How to move e-mails stored on an old, crashed PC to a new PC?

Norton Security | Norton Internet Security
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BAD NEWS:  My old Dell PC (Windows XP Home with Norton 360 Premium protection) crashed on 6-24-11 while running Norton's Backdoor.Tidserv Removal tool (which I had downloaded from Norton to a CD after getting pop-up notices of a Tidserv infection).   All I get now is a dark screen with the following message: " Please report this problem as: load needed DLLs for kernel."  I'm also unable to run a CD copy of Norton's Bootable Recovery Tool on my old Dell PC.

 

GOOD NEWS:  I had a new e-machines PC sitting right next to my desk when my old Dell crashed (I'd been putting off retiring my Dell and transferring everything I needed over to my new PC for several months).   My new PC uses Windows 7 and, for security/protection, I'm currently using MSN Premium's bundled service which includes "free" McAfee and Webroot Spy Sweeper on my new PC as opposed to Norton 360 Premium.  (FWIW, I switched from Qwest/MSN to MSN Premium on 6-8-11 and I've already used up my 3 "included" Norton 360 Premium  installations).  With the exception of e-mails stored on my old PC, I've been able to locate & transfer everything I wanted/needed over to my new PC by using the hard drive from my old Dell PC as an external drive on my new PC (by removing it from my Dell and using an IDE to USB adapter cable to hook it up to my new PC);

 

MY PROBLEM:  I haven't been able to figure out how to locate/move e-mails stored on my old PC hard drive to my new PC -- something that I have a very urgent need to do.  My computer-idiot guess is that I've got three alternatives: (1) fix my old Dell PC, (2) figure out how to locate & transfer my old PC e-mails when using my old PC hard drive as an external drive to my new PC, or (3) use my 6-18-11 Norton 360 Premium back-up copy of my old PC e-mails to move my old PC e-mails to my new, non-Norton-protected PC (i.e., a 6-18-11 back-up copy is sufficiently current for my needs and it's accessibly located on a 1 TB USB Passport).

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BAD NEWS:  My old Dell PC (Windows XP Home with Norton 360 Premium protection) crashed on 6-24-11 while running Norton's Backdoor.Tidserv Removal tool (which I had downloaded from Norton to a CD after getting pop-up notices of a Tidserv infection).   All I get now is a dark screen with the following message: " Please report this problem as: load needed DLLs for kernel."  I'm also unable to run a CD copy of Norton's Bootable Recovery Tool on my old Dell PC.

 

GOOD NEWS:  I had a new e-machines PC sitting right next to my desk when my old Dell crashed (I'd been putting off retiring my Dell and transferring everything I needed over to my new PC for several months).   My new PC uses Windows 7 and, for security/protection, I'm currently using MSN Premium's bundled service which includes "free" McAfee and Webroot Spy Sweeper on my new PC as opposed to Norton 360 Premium.  (FWIW, I switched from Qwest/MSN to MSN Premium on 6-8-11 and I've already used up my 3 "included" Norton 360 Premium  installations).  With the exception of e-mails stored on my old PC, I've been able to locate & transfer everything I wanted/needed over to my new PC by using the hard drive from my old Dell PC as an external drive on my new PC (by removing it from my Dell and using an IDE to USB adapter cable to hook it up to my new PC);

 

MY PROBLEM:  I haven't been able to figure out how to locate/move e-mails stored on my old PC hard drive to my new PC -- something that I have a very urgent need to do.  My computer-idiot guess is that I've got three alternatives: (1) fix my old Dell PC, (2) figure out how to locate & transfer my old PC e-mails when using my old PC hard drive as an external drive to my new PC, or (3) use my 6-18-11 Norton 360 Premium back-up copy of my old PC e-mails to move my old PC e-mails to my new, non-Norton-protected PC (i.e., a 6-18-11 back-up copy is sufficiently current for my needs and it's accessibly located on a 1 TB USB Passport).

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mec

 

<<  (2) figure out how to locate & transfer my old PC e-mails when using my old PC hard drive as an external drive to my new PC, >>

 

The easy way and well worth the investment is to get an adapter like below which has connections for most drive physical types -- 2.5 3.5 Hard drives or  optical drive plus a power brick to drive them and an adapter to convert them to USB which you can plug into a USB socket on your running PC.

 

You can't boot to Windows but your new PC will see it as a new drive and you can use Windows Explorer or other utilities to locate the files in question.

 

You won't be able to run the Outlook Express or whatever you used to handle the files but someone can tell you what location to go to if you provide the information on the email client you used.

 

What I use:

 

BYTECC BT-300 USB 2.0 to IDE/SATA   $16.99 plus $1.99 shipping from NewEgg

 

If you are in a rush you might find it or similar locally.

 

It's not something you would use to convert a hard drive into a routine use external drive but you can get those from NewEgg etc also -- I got one for about $10 for a 80GB drive out of a laptop when I upgraded the size and it gives the user useful portable external storage.

 

But remember -- your hard drive will fail --- it's not if but when ....

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I used and continue to use MSN Explorer for e-mail purposes.

 

As discussed in my original post, I've already got and used a cable/adapter like you describe to retrieve everything I wanted/needed except my e-mails from my old PC's hard drive.

 

As also discussed in my original post, I've got a sufficiently current (for my limited e-mail retrieval purposes) Norton back-up copy stored in an accessible location -- if I could only use such after my hard drive failed.

 

FWIW and consistent with being a computer idiot, I've spent hours and hours using Windows Explorer and manual searches in an effort to locate the e-mails stored on my old PC hard drive with no luck (let alone figuring out how to transfer such if I ever find them).

 

Can you provide any specific information, links, etc., concerning the "other utilities" you referenced or anything else that might be helpful with my specific issue?

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Hi mec,

 

Found this, which sounds like your situation, exactly.  Don't know how useful it will be though:

 

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/ie8-windows_7/move-msn-mail-local-folders-and-files-from-hard/5a9794ad-7c47-e011-90b6-1cc1de79d2e2

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Hugh,

 

Thanks for the reply with the link.  As best as I can determine, the problem described at the link provided matches my problem (i.e., how to move e-mails stored/stranded on an inoperable XP PC to an operable Windows 7 PC).  The fix described at this link, however, isn't helpful because it essentially deals with moving e-mails from an operable XP PC to an operable Windows 7 PC.

 

mec

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Hugh,

 

In response to you prior question about "e-mail client", I've always (8 or more years?) used MSN Premium.  See link below for Qwest and MSN alliance discussion.  I was a Quest/MSN Premium customer prior to electing to continue using MSN Premium on 6-8-2011.

 

http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_17868927

 

Also, I'm not getting why I'm not hearing anything from someone at Norton about how to use my Norton 360 Premier back-up to fix my stranded e-mail problem.  This is a Norton community forum after all.  What purpose does a Norton 360 Premier back-up serve?  A paper weight?

 

mec

8

Mec ---

 

Slow down!

 

These Forums were established by Norton to provide support for their products in parallel with the support Norton provide by CHAT, Phone and email but here the support is provided by other users and brings their daily experience with the products under working conditions. You will see Norton Staff here -- their names in red -- but mostly the help comes from other users some of us with decades of experience and since we use our machines under condidtions like your own and since we all started off as newbies this help is sometimes just what is needed.

 

When you see "guru" alongside someone's name that means that we have been selected by Norton for a variety of reasons and we do have access to sources of information within the Norton system. The Norton Staff usually come in when there is a problem with the actual product or the way they operate.

 

You posted at 9:00 pm last night and several of us have asked for more information in order to understand your situation better -- in my case I had and have no idea what the MSN service you use is since I don't use it and I don't see any reference to you having anything other than two PCs one with a problem and one without knowing that you could do it by connecting the drive as an external one -- hence my pointer to how to physically arrange to get information off a non-functional PC ina  simple and cheap way.

 

I would also aadd that you don't seem to be using Norton 360 but McAfee. We can tell you how to arrange to free up the Norton 360 activation on the crashed computer if you would like to do that.

 

I know your priority is to get at the email on the hard drive from your crashed PC. -- I'm sure someone will help you if they have experience of that system. but you might consider asking how to do this on Microsoft's own forums.

 

However if you have not instealled N 360 on your new PC then I'm sure you need to do that. so let us know if you would like help in freeing up a N 360 activation if that is what is blocking you.

 

PS -- Is MSN Mail web-based or does it actually store messages on your computer? I'm not talking about your back up but the original setup on your PC? If it's web-based then I would imagine you can redownload what has not been deleted off the server.

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Hugh,

 

Thanks for your reply and my apologies for letting my frustration with my stranded-e-mail predicament overflow into my posts on this thread.  My apologies as well as to all others observing and pondering this thread.

 

In my initial post, I presented my three best computer-idiot guesses as to what my general alternatives are:

(1) fix my old Dell PC,

(2) figure out how to locate & transfer my old PC e-mails when using my old PC hard drive as an external drive to my new PC, or

(3) use my 6-18-11 Norton 360 Premium back-up copy of my old PC e-mails to move my old PC e-mails to my new, non-Norton-protected PC (i.e., a 6-18-11 back-up copy is sufficiently current for my needs and it's accessibly located on a 1 TB USB Passport).

 

Your last reply suggests a fourth alternative that I hadn't thought of -- "arrange to free up the Norton 360 activation on the crashed computer."

 

As I understand my Norton 360 subscription, I'm only allowed 3 installations per subscription and I've already used  my 3 installations (e.g., one installation for my old inoperable Dell XP PC with the stranded e-mail problem and two of my daughters'  laptops). My initial post assumed, perhaps in error, that Norton won't allow me to transfer the Norton 360 installation on my old inoperable PC to my new PC absent purchasing an additional Norton 360 subscription (i.e., $$$ I’d prefer not to spend).

 

FWIW, my miles-wide, paper-thin web research (i.e., undoubtedly questionable) suggests that Norton 360 back-up: (a) works fairly well for restoring files/programs to the same Norton 360 protected PC; (b) less well (i.e., hiccups likely but generally workable) for restoring files/programs from a Norton 360  back-up of a Norton 360 protected PC to a different Norton 360 protected PC; and (c) is unusable (and possibly destructive) for restoring Norton 360 backed-up files/programs from a Norton 360 protected PC to a different non-Norton-360 protected PC.

 

My present situation above is (c).  I have a sufficiently current Norton-360-back-up of all files/programs on an old (soon-to-be-retired, virus-infested, inoperable, Norton-360-protected) XP PC and a new (operable, McAfee and Webroot Spy Sweeper protected as opposed to Norton 360 protected) Windows 7 PC.

 

If I understand where you're possibly going in your reply, I'm certainly OK with attempting to use my Norton 360 back-up of my old XP PC dated 6-18-11 to restore e-mails to my new Windows 7 PC if Norton would authorize me to install Norton 360 on my new PC for no additional $$$ (and, if so, say goodbye to McAfee and Webroot Spy Sweeper).

 

Also, in response to another question in your reply, my MSN mail service stores all of my (non-manually-trashed/discarded by me) e-mails in either one of two locations (i.e., never both): (1) some MSN administered web-based location or (2) my computer's hard drive. By default (I don't recall whether these defaults were set by me or MSN years ago), incoming e-mails are stored at a MSN location (unless manually moved by me to my PC -- which I have done and will continue to do for a small % of my incoming mail) and outgoing e-mails are stored on my PC. My sole concern here is retrieval of e-mails stored on my old XP PC -- I currently have full access to my e-mails stored on/by MSN (with my new Windows 7 PC or other operable PC’s that I’ve used).

 

Thanks again,

mec

 

10

No problem --

 

Here's what you need to do.

 

On the new PC you need to remove any security program that may have come preinstalled in the usual way from Windows Control Panel and then with a special tool you can download from the website of that program. We can give you a link if you say what it is.

 

This would seem to be <<  "free" McAfee and Webroot Spy Sweeper  >>

 

Hopefully this link will take care of McAfee & Webroot

 

McAfeehttp://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe 

 

Webroothttp://support.webroot.com/cgi-bin/webroot.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1761

 

The McAfee link is to download their tool but the Webroot seems at a quick glance just to use Windows but check it out and see if anyone here adds anything.

 

Having done that and rebooted the computer after each clean up step  you can install Norton 360:

 

Norton 360 v5 Premier: http://www.norton_co​m/n360p_5/    << version with 25GB of online storage

 

Make sure you get the right version since the keys are not interchangeable. SAVE the file where you can find it -- do not run it from the download site when Windows asks what you want to do. You can download that file on any computer and transfer it to a thumbdrive to install on another.

 

When it asks you to activate it you can click on Subscribe / Renew and enter the key there. It will probably say you have exceeded the permissable number of activations so then contact Norton's OnLine Customer support via the CHAT routine as below Just tell them the background and since by then you will have N 360 installed on the new PC they may even be able to guide you through getting the OnLine Backups linked to your new machine.

 

Meanwhile you should have a trial period of 7 - 15 days, I forget which, so you will be protected

 

To contact customer support Click on this link and work on from there. You may have to scroll down a little to see the SCAN button.

You can choose CHAT or Email; email or phone may have a long wait time and feedback from users tells us that CHAT is by far the best at resolving problems.

Note that that link is to the USA/CAN website so if you are located elsewhere I'm sure you will be able to find the equivalent location on your local Symantec website; some pages have a link at the top right where you can select the country you are located in.

As to the actual recovery of the files I'll call for help on that since I've not used the OnLine Backup myself.


Please let us know how you get on or if you've any questions ....

11

Hi mec,

 

Is the issue that you cannot find the MSN mail files, or that they cannot be successfully copied over?  I am not familiar with MSN Mail, but the messages might be stored as .eml files.  If you do a Windows Search of *.eml, do you find anything?