Q302994: E-mail Folder(s) Appear At www.hotmail.com But Not in MSN Explor

Article: Q302994
Product(s): The Microsoft Network
Version(s): 6.1
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): 
Last Modified: 27-JUN-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- The Microsoft Network version 6.1 
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SYMPTOMS
========

You can view your list of e-mail folders when using Hotmail at
http://www.hotmail.com, but one or more of these folders do not show up when you
gain access to the same account using MSN Explorer.

CAUSE
=====

This can be caused by a temporary issue with Hotmail, or by a corrupt .dbx file
on your computer.

RESOLUTION
==========

Sign out and then sign back in to MSN Explorer. This causes MSN Explorer to
resynchronize folder settings with those in Hotmail.

If this does not resolve the issue and the issue persists, you may need to rename
or delete a file named folders.dbx from your computer and sign out and sign back
in to MSN Explorer.

Warning: Renaming the folders.dbx file can result in losing archived e-mail
stored locally on your computer. We recommend that you move to a server-side
folder any e-mail messages stored in the Archived e-mail folder (or other
folders on your hard disk drive) that you want to save before renaming the
folders.dbx file.

To move archived e-mail

1. Sign in to MSN Explorer.

2. On the horizontal navigation bar, click the E-mail icon.

3. If you do not see a list of folders, click the Show Folders button.

4. In the list of folders, under on My Computer, click Archived Mail.
  A list of messages in the Archived Mail folder appears.

5. Select each message that you want to save.
  If all messages in the folder do not fit on one screen, you may need to repeat
  this process to select all messages.

6. Click the Put in Folder button and, from the drop-down list, click a folder
  under on MSN (such as Saved Messages).
  The selected messages are now moved to the folder that you chose.

7. If the Archived Mail folder still contains messages that you want to move
  (for instance, if the messages did not fit on one screen), repeat the above
  steps until all messages have been moved.

8. You can repeat the steps above to save any messages that are in other folders
  under on My Computer by clicking the desired folder instead of Archived Mail
  in step 3.

Now you can rename the folders.dbx file.

Warning: Before doing so, make sure that you have moved all messages that you
want to save to a server-side folder (on MSN) to prevent losing them. Otherwise,
the messages are lost after you rename the folders.dbx file.

1. Sign out of MSN Explorer and close the program.

2. Right-click the Start button and click Explore.

3. On the View menu, click Folder Options.
  The Folder Options dialog box appears.

4. On the View tab, under Hidden files, select the Show all files check box.

5. Click the Apply button, and then click OK.

6. Close Windows Explorer by clicking the "X" in the upper-right corner.

7. In Windows 98 and earlier, click the Start button, point to Find, and then
  click Files or Folders. In Windows Me and 2000, click the Start button, point
  to Search, and then click Files or Folders.
  The "Find All Files" dialog box appears.

8. In the Named box, type hotmail.ini.

9. In the Containing text box, type your e-mail address (such as
  username@msn.com).

10. In the Look in box, make sure the hard drive is selected (usually C:).

11. Click the Find now button.

12. After the search is completed, select the file that was found (if more than
  one file is found, select the one with the most recent modified date).

13. On the File menu, click Open Containing Folder.

14. Right-click the file named folders.dbx, and then click Rename.

15. Type folders.old, and press the ENTER key.

16. Close the folder by clicking the "X" in the upper-right corner.

17. Start MSN Explorer and sign in.

18. On the horizontal navigation bar, click the E-mail icon.
  MSN Explorer now resynchronizes its folder settings with the Hotmail
  settings.

19. Click the Show Folders button.
  You should now see all folders that are visible at the hotmail.com Web site.

20. Right-click the Start button and click Explore.

21. On the View menu, click Folder Options.
  The Folder Options dialog box appears.

22. On the View tab, under Hidden files, select the Do not show hidden or system
  files check box.

23. Click the Apply button, and then OK.

24. Close Windows Explorer by clicking the "X" in the upper-right corner.

MORE INFORMATION
================


Additional query words: kbimu; MSN Explorer

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Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbMSNSearch kbMSN610
Version           : :6.1
Issue type        : kbprb

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