Are my contacts & inbox messages gone for good?

[Eric]

I'm not even sure I can adequately articulate what I did
that made them go away but I will try.

I am using Office XP Home @ my home on a Compaq Evo PC
that I've had for just about a year. I do NOT use Outlook
Express cuz I don't really get the concept. Anyway, I
have an Earthlink DSL connection and mail account as well
as a Hotmail mail account and my Outlook was configured
to retrieve the mail from both accounts until yesterday.
I decided to set up an additional Hotmail account and
tried to configure Outlook so that it would automatically
retrieve mail from the new account as well. Well needless
to say I didn't do it right so it didn't work. So, I
deleted the new email account setting from my Outlook
configuration.

I was very surprised when I received a message after
closing down and re-opening Outlook that informed me that
my Outlook configuration had been changed and that the
system had to make some sort of adjustment as a result of
the change. I was not given the choice to overide the
adjustment and when I opened my Contacts file it was
empty as was my in-box.

To make a long story short, I was able to find and
retrieve my contacts and in-box but I still wasn't happy
with the way the files were configured. The root file in
the Outlook folders list read "archive.pst" rather
than "Outlook Today" and rather than leaving it alone I
wanted to get it to look right. Big mistake! After trying
several different things, I finally just changed the name
of the archive.pst file to outlook.pst. Of course I
didn't make a copy of it nor did I back it up before I
changed the name! Of course I know better.

So anyway, when I re-opened Outlook, my contacts and in-
box were again empty. But here's the strange thing - my
calendar still has the appointments on it that I had and
my "Sent Items" folder still has everything in it that it
had at the start of the day yesterday. I've searched
everywhere for pst files and contacts files and while
I've found the old shortcuts that used to take me to
those files the shortcuts are unable to find the files
(no surprise). I figure that if my calendar files and
sent items files are still there, then the other files
MUST be somewhere in the machine, mustn't they? O.K. I
admit I did a really stupid thing but just changed the
name of a file shouldn't change the contents of the file,
should it?

I tried the system restore utility but that did nothing
to solve the problem. I can rebuild the contacts if I
have to but are my inbox messages gone forever? Oy! I'm
happy to say that this is the first real problem I've had
with Windows XP although I must say that the way the
Outlook files are configured is confusing to say the
least.

I greatly appreciate any assistance anyone can provide.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Archive.pst will never be your default Outlook data file. It is what it says
it is. Old data removed from your default data file.
Renaming PST in never a good idea.
Search for your original PST file.
Create a new Outlook Profile using that PST as your default Personal Folders
file.
If you don't know how to do that, Take a look at this MS KB article, it may
help:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q287/0/72.asp

 

[Eric]

Russ -

Thanks for your help! Unfortunately, I think the file
really is gone. I did a search in "My Computer"
for "*.pst" files and this is what was found:

Archive0112.pst 30,969KB
Archive0113.pst 14,177KB
Outlook.pst 14,192KB
OutlookHotmail-00000004.pst 1,040KB
Personal Folders.pst 22,528KB

I renamed the two archive folders to differentiate them
by the date they were created.

The Outlook.pst file is the original archive.pst file
that I renamed.

I have no idea where the OutlookHotmail... file came from.

I created the Personal Folders.pst file yesterday.

Since the Archive0112 file is the largest, I tried
importing it into Outlook and when I did, the inbox was
still empty as were the contacts.

Am I wrong to think that it's hopeless? Thanks again! Eric

-----Original Message-----
Archive.pst will never be your default Outlook data file. It is what it says
it is. Old data removed from your default data file.
Renaming PST in never a good idea.
Search for your original PST file.
Create a new Outlook Profile using that PST as your default Personal Folders
file.
If you don't know how to do that, Take a look at this MS KB article, it may
help:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q287/0/7 2.asp

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I'm not even sure I can adequately articulate what I did
that made them go away but I will try.

I am using Office XP Home @ my home on a Compaq Evo PC
that I've had for just about a year. I do NOT use Outlook
Express cuz I don't really get the concept. Anyway, I
have an Earthlink DSL connection and mail account as well
as a Hotmail mail account and my Outlook was configured
to retrieve the mail from both accounts until yesterday.
I decided to set up an additional Hotmail account and
tried to configure Outlook so that it would automatically
retrieve mail from the new account as well. Well needless
to say I didn't do it right so it didn't work. So, I
deleted the new email account setting from my Outlook
configuration.

I was very surprised when I received a message after
closing down and re-opening Outlook that informed me that
my Outlook configuration had been changed and that the
system had to make some sort of adjustment as a result of
the change. I was not given the choice to overide the
adjustment and when I opened my Contacts file it was
empty as was my in-box.

To make a long story short, I was able to find and
retrieve my contacts and in-box but I still wasn't happy
with the way the files were configured. The root file in
the Outlook folders list read "archive.pst" rather
than "Outlook Today" and rather than leaving it alone I
wanted to get it to look right. Big mistake! After trying
several different things, I finally just changed the name
of the archive.pst file to outlook.pst. Of course I
didn't make a copy of it nor did I back it up before I
changed the name! Of course I know better.

So anyway, when I re-opened Outlook, my contacts and in-
box were again empty. But here's the strange thing - my
calendar still has the appointments on it that I had and
my "Sent Items" folder still has everything in it that it
had at the start of the day yesterday. I've searched
everywhere for pst files and contacts files and while
I've found the old shortcuts that used to take me to
those files the shortcuts are unable to find the files
(no surprise). I figure that if my calendar files and
sent items files are still there, then the other files
MUST be somewhere in the machine, mustn't they? O.K. I
admit I did a really stupid thing but just changed the
name of a file shouldn't change the contents of the file,
should it?

I tried the system restore utility but that did nothing
to solve the problem. I can rebuild the contacts if I
have to but are my inbox messages gone forever? Oy! I'm
happy to say that this is the first real problem I've had
with Windows XP although I must say that the way the
Outlook files are configured is confusing to say the
least.

I greatly appreciate any assistance anyone can provide.
Thanks in advance!

.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

The only way I know of to lose a PST file is to reformat your hard drive.
Open each of these PST's in Outlook and see which contains your data.
Personal Folders.pst looks promising.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Russ -

Thanks for your help! Unfortunately, I think the file
really is gone. I did a search in "My Computer"
for "*.pst" files and this is what was found:

Archive0112.pst 30,969KB
Archive0113.pst 14,177KB
Outlook.pst 14,192KB
OutlookHotmail-00000004.pst 1,040KB
Personal Folders.pst 22,528KB

I renamed the two archive folders to differentiate them
by the date they were created.

The Outlook.pst file is the original archive.pst file
that I renamed.

I have no idea where the OutlookHotmail... file came from.

I created the Personal Folders.pst file yesterday.

Since the Archive0112 file is the largest, I tried
importing it into Outlook and when I did, the inbox was
still empty as were the contacts.

Am I wrong to think that it's hopeless? Thanks again! Eric

-----Original Message-----
Archive.pst will never be your default Outlook data file. It is what it says
it is. Old data removed from your default data file.
Renaming PST in never a good idea.
Search for your original PST file.
Create a new Outlook Profile using that PST as your default Personal Folders
file.
If you don't know how to do that, Take a look at this MS KB article, it may
help:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q287/0/7 2.asp

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I'm not even sure I can adequately articulate what I did
that made them go away but I will try.

I am using Office XP Home @ my home on a Compaq Evo PC
that I've had for just about a year. I do NOT use Outlook
Express cuz I don't really get the concept. Anyway, I
have an Earthlink DSL connection and mail account as well
as a Hotmail mail account and my Outlook was configured
to retrieve the mail from both accounts until yesterday.
I decided to set up an additional Hotmail account and
tried to configure Outlook so that it would automatically
retrieve mail from the new account as well. Well needless
to say I didn't do it right so it didn't work. So, I
deleted the new email account setting from my Outlook
configuration.

I was very surprised when I received a message after
closing down and re-opening Outlook that informed me that
my Outlook configuration had been changed and that the
system had to make some sort of adjustment as a result of
the change. I was not given the choice to overide the
adjustment and when I opened my Contacts file it was
empty as was my in-box.

To make a long story short, I was able to find and
retrieve my contacts and in-box but I still wasn't happy
with the way the files were configured. The root file in
the Outlook folders list read "archive.pst" rather
than "Outlook Today" and rather than leaving it alone I
wanted to get it to look right. Big mistake! After trying
several different things, I finally just changed the name
of the archive.pst file to outlook.pst. Of course I
didn't make a copy of it nor did I back it up before I
changed the name! Of course I know better.

So anyway, when I re-opened Outlook, my contacts and in-
box were again empty. But here's the strange thing - my
calendar still has the appointments on it that I had and
my "Sent Items" folder still has everything in it that it
had at the start of the day yesterday. I've searched
everywhere for pst files and contacts files and while
I've found the old shortcuts that used to take me to
those files the shortcuts are unable to find the files
(no surprise). I figure that if my calendar files and
sent items files are still there, then the other files
MUST be somewhere in the machine, mustn't they? O.K. I
admit I did a really stupid thing but just changed the
name of a file shouldn't change the contents of the file,
should it?

I tried the system restore utility but that did nothing
to solve the problem. I can rebuild the contacts if I
have to but are my inbox messages gone forever? Oy! I'm
happy to say that this is the first real problem I've had
with Windows XP although I must say that the way the
Outlook files are configured is confusing to say the
least.

I greatly appreciate any assistance anyone can provide.
Thanks in advance!

.

 

[Eric]

Hi Russ!

It is I, once again, trying your patience. THANK YOU SO
MUCH FOR YOUR HELP even though I know I'm asking you to
come up with a solution to the impossible.

I did open each file as you suggested and the lost data
was not in any one of them. However, I was able to locate
the shortcut that the computer used to used to go to the
Outlook Contacts files that are missing so I clicked on
it. I received the following error message:

Unable to display the selected folder or item. Could not
complete the operation. One or more parameter values are
not valid.

Does that provide any clues?

In your opinion, do you think I might have any luck if I
used one of the telephone support pay options?

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Eric

-----Original Message-----
The only way I know of to lose a PST file is to reformat your hard drive.
Open each of these PST's in Outlook and see which contains your data.
Personal Folders.pst looks promising.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Russ -

Thanks for your help! Unfortunately, I think the file
really is gone. I did a search in "My Computer"
for "*.pst" files and this is what was found:

Archive0112.pst 30,969KB
Archive0113.pst 14,177KB
Outlook.pst 14,192KB
OutlookHotmail-00000004.pst 1,040KB
Personal Folders.pst 22,528KB

I renamed the two archive folders to differentiate them
by the date they were created.

The Outlook.pst file is the original archive.pst file
that I renamed.

I have no idea where the OutlookHotmail... file came from.

I created the Personal Folders.pst file yesterday.

Since the Archive0112 file is the largest, I tried
importing it into Outlook and when I did, the inbox was
still empty as were the contacts.

Am I wrong to think that it's hopeless? Thanks again! Eric

-----Original Message-----
Archive.pst will never be your default Outlook data file. It is what it says
it is. Old data removed from your default data file.
Renaming PST in never a good idea.
Search for your original PST file.
Create a new Outlook Profile using that PST as your default Personal Folders
file.
If you don't know how to do that, Take a look at this

MS
KB article, it may

help:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q287/0/7

2.asp

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I'm not even sure I can adequately articulate what I did
that made them go away but I will try.

I am using Office XP Home @ my home on a Compaq Evo PC
that I've had for just about a year. I do NOT use Outlook
Express cuz I don't really get the concept. Anyway, I
have an Earthlink DSL connection and mail account as well
as a Hotmail mail account and my Outlook was configured
to retrieve the mail from both accounts until yesterday.
I decided to set up an additional Hotmail account and
tried to configure Outlook so that it would automatically
retrieve mail from the new account as well. Well needless
to say I didn't do it right so it didn't work. So, I
deleted the new email account setting from my Outlook
configuration.

I was very surprised when I received a message after
closing down and re-opening Outlook that informed me that
my Outlook configuration had been changed and that the
system had to make some sort of adjustment as a

result
of

the change. I was not given the choice to overide the
adjustment and when I opened my Contacts file it was
empty as was my in-box.

To make a long story short, I was able to find and
retrieve my contacts and in-box but I still wasn't happy
with the way the files were configured. The root

file
in

the Outlook folders list read "archive.pst" rather
than "Outlook Today" and rather than leaving it alone I
wanted to get it to look right. Big mistake! After trying
several different things, I finally just changed the name
of the archive.pst file to outlook.pst. Of course I
didn't make a copy of it nor did I back it up before I
changed the name! Of course I know better.

So anyway, when I re-opened Outlook, my contacts and in-
box were again empty. But here's the strange thing - my
calendar still has the appointments on it that I had and
my "Sent Items" folder still has everything in it

that
it

had at the start of the day yesterday. I've searched
everywhere for pst files and contacts files and while
I've found the old shortcuts that used to take me to
those files the shortcuts are unable to find the files
(no surprise). I figure that if my calendar files and
sent items files are still there, then the other files
MUST be somewhere in the machine, mustn't they? O.K. I
admit I did a really stupid thing but just changed the
name of a file shouldn't change the contents of the file,
should it?

I tried the system restore utility but that did nothing
to solve the problem. I can rebuild the contacts if I
have to but are my inbox messages gone forever? Oy! I'm
happy to say that this is the first real problem

I've
had

with Windows XP although I must say that the way the
Outlook files are configured is confusing to say the
least.

I greatly appreciate any assistance anyone can provide.
Thanks in advance!


.

.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

You said, "I was able to find and
retrieve my contacts and in-box."
How did you do that?
Do it again.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Hi Russ!

It is I, once again, trying your patience. THANK YOU SO
MUCH FOR YOUR HELP even though I know I'm asking you to
come up with a solution to the impossible.

I did open each file as you suggested and the lost data
was not in any one of them. However, I was able to locate
the shortcut that the computer used to used to go to the
Outlook Contacts files that are missing so I clicked on
it. I received the following error message:

Unable to display the selected folder or item. Could not
complete the operation. One or more parameter values are
not valid.

Does that provide any clues?

In your opinion, do you think I might have any luck if I
used one of the telephone support pay options?

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Eric

-----Original Message-----
The only way I know of to lose a PST file is to reformat your hard drive.
Open each of these PST's in Outlook and see which contains your data.
Personal Folders.pst looks promising.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Russ -

Thanks for your help! Unfortunately, I think the file
really is gone. I did a search in "My Computer"
for "*.pst" files and this is what was found:

Archive0112.pst 30,969KB
Archive0113.pst 14,177KB
Outlook.pst 14,192KB
OutlookHotmail-00000004.pst 1,040KB
Personal Folders.pst 22,528KB

I renamed the two archive folders to differentiate them
by the date they were created.

The Outlook.pst file is the original archive.pst file
that I renamed.

I have no idea where the OutlookHotmail... file came from.

I created the Personal Folders.pst file yesterday.

Since the Archive0112 file is the largest, I tried
importing it into Outlook and when I did, the inbox was
still empty as were the contacts.

Am I wrong to think that it's hopeless? Thanks again! Eric


-----Original Message-----
Archive.pst will never be your default Outlook data
file. It is what it says
it is. Old data removed from your default data file.
Renaming PST in never a good idea.
Search for your original PST file.
Create a new Outlook Profile using that PST as your
default Personal Folders
file.
If you don't know how to do that, Take a look at this MS
KB article, it may
help:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q287/0/7
2.asp

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
message
I'm not even sure I can adequately articulate what I
did
that made them go away but I will try.

I am using Office XP Home @ my home on a Compaq Evo PC
that I've had for just about a year. I do NOT use
Outlook
Express cuz I don't really get the concept. Anyway, I
have an Earthlink DSL connection and mail account as
well
as a Hotmail mail account and my Outlook was configured
to retrieve the mail from both accounts until
yesterday.
I decided to set up an additional Hotmail account and
tried to configure Outlook so that it would
automatically
retrieve mail from the new account as well. Well
needless
to say I didn't do it right so it didn't work. So, I
deleted the new email account setting from my Outlook
configuration.

I was very surprised when I received a message after
closing down and re-opening Outlook that informed me
that
my Outlook configuration had been changed and that the
system had to make some sort of adjustment as a result
of
the change. I was not given the choice to overide the
adjustment and when I opened my Contacts file it was
empty as was my in-box.

To make a long story short, I was able to find and
retrieve my contacts and in-box but I still wasn't
happy
with the way the files were configured. The root file
in
the Outlook folders list read "archive.pst" rather
than "Outlook Today" and rather than leaving it alone I
wanted to get it to look right. Big mistake! After
trying
several different things, I finally just changed the
name
of the archive.pst file to outlook.pst. Of course I
didn't make a copy of it nor did I back it up before I
changed the name! Of course I know better.

So anyway, when I re-opened Outlook, my contacts and
in-
box were again empty. But here's the strange thing - my
calendar still has the appointments on it that I had
and
my "Sent Items" folder still has everything in it that
it
had at the start of the day yesterday. I've searched
everywhere for pst files and contacts files and while
I've found the old shortcuts that used to take me to
those files the shortcuts are unable to find the files
(no surprise). I figure that if my calendar files and
sent items files are still there, then the other files
MUST be somewhere in the machine, mustn't they? O.K. I
admit I did a really stupid thing but just changed the
name of a file shouldn't change the contents of the
file,
should it?

I tried the system restore utility but that did nothing
to solve the problem. I can rebuild the contacts if I
have to but are my inbox messages gone forever? Oy! I'm
happy to say that this is the first real problem I've
had
with Windows XP although I must say that the way the
Outlook files are configured is confusing to say the
least.

I greatly appreciate any assistance anyone can provide.
Thanks in advance!


.

.

 

[Eric]

Hi Russ -

There seems to be some confusion. I found the inbox and
contacts files BEFORE I changed the name of the
archive.pst file to Outlook.pst. Since then, the only
thing I have been able to find is the shortcut that the
computer used to access the contacts folders.

Do you think it's worth my spending the money to try to
contact a support person via telephone? Thanks! Eric

-----Original Message-----
You said, "I was able to find and
retrieve my contacts and in-box."
How did you do that?
Do it again.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Hi Russ!

It is I, once again, trying your patience. THANK YOU SO
MUCH FOR YOUR HELP even though I know I'm asking you to
come up with a solution to the impossible.

I did open each file as you suggested and the lost data
was not in any one of them. However, I was able to locate
the shortcut that the computer used to used to go to the
Outlook Contacts files that are missing so I clicked on
it. I received the following error message:

Unable to display the selected folder or item. Could not
complete the operation. One or more parameter values are
not valid.

Does that provide any clues?

In your opinion, do you think I might have any luck if I
used one of the telephone support pay options?

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Eric

-----Original Message-----
The only way I know of to lose a PST file is to

reformat
your hard drive.

Open each of these PST's in Outlook and see which contains your data.
Personal Folders.pst looks promising.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Russ -

Thanks for your help! Unfortunately, I think the file
really is gone. I did a search in "My Computer"
for "*.pst" files and this is what was found:

Archive0112.pst 30,969KB
Archive0113.pst 14,177KB
Outlook.pst 14,192KB
OutlookHotmail-00000004.pst 1,040KB
Personal Folders.pst 22,528KB

I renamed the two archive folders to differentiate them
by the date they were created.

The Outlook.pst file is the original archive.pst file
that I renamed.

I have no idea where the OutlookHotmail... file came from.

I created the Personal Folders.pst file yesterday.

Since the Archive0112 file is the largest, I tried
importing it into Outlook and when I did, the inbox was
still empty as were the contacts.

Am I wrong to think that it's hopeless? Thanks

again!
Eric

-----Original Message-----
Archive.pst will never be your default Outlook data
file. It is what it says
it is. Old data removed from your default data file.
Renaming PST in never a good idea.
Search for your original PST file.
Create a new Outlook Profile using that PST as your
default Personal Folders
file.
If you don't know how to do that, Take a look at

this
MS

KB article, it may
help:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q287/0/7

2.asp

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
message
I'm not even sure I can adequately articulate what I
did
that made them go away but I will try.

I am using Office XP Home @ my home on a Compaq

Evo
PC

that I've had for just about a year. I do NOT use
Outlook
Express cuz I don't really get the concept.

Anyway,
I

have an Earthlink DSL connection and mail account as
well
as a Hotmail mail account and my Outlook was configured
to retrieve the mail from both accounts until
yesterday.
I decided to set up an additional Hotmail account and
tried to configure Outlook so that it would
automatically
retrieve mail from the new account as well. Well
needless
to say I didn't do it right so it didn't work. So, I
deleted the new email account setting from my Outlook
configuration.

I was very surprised when I received a message after
closing down and re-opening Outlook that informed me
that
my Outlook configuration had been changed and

that
the

system had to make some sort of adjustment as a result
of
the change. I was not given the choice to overide the
adjustment and when I opened my Contacts file it was
empty as was my in-box.

To make a long story short, I was able to find and
retrieve my contacts and in-box but I still wasn't
happy
with the way the files were configured. The root file
in
the Outlook folders list read "archive.pst" rather
than "Outlook Today" and rather than leaving it alone I
wanted to get it to look right. Big mistake! After
trying
several different things, I finally just changed the
name
of the archive.pst file to outlook.pst. Of course I
didn't make a copy of it nor did I back it up before I
changed the name! Of course I know better.

So anyway, when I re-opened Outlook, my contacts and
in-
box were again empty. But here's the strange

thing -
my

calendar still has the appointments on it that I had
and
my "Sent Items" folder still has everything in it that
it
had at the start of the day yesterday. I've searched
everywhere for pst files and contacts files and while
I've found the old shortcuts that used to take me to
those files the shortcuts are unable to find the files
(no surprise). I figure that if my calendar files and
sent items files are still there, then the other files
MUST be somewhere in the machine, mustn't they? O.K. I
admit I did a really stupid thing but just

changed
the

name of a file shouldn't change the contents of the
file,
should it?

I tried the system restore utility but that did nothing
to solve the problem. I can rebuild the contacts

if
I

have to but are my inbox messages gone forever?

Oy!
I'm

happy to say that this is the first real problem I've
had
with Windows XP although I must say that the way the
Outlook files are configured is confusing to say the
least.

I greatly appreciate any assistance anyone can provide.
Thanks in advance!


.



.

.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

I doubt they could help you with no more information than you've been able
to provide.
If you never renamed your default PST file, it should still be intact and on
your drive, unless you did something to it (like overwriting it).
Are you sure you searched for hidden files when you searched? PST files just
do not disappear unless you reformat.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Hi Russ -

There seems to be some confusion. I found the inbox and
contacts files BEFORE I changed the name of the
archive.pst file to Outlook.pst. Since then, the only
thing I have been able to find is the shortcut that the
computer used to access the contacts folders.

Do you think it's worth my spending the money to try to
contact a support person via telephone? Thanks! Eric

-----Original Message-----
You said, "I was able to find and
retrieve my contacts and in-box."
How did you do that?
Do it again.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Hi Russ!

It is I, once again, trying your patience. THANK YOU SO
MUCH FOR YOUR HELP even though I know I'm asking you to
come up with a solution to the impossible.

I did open each file as you suggested and the lost data
was not in any one of them. However, I was able to locate
the shortcut that the computer used to used to go to the
Outlook Contacts files that are missing so I clicked on
it. I received the following error message:

Unable to display the selected folder or item. Could not
complete the operation. One or more parameter values are
not valid.

Does that provide any clues?

In your opinion, do you think I might have any luck if I
used one of the telephone support pay options?

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Eric
-----Original Message-----
The only way I know of to lose a PST file is to reformat
your hard drive.
Open each of these PST's in Outlook and see which
contains your data.
Personal Folders.pst looks promising.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
message
Russ -

Thanks for your help! Unfortunately, I think the file
really is gone. I did a search in "My Computer"
for "*.pst" files and this is what was found:

Archive0112.pst 30,969KB
Archive0113.pst 14,177KB
Outlook.pst 14,192KB
OutlookHotmail-00000004.pst 1,040KB
Personal Folders.pst 22,528KB

I renamed the two archive folders to differentiate them
by the date they were created.

The Outlook.pst file is the original archive.pst file
that I renamed.

I have no idea where the OutlookHotmail... file came
from.

I created the Personal Folders.pst file yesterday.

Since the Archive0112 file is the largest, I tried
importing it into Outlook and when I did, the inbox was
still empty as were the contacts.

Am I wrong to think that it's hopeless? Thanks again!
Eric


-----Original Message-----
Archive.pst will never be your default Outlook data
file. It is what it says
it is. Old data removed from your default data file.
Renaming PST in never a good idea.
Search for your original PST file.
Create a new Outlook Profile using that PST as your
default Personal Folders
file.
If you don't know how to do that, Take a look at this
MS
KB article, it may
help:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q287/0/7
2.asp

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
message
I'm not even sure I can adequately articulate what I
did
that made them go away but I will try.

I am using Office XP Home @ my home on a Compaq Evo
PC
that I've had for just about a year. I do NOT use
Outlook
Express cuz I don't really get the concept. Anyway,
I
have an Earthlink DSL connection and mail account as
well
as a Hotmail mail account and my Outlook was
configured
to retrieve the mail from both accounts until
yesterday.
I decided to set up an additional Hotmail account
and
tried to configure Outlook so that it would
automatically
retrieve mail from the new account as well. Well
needless
to say I didn't do it right so it didn't work. So, I
deleted the new email account setting from my
Outlook
configuration.

I was very surprised when I received a message after
closing down and re-opening Outlook that informed me
that
my Outlook configuration had been changed and that
the
system had to make some sort of adjustment as a
result
of
the change. I was not given the choice to overide
the
adjustment and when I opened my Contacts file it was
empty as was my in-box.

To make a long story short, I was able to find and
retrieve my contacts and in-box but I still wasn't
happy
with the way the files were configured. The root
file
in
the Outlook folders list read "archive.pst" rather
than "Outlook Today" and rather than leaving it
alone I
wanted to get it to look right. Big mistake! After
trying
several different things, I finally just changed the
name
of the archive.pst file to outlook.pst. Of course I
didn't make a copy of it nor did I back it up
before I
changed the name! Of course I know better.

So anyway, when I re-opened Outlook, my contacts and
in-
box were again empty. But here's the strange thing -
my
calendar still has the appointments on it that I had
and
my "Sent Items" folder still has everything in it
that
it
had at the start of the day yesterday. I've searched
everywhere for pst files and contacts files and
while
I've found the old shortcuts that used to take me to
those files the shortcuts are unable to find the
files
(no surprise). I figure that if my calendar files
and
sent items files are still there, then the other
files
MUST be somewhere in the machine, mustn't they?
O.K. I
admit I did a really stupid thing but just changed
the
name of a file shouldn't change the contents of the
file,
should it?

I tried the system restore utility but that did
nothing
to solve the problem. I can rebuild the contacts if
I
have to but are my inbox messages gone forever? Oy!
I'm
happy to say that this is the first real problem
I've
had
with Windows XP although I must say that the way the
Outlook files are configured is confusing to say the
least.

I greatly appreciate any assistance anyone can
provide.
Thanks in advance!


.



.

.

 

[Eric]

O.K., now I KNOW those files must be SOMEWHERE because I
just typed in one of my contact names in the "TO:" field
of an email message I sent and the e-mail address was
automatically filled in. I am SO CONFUSED! Thanks! Eric

-----Original Message-----
You said, "I was able to find and
retrieve my contacts and in-box."
How did you do that?
Do it again.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Hi Russ!

It is I, once again, trying your patience. THANK YOU SO
MUCH FOR YOUR HELP even though I know I'm asking you to
come up with a solution to the impossible.

I did open each file as you suggested and the lost data
was not in any one of them. However, I was able to locate
the shortcut that the computer used to used to go to the
Outlook Contacts files that are missing so I clicked on
it. I received the following error message:

Unable to display the selected folder or item. Could not
complete the operation. One or more parameter values are
not valid.

Does that provide any clues?

In your opinion, do you think I might have any luck if I
used one of the telephone support pay options?

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Eric

-----Original Message-----
The only way I know of to lose a PST file is to

reformat
your hard drive.

Open each of these PST's in Outlook and see which contains your data.
Personal Folders.pst looks promising.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Russ -

Thanks for your help! Unfortunately, I think the file
really is gone. I did a search in "My Computer"
for "*.pst" files and this is what was found:

Archive0112.pst 30,969KB
Archive0113.pst 14,177KB
Outlook.pst 14,192KB
OutlookHotmail-00000004.pst 1,040KB
Personal Folders.pst 22,528KB

I renamed the two archive folders to differentiate them
by the date they were created.

The Outlook.pst file is the original archive.pst file
that I renamed.

I have no idea where the OutlookHotmail... file came from.

I created the Personal Folders.pst file yesterday.

Since the Archive0112 file is the largest, I tried
importing it into Outlook and when I did, the inbox was
still empty as were the contacts.

Am I wrong to think that it's hopeless? Thanks

again!
Eric

-----Original Message-----
Archive.pst will never be your default Outlook data
file. It is what it says
it is. Old data removed from your default data file.
Renaming PST in never a good idea.
Search for your original PST file.
Create a new Outlook Profile using that PST as your
default Personal Folders
file.
If you don't know how to do that, Take a look at

this
MS

KB article, it may
help:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q287/0/7

2.asp

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
message
I'm not even sure I can adequately articulate what I
did
that made them go away but I will try.

I am using Office XP Home @ my home on a Compaq

Evo
PC

that I've had for just about a year. I do NOT use
Outlook
Express cuz I don't really get the concept.

Anyway,
I

have an Earthlink DSL connection and mail account as
well
as a Hotmail mail account and my Outlook was configured
to retrieve the mail from both accounts until
yesterday.
I decided to set up an additional Hotmail account and
tried to configure Outlook so that it would
automatically
retrieve mail from the new account as well. Well
needless
to say I didn't do it right so it didn't work. So, I
deleted the new email account setting from my Outlook
configuration.

I was very surprised when I received a message after
closing down and re-opening Outlook that informed me
that
my Outlook configuration had been changed and

that
the

system had to make some sort of adjustment as a result
of
the change. I was not given the choice to overide the
adjustment and when I opened my Contacts file it was
empty as was my in-box.

To make a long story short, I was able to find and
retrieve my contacts and in-box but I still wasn't
happy
with the way the files were configured. The root file
in
the Outlook folders list read "archive.pst" rather
than "Outlook Today" and rather than leaving it alone I
wanted to get it to look right. Big mistake! After
trying
several different things, I finally just changed the
name
of the archive.pst file to outlook.pst. Of course I
didn't make a copy of it nor did I back it up before I
changed the name! Of course I know better.

So anyway, when I re-opened Outlook, my contacts and
in-
box were again empty. But here's the strange

thing -
my

calendar still has the appointments on it that I had
and
my "Sent Items" folder still has everything in it that
it
had at the start of the day yesterday. I've searched
everywhere for pst files and contacts files and while
I've found the old shortcuts that used to take me to
those files the shortcuts are unable to find the files
(no surprise). I figure that if my calendar files and
sent items files are still there, then the other files
MUST be somewhere in the machine, mustn't they? O.K. I
admit I did a really stupid thing but just

changed
the

name of a file shouldn't change the contents of the
file,
should it?

I tried the system restore utility but that did nothing
to solve the problem. I can rebuild the contacts

if
I

have to but are my inbox messages gone forever?

Oy!
I'm

happy to say that this is the first real problem I've
had
with Windows XP although I must say that the way the
Outlook files are configured is confusing to say the
least.

I greatly appreciate any assistance anyone can provide.
Thanks in advance!


.



.

.

 

[Eric]

I am SO positive that I searched for hidden files. By
default PST file do you mean "Outlook.pst"? I'm wondering
if it's possible that when I renamed my "Archive.pst"
file "Outlook.pst" if perhaps the system automatically
overwrote the "Archive.pst" file with the
default "Outlook.pst". Sound plausible? Thanks! Eric

-----Original Message-----
I doubt they could help you with no more information than you've been able
to provide.
If you never renamed your default PST file, it should still be intact and on
your drive, unless you did something to it (like overwriting it).
Are you sure you searched for hidden files when you searched? PST files just
do not disappear unless you reformat.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Hi Russ -

There seems to be some confusion. I found the inbox and
contacts files BEFORE I changed the name of the
archive.pst file to Outlook.pst. Since then, the only
thing I have been able to find is the shortcut that the
computer used to access the contacts folders.

Do you think it's worth my spending the money to try to
contact a support person via telephone? Thanks! Eric

-----Original Message-----
You said, "I was able to find and
retrieve my contacts and in-box."
How did you do that?
Do it again.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Hi Russ!

It is I, once again, trying your patience. THANK YOU SO
MUCH FOR YOUR HELP even though I know I'm asking you to
come up with a solution to the impossible.

I did open each file as you suggested and the lost data
was not in any one of them. However, I was able to locate
the shortcut that the computer used to used to go to the
Outlook Contacts files that are missing so I clicked on
it. I received the following error message:

Unable to display the selected folder or item. Could not
complete the operation. One or more parameter values are
not valid.

Does that provide any clues?

In your opinion, do you think I might have any luck

if
I

used one of the telephone support pay options?

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Eric
-----Original Message-----
The only way I know of to lose a PST file is to reformat
your hard drive.
Open each of these PST's in Outlook and see which
contains your data.
Personal Folders.pst looks promising.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
message
Russ -

Thanks for your help! Unfortunately, I think the file
really is gone. I did a search in "My Computer"
for "*.pst" files and this is what was found:

Archive0112.pst 30,969KB
Archive0113.pst 14,177KB
Outlook.pst 14,192KB
OutlookHotmail-00000004.pst 1,040KB
Personal Folders.pst 22,528KB

I renamed the two archive folders to

differentiate
them

by the date they were created.

The Outlook.pst file is the original archive.pst file
that I renamed.

I have no idea where the OutlookHotmail... file came
from.

I created the Personal Folders.pst file yesterday.

Since the Archive0112 file is the largest, I tried
importing it into Outlook and when I did, the

inbox
was

still empty as were the contacts.

Am I wrong to think that it's hopeless? Thanks again!
Eric


-----Original Message-----
Archive.pst will never be your default Outlook data
file. It is what it says
it is. Old data removed from your default data file.
Renaming PST in never a good idea.
Search for your original PST file.
Create a new Outlook Profile using that PST as your
default Personal Folders
file.
If you don't know how to do that, Take a look at this
MS
KB article, it may
help:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q287/0/7

2.asp

wrote
in

message
I'm not even sure I can adequately articulate what I
did
that made them go away but I will try.

I am using Office XP Home @ my home on a

Compaq
Evo

PC
that I've had for just about a year. I do NOT use
Outlook
Express cuz I don't really get the concept. Anyway,
I
have an Earthlink DSL connection and mail account as
well
as a Hotmail mail account and my Outlook was
configured
to retrieve the mail from both accounts until
yesterday.
I decided to set up an additional Hotmail account
and
tried to configure Outlook so that it would
automatically
retrieve mail from the new account as well. Well
needless
to say I didn't do it right so it didn't work. So, I
deleted the new email account setting from my
Outlook
configuration.

I was very surprised when I received a message after
closing down and re-opening Outlook that informed me
that
my Outlook configuration had been changed and that
the
system had to make some sort of adjustment as a
result
of
the change. I was not given the choice to overide
the
adjustment and when I opened my Contacts file

it
was

empty as was my in-box.

To make a long story short, I was able to find and
retrieve my contacts and in-box but I still wasn't
happy
with the way the files were configured. The root
file
in
the Outlook folders list read "archive.pst" rather
than "Outlook Today" and rather than leaving it
alone I
wanted to get it to look right. Big mistake! After
trying
several different things, I finally just

changed
the

name
of the archive.pst file to outlook.pst. Of course I
didn't make a copy of it nor did I back it up
before I
changed the name! Of course I know better.

So anyway, when I re-opened Outlook, my

contacts
and

in-
box were again empty. But here's the strange thing -
my
calendar still has the appointments on it

that I
had

and
my "Sent Items" folder still has everything in it
that
it
had at the start of the day yesterday. I've searched
everywhere for pst files and contacts files and
while
I've found the old shortcuts that used to take me to
those files the shortcuts are unable to find the
files
(no surprise). I figure that if my calendar files
and
sent items files are still there, then the other
files
MUST be somewhere in the machine, mustn't they?
O.K. I
admit I did a really stupid thing but just changed
the
name of a file shouldn't change the contents

of
the

file,
should it?

I tried the system restore utility but that did
nothing
to solve the problem. I can rebuild the

contacts
if

I
have to but are my inbox messages gone

forever?
Oy!

I'm
happy to say that this is the first real problem
I've
had
with Windows XP although I must say that the

way
the

Outlook files are configured is confusing to

say
the

least.

I greatly appreciate any assistance anyone can
provide.
Thanks in advance!


.



.



.

.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

You're not as confused as I am. I simply cannot unravel the knots in your
fishing line. You did too many things and have forgotten too many details of
what you did. Sorry. Someone who's had more sleep than I may be able to make
enough educated guesses to unsnarl this mess, but I can't.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

O.K., now I KNOW those files must be SOMEWHERE because I
just typed in one of my contact names in the "TO:" field
of an email message I sent and the e-mail address was
automatically filled in. I am SO CONFUSED! Thanks! Eric

-----Original Message-----
You said, "I was able to find and
retrieve my contacts and in-box."
How did you do that?
Do it again.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Hi Russ!

It is I, once again, trying your patience. THANK YOU SO
MUCH FOR YOUR HELP even though I know I'm asking you to
come up with a solution to the impossible.

I did open each file as you suggested and the lost data
was not in any one of them. However, I was able to locate
the shortcut that the computer used to used to go to the
Outlook Contacts files that are missing so I clicked on
it. I received the following error message:

Unable to display the selected folder or item. Could not
complete the operation. One or more parameter values are
not valid.

Does that provide any clues?

In your opinion, do you think I might have any luck if I
used one of the telephone support pay options?

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Eric
-----Original Message-----
The only way I know of to lose a PST file is to reformat
your hard drive.
Open each of these PST's in Outlook and see which
contains your data.
Personal Folders.pst looks promising.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
message
Russ -

Thanks for your help! Unfortunately, I think the file
really is gone. I did a search in "My Computer"
for "*.pst" files and this is what was found:

Archive0112.pst 30,969KB
Archive0113.pst 14,177KB
Outlook.pst 14,192KB
OutlookHotmail-00000004.pst 1,040KB
Personal Folders.pst 22,528KB

I renamed the two archive folders to differentiate them
by the date they were created.

The Outlook.pst file is the original archive.pst file
that I renamed.

I have no idea where the OutlookHotmail... file came
from.

I created the Personal Folders.pst file yesterday.

Since the Archive0112 file is the largest, I tried
importing it into Outlook and when I did, the inbox was
still empty as were the contacts.

Am I wrong to think that it's hopeless? Thanks again!
Eric


-----Original Message-----
Archive.pst will never be your default Outlook data
file. It is what it says
it is. Old data removed from your default data file.
Renaming PST in never a good idea.
Search for your original PST file.
Create a new Outlook Profile using that PST as your
default Personal Folders
file.
If you don't know how to do that, Take a look at this
MS
KB article, it may
help:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q287/0/7
2.asp

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
message
I'm not even sure I can adequately articulate what I
did
that made them go away but I will try.

I am using Office XP Home @ my home on a Compaq Evo
PC
that I've had for just about a year. I do NOT use
Outlook
Express cuz I don't really get the concept. Anyway,
I
have an Earthlink DSL connection and mail account as
well
as a Hotmail mail account and my Outlook was
configured
to retrieve the mail from both accounts until
yesterday.
I decided to set up an additional Hotmail account
and
tried to configure Outlook so that it would
automatically
retrieve mail from the new account as well. Well
needless
to say I didn't do it right so it didn't work. So, I
deleted the new email account setting from my
Outlook
configuration.

I was very surprised when I received a message after
closing down and re-opening Outlook that informed me
that
my Outlook configuration had been changed and that
the
system had to make some sort of adjustment as a
result
of
the change. I was not given the choice to overide
the
adjustment and when I opened my Contacts file it was
empty as was my in-box.

To make a long story short, I was able to find and
retrieve my contacts and in-box but I still wasn't
happy
with the way the files were configured. The root
file
in
the Outlook folders list read "archive.pst" rather
than "Outlook Today" and rather than leaving it
alone I
wanted to get it to look right. Big mistake! After
trying
several different things, I finally just changed the
name
of the archive.pst file to outlook.pst. Of course I
didn't make a copy of it nor did I back it up
before I
changed the name! Of course I know better.

So anyway, when I re-opened Outlook, my contacts and
in-
box were again empty. But here's the strange thing -
my
calendar still has the appointments on it that I had
and
my "Sent Items" folder still has everything in it
that
it
had at the start of the day yesterday. I've searched
everywhere for pst files and contacts files and
while
I've found the old shortcuts that used to take me to
those files the shortcuts are unable to find the
files
(no surprise). I figure that if my calendar files
and
sent items files are still there, then the other
files
MUST be somewhere in the machine, mustn't they?
O.K. I
admit I did a really stupid thing but just changed
the
name of a file shouldn't change the contents of the
file,
should it?

I tried the system restore utility but that did
nothing
to solve the problem. I can rebuild the contacts if
I
have to but are my inbox messages gone forever? Oy!
I'm
happy to say that this is the first real problem
I've
had
with Windows XP although I must say that the way the
Outlook files are configured is confusing to say the
least.

I greatly appreciate any assistance anyone can
provide.
Thanks in advance!


.



.

.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your help Russ! Get some sleep! Eric

-----Original Message-----
You're not as confused as I am. I simply cannot unravel the knots in your
fishing line. You did too many things and have forgotten too many details of
what you did. Sorry. Someone who's had more sleep than I may be able to make
enough educated guesses to unsnarl this mess, but I can't.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

O.K., now I KNOW those files must be SOMEWHERE because I
just typed in one of my contact names in the "TO:" field
of an email message I sent and the e-mail address was
automatically filled in. I am SO CONFUSED! Thanks! Eric

-----Original Message-----
You said, "I was able to find and
retrieve my contacts and in-box."
How did you do that?
Do it again.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Hi Russ!

It is I, once again, trying your patience. THANK YOU SO
MUCH FOR YOUR HELP even though I know I'm asking you to
come up with a solution to the impossible.

I did open each file as you suggested and the lost data
was not in any one of them. However, I was able to locate
the shortcut that the computer used to used to go to the
Outlook Contacts files that are missing so I clicked on
it. I received the following error message:

Unable to display the selected folder or item. Could not
complete the operation. One or more parameter values are
not valid.

Does that provide any clues?

In your opinion, do you think I might have any luck

if
I

used one of the telephone support pay options?

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Eric
-----Original Message-----
The only way I know of to lose a PST file is to reformat
your hard drive.
Open each of these PST's in Outlook and see which
contains your data.
Personal Folders.pst looks promising.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
message
Russ -

Thanks for your help! Unfortunately, I think the file
really is gone. I did a search in "My Computer"
for "*.pst" files and this is what was found:

Archive0112.pst 30,969KB
Archive0113.pst 14,177KB
Outlook.pst 14,192KB
OutlookHotmail-00000004.pst 1,040KB
Personal Folders.pst 22,528KB

I renamed the two archive folders to

differentiate
them

by the date they were created.

The Outlook.pst file is the original archive.pst file
that I renamed.

I have no idea where the OutlookHotmail... file came
from.

I created the Personal Folders.pst file yesterday.

Since the Archive0112 file is the largest, I tried
importing it into Outlook and when I did, the

inbox
was

still empty as were the contacts.

Am I wrong to think that it's hopeless? Thanks again!
Eric


-----Original Message-----
Archive.pst will never be your default Outlook data
file. It is what it says
it is. Old data removed from your default data file.
Renaming PST in never a good idea.
Search for your original PST file.
Create a new Outlook Profile using that PST as your
default Personal Folders
file.
If you don't know how to do that, Take a look at this
MS
KB article, it may
help:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q287/0/7

2.asp

wrote
in

message
I'm not even sure I can adequately articulate what I
did
that made them go away but I will try.

I am using Office XP Home @ my home on a

Compaq
Evo

PC
that I've had for just about a year. I do NOT use
Outlook
Express cuz I don't really get the concept. Anyway,
I
have an Earthlink DSL connection and mail account as
well
as a Hotmail mail account and my Outlook was
configured
to retrieve the mail from both accounts until
yesterday.
I decided to set up an additional Hotmail account
and
tried to configure Outlook so that it would
automatically
retrieve mail from the new account as well. Well
needless
to say I didn't do it right so it didn't work. So, I
deleted the new email account setting from my
Outlook
configuration.

I was very surprised when I received a message after
closing down and re-opening Outlook that informed me
that
my Outlook configuration had been changed and that
the
system had to make some sort of adjustment as a
result
of
the change. I was not given the choice to overide
the
adjustment and when I opened my Contacts file

it
was

empty as was my in-box.

To make a long story short, I was able to find and
retrieve my contacts and in-box but I still wasn't
happy
with the way the files were configured. The root
file
in
the Outlook folders list read "archive.pst" rather
than "Outlook Today" and rather than leaving it
alone I
wanted to get it to look right. Big mistake! After
trying
several different things, I finally just

changed
the

name
of the archive.pst file to outlook.pst. Of course I
didn't make a copy of it nor did I back it up
before I
changed the name! Of course I know better.

So anyway, when I re-opened Outlook, my

contacts
and

in-
box were again empty. But here's the strange thing -
my
calendar still has the appointments on it

that I
had

and
my "Sent Items" folder still has everything in it
that
it
had at the start of the day yesterday. I've searched
everywhere for pst files and contacts files and
while
I've found the old shortcuts that used to take me to
those files the shortcuts are unable to find the
files
(no surprise). I figure that if my calendar files
and
sent items files are still there, then the other
files
MUST be somewhere in the machine, mustn't they?
O.K. I
admit I did a really stupid thing but just changed
the
name of a file shouldn't change the contents

of
the

file,
should it?

I tried the system restore utility but that did
nothing
to solve the problem. I can rebuild the

contacts
if

I
have to but are my inbox messages gone

forever?
Oy!

I'm
happy to say that this is the first real problem
I've
had
with Windows XP although I must say that the

way
the

Outlook files are configured is confusing to

say
the

least.

I greatly appreciate any assistance anyone can
provide.
Thanks in advance!


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