painter147 said:
by mistake I placed a file in the deleted items folder which got empted
before I realised my mishap. Is there any way to retrieve the file
without having to restore my computer to an earlier time?
Permanent deletes are, well, permanent - almost. Obviously anything moved
into the Deleted Items folder really has not been deleted. The item simply
got moved into a folder (with Deleted in its name). Items that are actually
deleted (i.e., permanently deleted) are hidden in Outlook's UI. Since they
have been permanently deleted, you're not supposed to be able to get at them
anymore. Delete-marked records are not physically removed from the database
under a purge operation (compaction) is performed. Assuming the .pst file
has not yet been compacted, use one of the following utilities:
- Outlookspy. See
http://www.outlook-tips.net/howto/delete_rr.htm for an
example of how to use it. Outlookspy isn't free. It expires after its
month trial period but is fully functional during its trial period.
- MDBVU32.EXE from Microsoft is free but more difficult to use. Read
http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/deletereadreceipt.htm for an example.
Digging into the database with these tools means you have to know something
of how the database is structured, or you are willing to guess. In either
case, make sure you saved a copy of the .pst file before you start putzing
with it.
How come you aren't saving backups (either with a backup program in which
the .pst file is just one of many data files getting backed up or by using
the Personal Folders Backup add-in that only backs up the .pst file)? If
you don't backup, you consider your data as worthless or reproducible.
