How to reinstate WinMail onto Windows 8/10/11

[Ex_Brit]

OK, got it working just fine. I also got the Calendar link working. For that simply follow the 7 Tute from the Task manager part onwards (no need for the prior part as WinCal already exists in Windows 10). But note for that part you do need a copy of a Vista XML file (see post #35 on Seven Forums)

 

[davidvh2]

Hi endeaver, I've had no problems getting WM onto many Windows 7 PC's but I'm stuck on getting WM onto my newly installed Windows 10. All the files I've put in the new folder (with Take Ownership) are there & correct as far as I know & I've run the reg file you've given but I'm still getting the message "This app cannot run on this system" message. Could you offer any advice. Most appreciated if you will & thanks in advance.​

 

[endeavor]

Hi david,

Yes I've seen that error before but it's only because you have not followed/done the directions correctly.

I will sincerely and respectfully say the same thing I've said before similar to posts 122 & 123 above
(notice they finally succeeded though)

 

[endeavor]

I am fully truly being respectful when I say this, but installing this WinMail hack is for self-reliant persons who have an Above Average Understanding of computer functioning (having backups of their OS and everything) 'before' they make any changes like this. Having said that, installing WinMail takes less than a few minutes, of course the harder part is the normal setting-up of email clients which takes longer.

When it comes to using or installing WinMail on Win8 (and especially Win10) it is definitely not supported by MS, or me, which means either you have the abilities to do it, and be self-reliant, or you should not do it at all. I am personally not offering support for it and especially have no time to do that - a heartfelt sorry. I like to empower people to do it themselves, if one is not able then they should not do it.

I've taken the time to outline in post #1 how to do it for techies, starting from where it says ''2015 Revised''
...the writing before that is important but in in a time-line conversation sense.
Again though, if one is not experienced to do it, then they really should not do it for their own setups safety sake.

Thank you!

 

[normrdt]

Win10

Endeavor
I have Winmail working on Windows 7 and Windows 8. I was waiting on installing Win10 because I wanted to be sure it will work. May try it on a test machine first.
Question ------ I have had Winmail stop working after windows updates (can't remember which one) and I have had to go back uninstall the update and reinstall Winmail. Are there updates to watch for? Any easy solution to this. Backups before every update? What is your recommendation?
I understand your reluctance to support this as you can just get tired of all the ???? I do some support for friends and such and I get tired of all the ?????? so I have never installed Winmail on others machines. I used to write in Visual basic and C+ but sometimes this stuff just gets the better of me. Must be an age thing.
Thanks for your work on this.
Norm

 

[davidvh2]

Hi endeavor

Firstly I'd like to thank you for your reply. Secondly I can confirm that I've now got it working & made it the default mail program.

I believe my problem was as a result of my not starting off fresh. The Windows Mail folder had been carried over from my Windows 7 by the Windows 10 upgrade. As a result of your post & my own earlier experiences, I decided to delete the lot & start over. Then it all worked. That was a whole lot quicker than fiddling round trying to find out why. Anyway, many thanks to you again & others for their input.

 

[endeavor]

Endeavor
I have Winmail working on Windows 7 and Windows 8. I was waiting on installing Win10 because I wanted to be sure it will work. May try it on a test machine first.
Question ------ I have had Winmail stop working after windows updates (can't remember which one) and I have had to go back uninstall the update and reinstall Winmail. Are there updates to watch for? Any easy solution to this. Backups before every update? What is your recommendation?
Norm

For sure is always good to do test installs on a test machine first if you have one, I do it All The Time!
...or create a 'partition image first' so that you can restore it if needed.
(I never use on-board System Restore ponts, I have that feature turned off, so I can't verify its effective resolution for WinMail; I'm an avid partition image believer and user)

As to which updates, as I had mentioned in the instructions post, it's usually the major updates whether on Win7, Win8.1 or Win10, and certainly any OS version upgrades will do it for sure; for instance like I have been doing every month with Windows 10 lately having to fix WinMail, but that is not the norm since as you know the major build changes for Win10 evolution have been understood.
There is really no way to know which ones, but honestly Norm, it is so quick and easy if an update/upgrade happens and breaks it, as I said to a recent post and in post #1, it's so fast and simple to repair what gets done to WinMail to break it (which has always been the WinMail programs folder files get over written) ...and so as per the post #1 instructions, it takes me (or anyone) just 60 seconds or less, to right right click on the WinMail programs folder, take ownership, delete it, and copy your saved 'working' one back in it's place, quick and simple - actually it's so blessed quick there is no need to think about which update will do it - because you can put it back working in mere seconds! I have Windows Update turned off fwiw, but that's just me and I don't recommend that, I only do that so that I can choose the timing I do Any updates, that way it gives me a moment to make a partition backup, first!

Anyway besides that, on a normal weekly basis a good tech minded person will aways create partition backups with your favorite partition imager. And not do it just for simple WinMail stuff either, but if any major upgrade, or whatever calamity of installs you do and don't like, or Anything that may happen you don't want... ...no problem, you simply restore the partition image you just made before your adventure, and your OS partition is back 'byte for byte' to how it was before whatever calamity happened!

 

[endeavor]

Hi endeavor

Firstly I'd like to thank you for your reply. Secondly I can confirm that I've now got it working & made it the default mail program.

The Windows Mail folder had been carried over from my Windows 7 by the Windows 10 upgrade.

For sure, with any major upgrade of OS's like that, it will overwrite the WinMail programs folder for sure, so all you need to do afterwards is to right right click on the WinMail programs folder, take ownership, delete it, and copy your saved 'working' one back in it's place, done. (In that Major OS upgrade case, from 7 to 10, you 'might' have to merge the WinMailEdit.reg again, but that takes a split second to do, and the nice thing about it this one will Not change any of your previous settings! ..it will just set the basics aright, if, the upgrade over-wrote anything in the registry related)

Congratulations davidvh!

I am proud of you! good job!

If you had to do it again, you could do it very fast, and as you get the hang of it, you get faster and more confident each time. It's just a bunch of 'mindful' click click clicks of the mouse is all.

Save your 'working' WinMail programs folder in a safe place, and save your notes!

 

[normrdt]

Thanks for the thoughts. To be honest I have not been doing partition backups but think I will start.
Again Thanks.
Norm

 

[endeavor]

YW,
btw, when I said some updates overwrite the WM programs folder, to be accurate (as outlined previously) I should of said I've seen in Win8/10 that 9 out of 11 files 'within' the folder gets overwritten anew, that's why you just replace backwards the whole folder at once since it's much simpler.
Also about partition backups, they don't necessary need to be done on a weekly basis. I should of said it's a individual decision depending on each persons computing activity. My intention was to say you do it when you feel enough has been changed within the OS that you would not want to lose that progress if it was to get corrupted; otherwise always create one before updates of course, otherwise it's an individual decision.
Many times I'll do major updates and software testings on separate test computers with expendable partitions first, to check whatever it is out or to play, before I commit them to my main setup. Lot's of fun when you get into it, and with todays modern i7 processors, it takes just a few minutes to create or restore OS partitions containing 30 GB of actual written data.

 

[aol1]

Cannot register .dll

Still winmail works...

Here's a solution for all who want to use winmail and windows 8.

The procedure is almost the same as windows 7 , but we will need a dll file.

First , we do the same procedure as in windows 7 :

a) Take ownership of winmail forder ( if you use windows 8x64 , you need to take oweneship of program files/winmail and program files(x86)/winmail). Remember to check the " show system files " before that.

b) Delete all the files in winmail forder and replace them with the windows 7 / winmail files.

c) Copy msidcrl30.dll to c:/windows/system32 folder

d) Now , we have to register the above dll. Open cmd and type : regsvr32 "c:/windows/system32\msidcrl30.dll" and press enter.

Reboot , just in case , and you're done !!

 

[Ex_Brit]

Thought I'd never need the x86 Vista Windows Mail folder as all my machines are 64-bit, so never copied it from my old Vista installation. Now there's my almost forgotten netbook which seems to like Win 10 better than anything previously used. But to get VWM working on it I need the x86 VWM folder and I don't seem to be able to find it. Can anyone help?

Edit: I do have a Vista installation DVD but have no idea where to look for the folder on that, if it exists in its native form on the DVD, I don't know. Anyone know where to look for that there?

 

[endeavor]

Good Morning Peter,

Yes sure, yes you can find the x86 & x64 Programs Folder files included in the first post #1 by downloading it's appropriate attachment ..however Peter you'll also need the x86 'msidcrl30.dll' too.

 

[Ex_Brit]

Thanks very much ;-) I'll let you know if I need anything.

 

[endeavor]

Thanks very much ;-) I'll let you know if I need anything.

You are up early, I am too, but am off. You'll be fine, just be sure to use the ''x86'' ''msidcrl30.dll'' I specifically mentioned in my previous post. ...gotta go to work now, see you later. OT, even though I have them both, but I prefer to use x86 OS's across the board, but that's another subject.

 

[Ex_Brit]

Good luck with work ;-)

I'm long since retired.

 

[Ex_Brit]

Uh-oh...that zip contains the rar files, yes. But once extracted they are missing a crucial file (& maybe others) winmail.exe isn't there.

 

[endeavor]

Uh-oh...that zip contains the rar files, yes. But once extracted they are missing a crucial file (& maybe others) winmail.exe isn't there.

Everything you need is there in post #1

 

[Ex_Brit]

No quarantined files, hidden files and folders set to be visible, Latest 7-Zip. I don't understand. What's best to open a RAR file?

You did mean the zip file in post #1 of this thread - right?

This is all I see:

 

[Ex_Brit]

Groan, ignore this old fart...it's a hidden system file of course....sigh.