Outlook Express

[John]

Hi people,

Is it possible to bypass the password for an IDENTITY in Outlook Express? Nothing dodgy, I just have my old e-mail account set up but cannot remember the password I set for the Identity.

[GlosRFC]

Yes, by making a few registry tweaks

[John]

Hi Glos,

I would be grateful if you could point me in the right direction! (again :))

It's not a big deal if you are unsure.....

How's the hamster?

[GlosRFC]

Still alive and kicking, hence the reason I'm up at this ungodly hour.

You can't recover the password but you can delete the old identity, create a new one and import the messages into this.

Start, Run, Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Identities.
Click on each of the Identities listed on the left and check the Username on the right to identify which account you want to delete. It will obviously NOT be the Identity that you are currently using. To check this, in OE click File, Switch Identities and it will tell you at the top of that window which Username you are currently using. An alternative method is to click Tools, Options, Maintenance, and the Store Folder button. The number/letter combination you can see between \Identities and \Microsoft is your current identity.
When you've identified it, make a note of the User ID as you will need that later.
Right-click the forgotten Identity on the left and select Delete if you're sure it's NOT the Identity that you are currently using.
First part is now done.

If you already have a second identity then go to the third part otherwise create a new one.
In OE click File, Identities, Add New Identity.
Enter the name you want to use.
Click OK.
When asked if you want to switch to your new identity, select Yes.
Complete all the email details as per normal when setting up a new email account.
Second part all finished.

In OE, go to Files, Import, Messages.
Choose Outlook Express 5 from the list.
Select Import mail from an OE5 store directory and click OK.
Click Browse.
Navigate to Windows/Application Data/Identities and look for the User ID you made a note of earlier.
Click the + next to that and then again in Microsoft and in Outlook Express.
Click OK.
Click Next and select the folders you want to import.
Click Next again and then Finish.
Third part dusted and done with.

That's it. You should now have all of the emails from the old identity successfully imported into your new identity.

[jollyjayne]

The other option is to contact your service provider and they will supply you with your passwords.

[GlosRFC]

It's unlikely that an ISP will have details of user-specified Outlook Express identity passwords though they will have details of account/connection passwords.

[John]

Glos, thanks again for going to such great lengths to help me. :)

Unfortunately though, when I import, only two "Welcome to Outlook Express" messages are imported. I've clicked on all the identities (about 8 in total, yet only 2 are Outlook Express ones) and tried importing but to no avail.

I think I am doing everything correctly but will keep trying.

There is only one identity called "Hotmail01" the other identity I have just created called "JohnTest" is just used as a dummy to import into itself from Hotmail01.

[Win2Win]

You could do it the easy way :D

http://www.handyarchive.com/free/cra...look-password/

[plater]

I found a recovery tool on Google, as always have a check to see if it's OK to run.
Site http://www.handyarchive.com/Utilitie...-Recovery.html
File http://www.handyarchive.com/download...d-recovery.exe

Also
http://advanced-outlook-express-pass...uritybyte.com/

http://www.securitybyte.com/cgi-bin/...event=download


Plater

[plater]

Beat me to it Boss :D

[John]

Thanks very much folks I'll have a look at those links later. :)

[Win2Win]

Beat me to it Boss

He'll propably discover the last one he tries will be the one to do the job anyway :)

[TheOldhamWhisper]

The Hotmail ones probably won't work - since they introduced fees, all 'free' accounts must be logged into every 30 days (using IE and a passport). Emails are no longer accessible by OE unless you are willing to fork out £15 a year!

[John]

Thanks a lot for the help, I found what I was looking for :)

[Win2Win]

Please tell us how we are all sitting on the edge of our seats (...yer right :))