Nicely done! 

It's all in the paths.  That process only works when new duplicates old.

This another question that I'm sure has been covered but for all my searching, I'm not a lot wiser.

My trusty XP PC has turned up it's toes, due to dodgy capacitors on the mother board. My only option as a quick fix is to purchase a Win 10 machine. Just can't get anything else, without waiting and I can't wait. I've also purchased a  box that'll take my old hard drives and apparently they're configuring things so I'll be able to access them to retrieve stuff.

I'm wondering what process I should follow to get Pegasus up and running on the Win 10 PC? I've read everything I can but am still unsure what steps to take. My basic thought is to install Pegasus on the new PC, then replace C:\PMAIL\MAIL with the coresponding file from the old HD but I'm not sure if this is correct. Ideally, I'd like to bring everything over as I've a lot of filters, as well as archived folders going back twenty years, not to mention the settings for the four accounts it checks. Ultimately though, everything can be replaced, except for the actual e.mail files.

I'm a bit daunted at having to learn a new operating system and also tackle recovering my Pegasus, but my entire business is tied up in those e.mails. I asked the local computer people about the problem but they just ask why I'm not using Outlook! (stupid looks are free!) I'd very much appreciate any guidance, either in the form of a link to a guide (I've got 41852) or general advice. I don't know my way around Win 10 and don't want to mess it up. I'm not even sure what sort of access I'm going to get to the old HD's

If you know the exact paths where the Pegasus Mail program files and the \MAIL directory existed on the XP machine then you can run them in the identical locations on the Win10 machine without any loss or reconfiguration provided nothing was in a \Program Files directory.  What you would do is:

• Copy all of the Pegasus Files, programs and mail, to the Win10 machine in the identical paths that they were on the XP machine.  Failure is guaranteed if not copied to identical paths.
  
• Run winpm-32.exe from the \Programs directory.  Pegasus Mail should start up.  Immediately close it.  This will create a registry entry recording the path to Pegasus Mail.
• Now run a downloaded copy of the Pegasus Mail installer (from www.pmail.com).  It should see that registry entry and offer to do an Upgrade.  Choose that option.
• The installer will then create the shortcuts and the additional registry entries needed for the full functionality of Pegasus Mail without affecting your mail data or previous configuration.
• That should do it
  

Be sure to capture and protect a copy all Pegasus Mail directories on the XP hard drive for use in the event that the above doesn't work and a different approach needs to be taken.

Thanks Brian, but I'm not sure that I understand the answer.

I've just taken possession of the Win 10 machine and am in fact typing this on my brand new keyboard. I don't know the paths from the old XP machine. I hopefully have access to the old HD's, a challenge I'll be tackling in the morning. Pegasus was simply set up in it's default arrangement. In twenty years of use, I've just left it to do it's thing. This has always been done very well so I've never got involved in the detail.

Sorry if this sounds a bit vague but I'm involved in a lot of technical stuff of an industrial nature and my only real requirement of a PC is that it's reliable. XP and Pegasus have performed so well, for so many years, that I've totally lost track of what where and how. 

I'm pretty sure Pegasus was on the E drive in the old PC. I had a PC failure in 2008 and the old C drive was simply moved into a new machine and re-christened E. Would this mean all the paths would be wrong?  

[quote user="Rupert"]I'm pretty sure Pegasus was on the E drive in the old PC. I had a PC failure in 2008 and the old C drive was simply moved into a new machine and re-christened E. Would this mean all the paths would be wrong?   [/quote]

If C: became E: at some point then the paths in Pegasus Mail must have been corrected when that happened.  Either that, or it was being run with the -ROAM command line option.  The paths must be identical for the copy process I described to work so determination of that is dependent on access to Pegasus Mail on the old drive.  If you have access you can use a text editor to look inside of the PMAIL.INI file located in the mailbox directory to see what paths are shown for the "Home mailbox location", "Working home mailbox location", and "New mailbox location".  There may be multiple entries but they should all have the same path, if not blank (it's normal for some to be blank).

Thanks Brian. I admit to still being totally confused but you've given me something to work on and I see a rapid upskilling occurring tomorrow!

I honestly don't remember any trauma back in 2008 when I had to get a new machine, not with Pegasus anyway.  If the paths are incorrect (what is correct?), is it possible for me to correct them prior to copying across?

[quote user="Rupert"]I honestly don't remember any trauma back in 2008 when I had to get a new machine, not with Pegasus anyway.  If the paths are incorrect (what is correct?), is it possible for me to correct them prior to copying across?[/quote]

Some people have reported success in just changing the paths within the Pegasus Mail configuration files but I'm not one of them so couldn't help with that.  It's not an overwhelming task to do a clean install and then copy the mailbox data from the old mailbox to the new one.  There is a whitepaper available in the downloads section of this site that was created as a guide for that process.  This is the route I suggest going considering the age of the old Pegasus Mail installation.  Cleaning out the cobwebs can be a good thing, although a little tedious.  The whitepaper is called Pegasus Mail files to copy to a new system guide and can be found here:  http://community.pmail.com/files/folders/whitepapers/default.aspx

Ah-ha. I saw that guide but wasn't sure what to make of it. It gives a list of file names but doesn't give any indication what to do with them. Does one simply copy these files from the old install and overwrite them into the new?

I quite like the idea of a fresh install and cleaning out the cobwebs as my original install goes back a long way but I have to save the e.mails. Most could probably be lost but every so often I have to refer back to a job ten years ago and then they are essential. My filters and setup for the different accounts would also save me a lot of time if I could save them.

The process is to do a clean installation of Pegasus Mail ensuring you tick the "preconfigure a mailbox" option.  This will create a mailbox directory as C:\PMAIL\MAIL\ADMIN.  You will be prompted to configure the POP3 or SMTP hosts during the install.  Read to the end of the post for more about that. 

You will need to set all of the Preferences and Settings found in Tools > Options.  The old pmail.ini can serve as a guide (do not copy from the old mailbox). 

Next you copy files, as per the whitepaper, from the old mailbox directory to the new \ADMIN directory.  It is extremely important to copy just data files and not any of the configuration files.  That means you should not have any overwrites.  If you are prompted for one stop and seek clarification.

Regarding the POP3 and SMTP host configuration files.  These are .PND file that the whitepaper lists as useful for reference.  These can be copied over but they're really easy to recreate if you know the settings and I lean towards creating new ones rather than copying existing ones which is why the whitepaper is rewritten like it is.  It's your choice on whether to copy or create new.  You will still need to configure the Internet Options (Tools > Internet Options), you just won't need to create the host files if you copy the old ones over.

Well, I'm in a state of shock. It actually went painlessly!! Many thanks for your help Brian.

I went with the first option you gave after I discovered PMAIL was actually on the C: drive after all. I connected the old hard drive as an external drive on the new PC. The PC called it G: drive, but I knew it was the old C: drive from the broken XP machine. I located PMAIL, right clicked and copied.

I then went to the C: drive on the new PC, right clicked and pasted. Walked away and left it to it for a while. Returned when it was all done and "safely removed" the external drive. I clicked on the winpm-32.exe, located under C:PMAIL/programs. Pegasus started up perfectly. I immediately closed it.

Downloading and running Pegasus installer completed the job. It offered to do an upgrade and that was it. Icon appeared on the desktop, I clicked it and Pegasus opened, downloaded mail, exactly as before.

I have to say I'm very impressed. I remember using Pegasus on Windows 3.1. Here we are twenty plus years later and it's still performing well. It wouldn't surprise me if there's still bits of that original install working away in there somewhere! 

Thanks again for the advice. I've described what I did above, in the hope it might help someone else  in the same position.