How do I recover Outlook files from a system backup/restore

[ChrisB]

Hi,

I did a full system backup using the Utility in Office XP, reformatted my
hard drive and re-installed the OS. On restore, all of my Outlook info is
gone - it doesn't appear that my calendar, contacts, or inbox were recovered.
How do I get that back??

No - I don't have a current PST file. I forgot to do that (I know, believe
me, I know) but hoped that since I did the full system restore I would be
safe.

Is there any way to get this critical data back????

 

[Pat Willener]

How did you do a "full system backup" - using what utility? If you used
ntbackup.exe then the PST file should have been backed up, and you
should be able to restore it.

 

[ChrisB]

Thanks for the reply Pat.

I went to: Start --> Control Panel --> Performance and Maintenance --> Back
up your data

I then used the wizard selecting “Everyone’s documents and settings:
Includes every user’s My Documents folder plus their Favorites, desktop and
cookiesâ€

This gave me a *.bkf file.

I also manually backed up My Documents, Favorites and the Desktop because I
preferred not to restore the whole backup.

I then formatted my hard drive, re-loaded Window XP (Media Center 2005), and
installed the MS Office Suite.

When I realized my error in not manually creating a. pst file for my
Outlook, I did a full restore of the .bkf file using the same XP utility from
the path above. This time after selecting “Back up your data†I selected
“Restore files and settings.â€

I expected this to return Outlook to its original state including the
contacts and calendar, but Outlook remained bleakly empty. I did a search on
*.pst and came up empty.

Is there another file extension that Outlook uses for information that
hasn’t explicitly been exported to a .pst file? Is it possible my information
is still hiding somewhere?

Thanks,

Chris

--------

 

[Pat Willener]

Chris,

Sorry for the delay, we had a public holiday here. Unfortunately you did
not perform a "full backup", but only user settings and documents. By
default, however, that should include your PST file, as it is usually
located in your Documents and Settings folder. But you may have moved it
somewhere else?

Anyway, assuming that you have actually backed up your PST file, it may
be hidden. Change your folder settings to show hidden files, then search
again for *.PST