dumping AOL but want to convert old saved messages on hard drive

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dumping AOL but want to convert old saved messages on hard drive

Hi.

I stopped using the AOL software eons ago, so this refers to older, saved messages on my hard drive. I DID NOT keep them in the AOL Filing Cabinet but instead saved messages (in AOL format...no other choice at the time) into assorted folders on my hard drive. The only way to open/view these messages is via the AOL software, which I'd like to dump once and for all.

The AOL Service Assistant sets you up in apple mail from scratch and imports from its Filing Cabinet. I long ago set up mail to access my AOL account, and like I said, my saved messages aren't in a filing cabinet, so I can't use this option.

Any help out there for this problem?

thanks!

Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Aug 31, 2009 8:54 AM

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Answer 1

Sep 26, 2009 7:39 AM in response to xtravoice

I'm trying to do the same thing. When I first tried to switch, I tested many app's and couldn't find one that could do what we both need. For some reason, these developers all seem to think that you want to keep all of you e-mail in one place. It sounds like you and I would like to file a message that contains all relevant information on a particular subject in a folder in the Finder. It doesn't matter if it's Word, pdf, excel, etc., I just want everything on that subject in one place. Thunderbird will open an individual AOL e-mail message, but you won't get the header information (from, to, subject, etc.). MacLinkPlus will let you view the entire message but it adds a lot of garbage. AOL Desktop will import your old PFC but can't open single messages. Also, many of the alternate programs do not even let you save a message in a separate folder in the Finder. So far, I haven't been able to save an outgoing Mail message until after it has been sent.

If you also kept a copy of that e-mail in your incoming saved mail folder that's part of your PFC (search your Mac for yourAOLemailscreenname's personal filing cabinet) it should have been imported when you converted to your new e-mail program. You can then find the message by date.

I'm in the process of trying to do that now and it does not appear that Mail imports from AOL. If that's correct (I plan to search here further or start a new thread), you can Import your AOL PFC into Thunderbird. Mail will import those mailboxes from Thunderbird. The problem is I had 33,000 messages in my PFC and it doesn't appear that all of them went into Thunderbird. So, bottom line, I've decided to just keep AOL 10.3.7 on my computer (although it does not work well with OS X 10.4 or 5 and up)

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