E-mail files are quarantined by Windows Live OneCare

Windows Live OneCare may quarantine a whole mail folder if it detects a virus in an e-mail message that is contained in that folder.

Notes

• Microsoft Office Outlook uses one personal folder (.pst file) for its main storage of Mail, Calendar, Tasks, and Contacts. Everything is contained in the one .pst file.
• Microsoft Outlook Express uses several store folders (.dbx files) to store its e-mail files. It uses one .dbx file for each mail folder. For example:
  • Inbox.dbx
  • Outbox.dbx
  • Sent Items.dbx

There are two main scenarios in which this issue appears. The troubleshooting that is required differs slightly depending on which manifestation of this issue is being experienced.

• Scenario 1: Your e-mail has been quarantined, and you can see the quarantined e-mail file in the OneCare Quarantine list.
• Scenario 2: Your e-mail has been quarantined, but the entry for the quarantined e-mail file no longer exists in the OneCare Quarantine list. Using System Restore or other troubleshooting methods could cause this to occur.

Note To find out whether the e-mail file is listed in the OneCare Quarantine list, follow these steps:

1. Start OneCare, and then click Change OneCare Settings.
2. Click the Viruses and Spyware tab, and then click Quarantine.
3. Determine whether the e-mail file is listed.

Important We are here to help you follow these steps if they seem difficult. To contact us, open a support incident by following one of these steps:

• In OneCare, click Get help with Windows Live OneCare in the navigation pane.
• Visit the Microsoft Support Web site:
  http://support.microsoft.com (http://support.microsoft.com/)

Scenario 1: Your e-mail has been quarantined, and you can see the quarantined e-mail file in the OneCare Quarantine list

The main thing to remember when you follow these steps is that OneCare will restore the quarantined e-mail file and its original file name, such as Outlook.pst, to the original location. If an e-mail file that is already in the destination folder has the same name, you must rename the existing e-mail file. If you do not rename the existing e-mail file, you could overwrite the new e-mail file that contains the e-mail that you have received since the quarantine occurred.

Step 1: Close your e-mail client program.

• Close Outlook or Outlook Express

Step 2: Back up the Quarantine folder

1. Click Start, click Run, type %AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\OneCare Protection, and then click OK.
2. After OneCare Protection opens, right-click the Quarantine folder, and then click Copy.
3. Minimize the OneCare Protection window.
4. Right-click the desktop, and then click Paste. When the paste process is complete, a backup copy of the Quarantine folder appears on the desktop.
5. Close all open windows.

Step 3: Rename any existing e-mail files that might be overwritten, and then restore the quarantined e-mail file

1. Start OneCare.
2. Click Change OneCare Settings.
3. On the Viruses and Spyware tab, click Quarantine.
4. Expand the Where Found column, and note the path that is listed here. This is where the e-mail file will be restored. This is the default location for Outlook .pst files:
   %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
5. Locate the folder that is listed in the Where Found column in the Quarantine list. In this folder, verify that no existing e-mail files have the same name as the quarantined e-mail file. This is to make sure that no existing e-mail files are overwritten when you restore the quarantined file.
6. If there is an existing e-mail file that has the same name in the Where Found folder, right-click the existing e-mail file, and then clickRename.
7. After you have renamed any existing e-mail files, return to the OneCare Quarantine list, highlight the quarantined e-mail file, and then click Restore.

Step 4: Return the e-mail messages to their original location

Depending on the name of the e-mail file, you may automatically see all your quarantined mail appear the next time that you start Microsoft Office Outlook. If the mail does not automatically appear, import the mail file and merge it with the file that is currently being used by Outlook:

Office Outlook

1. In Outlook, click Import and Export on the File menu.
2. Click Import from another program or file, and then click Next.
3. Click Personal Folder File (.pst), and then click Next.
4. Select Replace duplicates with items imported, and then click Next until the import process starts. Repeat as necessary for all the .pst files that must be imported.

Outlook Express
Follow the steps in the following articles to import the e-mail:

• http://support.microsoft.com/kb/230208/en-us (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/230208/en-us)
• http://support.microsoft.com/kb/262118/en-us (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/262118/en-us)

Scenario 2: Your e-mail has been quarantined, but the entry for the file no longer exists in the OneCare Quarantine list

The main thing to remember when you follow these steps is that OneCare will restore the quarantined e-mail file and its original file name, such as Outlook.pst, to the original location. If an e-mail file that is already in the destination folder has the same name, you must rename the existing e-mail file. If you do not rename the existing e-mail file, you could overwrite the new e-mail file that contains the e-mail that you have received since the quarantine occurred.

Step 1: Close your e-mail client program

• Close Outlook or Outlook Express.

Step 2: Back up the Quarantine folder

1. Click Start, click Run, type %AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\OneCare Protection, and then click OK.
2. After OneCare Protection opens, right-click the Quarantine folder, and then click Copy.
3. Minimize the OneCare Protection window.
4. Right-click the desktop, and then click Paste. When the paste process is complete, a backup copy of the Quarantine folder appears on the desktop.
5. Close all open windows.

Step 3: Return the mail file to the OneCare Quarantine list so that it can be restored

1. Return to the OneCare Protection folder that is listed in "Step 1: Back up the Quarantine folder."
2. Open the Quarantine folder. You may see several folders, each of which corresponds to an item in the OneCare Quarantine list.
3. Open each folder in the Quarantine folder. Verify that each folder contains two files: Data.cab and Manifest.ini. Try to locate a folder in which the Manifest.ini file is missing. The folder that contains only a Data.cab file will contain the quarantined e-mail file. The e-mail file does not appear in the OneCare Quarantine list, because the Manifest.ini file is not present.
4. After you identify the folder that contains the quarantined e-mail file, double-click the Data.cab file in this folder. The file should open in your preferred Zip data compression program.
5. Right-click the Manifest.ini file that is inside the Data.cab file that you just opened, and then click Copy.
6. To return to the folder that contains the Data.cab file, close the Zip data compression program, or click BACK one time.
7. Right-click the folder, and then click Paste.
8. Make sure that a Data.cab file and a Manifest.ini file appear together in the folder.
9. Close all open windows.

Step 4: Rename any existing e-mail files that might be overwritten, and then restore the quarantined e-mail file

1. Start OneCare.
2. Click Change OneCare Settings.
3. On the Viruses and Spyware tab, click Quarantine.
4. Expand the Where Found column, and then note the path that is listed here. This is where the e-mail file will be restored. This is the default location for Outlook .pst files:
   %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
5. Locate the folder that is listed in the Where Found column in the Quarantine list. In this folder, make sure that no existing e-mail files that have the same name as the quarantined e-mail file. This is to make sure that no existing e-mail files are overwritten when you restore the quarantined file.
6. If there is an existing e-mail file that has the same name in the Where Found folder, rename it by right-clicking the existing e-mail file, and then clicking Rename.
7. After you have renamed any existing e-mail files, return to the OneCare Quarantine list, highlight the quarantined e-mail file, and then click Restore.

Step 5: Return the e-mail messages to their original location

Depending on the name of the e-mail file, you may automatically see all your quarantined mail appear the next time that you start Microsoft Office Outlook. If the mail does not automatically appear, import the mail file and merge it with the ,pst file that is currently being used by Outlook:

Office Outlook

1. In Outlook, on the File menu, click Import and Export.
2. Click Import from another program or file, and then click Next.
3. Click Personal Folder File (.pst), and then click Next.
4. Select Replace duplicates with items imported, and then click Next until the import process starts. Repeat as necessary for all the .pst files that must be imported.

Outlook Express
Follow the steps in the following articles to import the e-mail:

• http://support.microsoft.com/kb/230208/en-us (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/230208/en-us)
• http://support.microsoft.com/kb/262118/en-us (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/262118/en-us)