How to migrate emails from Eudora Mail to Outlook 2013

My parents finally picked up a new laptop after what feels like an eternity, and now I’m stuck trying to migrate their entire email history from the old machine to the new one. The old setup is running Windows XP and uses that ancient version of Outlook Express. On the new machine, I’ve installed Office 2013 on Windows 10. They're using their standard AT&T email account, which, if I recall correctly, doesn't store messages on the server. Because of that, Outlook 2013 didn't automatically pull in any of the old correspondence. The mail is working fine now, but the history is missing, so it looks like I'll have to move everything manually.

I've spent quite a bit of time digging through tutorials, but nothing seems to work for my specific situation. Outlook Express has an "export that PST" option, but whenever I try it, I just get hit with some cryptic error regarding MAPI. Every workaround I've stumbled upon online has failed miserably. I did read somewhere that you can import the entire folder containing those .dbx files—where each file acts as a folder, like Inbox.dbx—directly into Outlook 2013. However, when I launch the Import wizard, the "From Outlook Express" option that every tutorial swears by simply isn't there. I've cycled through every single import setting available, and none of them offer a way to handle DBX files.

How can I transfer this data without losing a single thing? If Outlook 2013 isn't the right tool for the job, I'm open to recommendations for a different client, provided it works seamlessly. It is absolutely critical that they have access to all their old emails and their entire contact list. This email is used for business, and missing even one message could cause some serious damage.

Look, if you're running Office 64, then just go ahead and read https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2796528 because it'll tell you everything you need to know.

Are you talking about the Outlook express on that old machine? Honestly, I highly doubt it’s running a 64-bit OS. That laptop is over nine years old; it’s got a single-core Celeron clocked at 1.6 GHz inside. There is zero chance it's 64-bit. 😁 Also, yeah, I’m getting this specific error from the link:

The export could not be performed.
An error occurred while initializing MAPI.

And regarding Outlook on the new computer—I don't see how whether it's 32-bit or 64-bit even matters here. I can't get an export to work out of the old Outlook express at all, so the issue clearly lies there (that error message I posted above). Or are you suggesting that a 32-bit version of Outlook on the new laptop might actually be able to import DBX files where a 64-bit version would fail?

To start with, I’ve basically tried two different ways to handle this:

- I installed an older version of Outlook (part of an old Office suite) on my old system—then I just moved everything from Outlook express -> that old Outlook -> then into the new Outlook.
- Or, you could try transferring via Windows Live Mail. On newer versions of Windows, that's essentially what replaced Outlook express. You can grab it through the Windows Essentials package, which is free on Microsoft's website http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/w...ive/essentials—so the path would be Outlook express -> Windows Live Mail -> the new Outlook.

I can also point you to where the address book is located if you're having trouble finding it.

Maybe Windows Live Mail will be enough for you—it's really just a reskinned version of Outlook express. Just a heads up during installation, though: make sure you only check the box for that specific program, otherwise it might try to install a bunch of other stuff you don't actually need.

That was exactly what I needed to hear! I went ahead and installed Live Mail, successfully imported all my messages from Eudora Mail, and everything is running smoothly now. The interface feels like a middle ground between Outlook 2013 and Eudora Mail—honestly, I think it’ll be plenty for them. They’ll likely have no choice anyway, since whenever I try to export to a PST, I run into that exact same error I was getting back in Eudora Mail. I've given up on trying to move files around; they might as well just stick with Live Mail.

Quick question,
if I try to log into my work Outlook from home, is there going to be some kind of alert sent out to my inbox? I'm currently at home and really need to check some emails—I just wouldn't want them to find out...🙂

Sorry to jump into this thread, but since everyone's talking about Outlook mail—does anyone know if there's any way to save my skin? Is it actually possible to recover deleted emails once they've been cleared out of the Deleted folder? 🤦Thanks.