How to Backup MSN Email

Backing up MSN email is neccessary if the customer has moved mail from the MSN mail servers to "Folders on My Computer", and you plan to perform one of the two most common CTRL+SHIFT+F... key functions within MSN. A CTRL+SHIFT+F9 is used to try to reset email settings, as well as calendar and address book, but without touching other areas of MSN. It can erase mail saved on that customer's computer though, if you don't back it up first.

Similarly, a CTRL+SHIFT+F11 will do everything the F9 will do, but also deletes all user tiles (user settings and accounts associated to MSN) from the MSN sign-on screen. For both of these processes, if you don't backup the customer's locally stored email, you run the risk of a very hot caller when you erase their email.

MSN 9 introduced a much easier way of saving all this email stored on the customer's computer into a safe, zipped archive file in their My Documents folder. Unlike older version s of MSN, which were very difficult to work with in this respect, there is a utility to do this built into the Help & Settings menus now. This step can be done even if the customer is not able to connect, by signing in offline, then proceeding to try to get the customer online.

Backing Up Email

1. From within the MSN browser, click on Help & Settings, and then Settings.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Click on the very first link, Change your email settings.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Click on Import of Export Email, Copy Email, or Import Contacts.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Click Copy Email.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Click Next in the pop-up box that appears.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Click Save your Email Stored on this Computer. You will come up to this same point later to restore email settings, but chose Restore at that time.
   
   
   
   
   
7. This utility creates a file named "MSN_Mail.msnbak" by default. If you're backing up multiple users' email, you might add a number onto the MSN_Mail part of the filename. In any case, click Next.
   
   
   
   
   
8. Click Done.
   
   
   
   
   

Restoring Email

1. To restore previously saved email, follow the steps above up to step 6, but this time click Open your saved MSN Email.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Click Next.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Click Done.
   
   
   
   
   

That's all there is to backing up and then restoring saved MSN email in MSN 9!