $20+ a month to punish your daughter?

Yes, she may be getting the last laugh because not only does she get out of cleaning her room, most teens prefer AOL to anything else including broadband!!

 

[Slogun]

If you want to set up your incentives properly, go ahead and give her cable, but hold back on the AOL till the room is clean.
It wont be so easy for her to do her chatting without AOL or AIM.

 

[Ronstang]

Hey guys, I am not a dumbass. My daughter is 21, she pays for AOL all by herself, and she is getting married in a few weeks and she doesn't need her machine anymore so I am pilfering it for parts for my DivX box....I am having the last laugh because I have had cable for a year and she has been paying for AOL and stuck on dial-up because she is too damn lazy to clean her GD room!

 

[Slogun]

Originally posted by: Ronstang
Hey guys, I am not a dumbass. My daughter is 21, she pays for AOL all by herself, and she is getting married in a few weeks and she doesn't need her machine anymore so I am pilfering it for parts for my DivX box....I am having the last laugh because I have had cable for a year and she has been paying for AOL and stuck on dial-up because she is too damn lazy to clean her GD room!

My bad. Didn't mean to imply you are a dumbass. She sounded like an untidy teen that needed the structure you were supplying. Just trying to be helpful.