Accessing Email Messages Constructed In Outlook Format

[buildersmate]

If one uses Windows Live Mail as the email client, but wishes to view (on a one-off basis) some email messages on a CDROM that are in MS Outlook format, what is the best way to do this, please? Attempts to use the Import function from Live Mail don't work as the only options for the import format seem to be OE6, Live Mail or Mail.
I have Outlook (as part of MS Office) but which I have chosen not to use. I don't want to invoke Outlook only to find it permanently fouls up my current Live Mail set-up.

[Buenchico]

Open the CD contents in Windows Explorer.
Right-click on an email file and select 'Open with'.
Choose any text editor (such as Notepad, Wordpad or Microsoft Word).
That will display all of the text but without any HTML formatting that was used when it was sent.

[buildersmate]

Sounds good, Chris, but doesn't actually work (in either Notepad or MS Word). I can certainly see some of the text of the message, but there's an awful lot of additional garbage. And some of the messages have attachments, so it doesn't work there.
Any other offers? I don't mind invoking Outlook as a one-off to view them, but it seems to involve invoking a whole new Outlook set-up and I don't want it to interfere with Live Mail in any way.

[The Builder]

BM, you could convert the files to PDF.

http://www.novapdf.com/kb/convert-email-to-pdf-207.html

I think it's a free download. A bit of a game to do it this way, but should work

[The Builder]

Sorry............. that's no good. You have to be in OE to do the job.

[Buenchico]

Next try!

Right-click on an email.
Select 'Open with', then on 'Choose program'.
Click on Windows Live Mail if it's listed. If not, click the 'Browse' button to locate wlmail.exe (It's probably located at C:\Program Files\Windows Live\Mail\wlMail.exe).
Put a tick alongside 'Always use the selected program to open this kind of file'
Click OK.

[buildersmate]

Hmm. What that does is to open Live Mail OK, but into the normal inbox - no attempt to open the actual email message that was right-clicked on. And no apparent way of getting back to the CDROM files (from within Live Mail).
What I might have to do is copy the emails into the same area on hard disk where Live Mail stores my 'normal' emails. Maybe it'll then see them as a separate inbox.

[Buenchico]

If you still get stuck, install Thunderbird and try opening your emails with that:
http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/

[buildersmate]

Thank you for your efforts, Chris.

In the end, I have found a way to do it, initiating new Set-up of Outlook without fouling up Live Mail. I had a set up a dummy email address in Outlook to get through the Set-up Wizard, but now I can at least view the messages. Just have to keep telling Outlook that I don't want it to become my default email programme. BM