Windows live mail 2011 will not open now

Contacts are stored under Windows Live (not Windows Live Mail), in a hidden system folder:

**C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live\Contacts**

For %username% substitute the name of the current user.

That folder is hidden by default. You have to elect to show "hidden files, folders and drives", in Windows 7's "Explorer" (called "File Explorer" in Windows 10), to be able to see it.

The following command opens that folder, in Windows 7, even if it's not in the default location (a single command, that must be copied and pasted as a single line):

FOR /F "TOKENS=4* SKIP=1" %A IN ('REG QUERY "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail" /V "Store Root"') DO @CALL explorer %A %B & EXIT

1. Copy that line of text to the clipboard.
2. Open a command window: press Windows key + the R key to open a Run box, type CMD then press the Enter key.
3. Then right-click inside that command window, and click on 'Paste' to insert the copied text.
4. Press the Enter key (the folder in which the current user's e-mail messages are stored will open).
5. Do NOT rename or move this folder!! Make a copy of the folder and all of its contents and subfolders (e.g. copy it to the Desktop), so that two identical sets of files exist.

If you can open that folder, don't monkey with its contents.

Make a copy of the folder on your desktop, it contains one (or more) ESE database files. Your contacts are in that file.

There are quite a few programs that can read an ESE database file. I suggest NirSoft DatabaseView -

[http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/esedatabaseview.zip](http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/esedatabaseview.zip)

ESEDatabaseView is a simple utility that reads and displays the data stored inside an Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) database (also known as "Jet Blue"), an .edb (Extensible DataBase) file.

It displays a list of all tables available in the opened database file, allows you to choose the desired table to view, and then when you choose a table it displays all records found in the selected table.

ESEDatabaseView also allows you to easily choose one or more records, and then export them into comma-delimited/tab-delimited/html/xml file, or copy the records to the clipboard (Ctrl+C) and then paste them into Excel or another spreadsheet application.

You are over-complicating this. There is a much simpler solution.

WLM uses the .eml file format to store its e-mail messages. Each message is stored as a single .eml file. An .eml file contains only text, and will open in Notepad.

You therefore do not need an e-mail program to read your messages. The function of an e-mail program is to send and receive. Any text editor can read your existing messages.

This is usually good advice, but it might not be good for you if you were in the habit of sending or receiving mail in some format other than plain text.

Don, thanks for your suggestion. Unfortunately, it did not solve the issue. I still get the "Windows Live Mail has stopped working" when I try to open it. Any other thoughts ?

John

Sorry for delayed reply.

1. Will WLM open after you start Windows 7 in Safe Mode?

https://support.lenovo.com/lu/en/solutions/ht116905 

2. Are you running third-party antivirus/security that scans incoming email messages?

Don

Don, thanks for your suggestion. Unfortunately, it did not solve the issue. I still get the "Windows Live Mail has stopped working" when I try to open it. Any other thoughts ?

John

I have had a windows 7 computer that ran windows live mail 2011 without any issue for years. just the other day it will not let open windows live mail. Say there is an issue with the program and windows will look for a fix. I have run the Windows live essentials 2011 repair tool and it goes all the way to !00 % and then says it lost the internet connection ( which it did not ). It asks me to retry but that click does nothing. I have numerous emails in there I need to see. How do I restor this and not lose the emails and files? Appreciate any help

Sad and lesson learned to update when windows stop supporting a product

John

1. Problem continued after a restart?
2. Flush the DNS Cache.

For Windows 7...
From Start> All programs> Accessories, right-click Command Prompt and choose "Run as administrator". At the flashing cursor type in ipconfig /flushdns (note the space between

config and / ) hit [Enter] then Restart.

Don