how to recover lost email folders from adding a new email account

[Kam gill]

I attempted to add hotmail as a new email account in outlook and whilst doing
so, i hit the "add a new directory" which replaced all my old mail folders
(previously obtained when on MS Echange and no longer obtainable). Is there
any way this can be reversed or can someone please tell me how to recover the
emails, thanks.
Please note that the hotmail link never worked!

Using: Windows XP and Outlook 2003

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Could you start your story from the beginning?
How was your Outlook configured to begin with?
You were storing all your mail in an Exchange account which was no longer
available to you?

"add a new directory" is not a valid option in Outlook. If you are not using
an English version of Outlook, could you tell where exactly you are looking
or provide a screenshot instead?

 

[Kam gill]

Hi, sorry about that let me try again.

I have windows XP and Mocrosoft outlook 2003 english version.

My mail folders were created in my previous employment. When i left that
business i wanted to sync. with my hotmail account. I went to outlook - tools
- email accounts - add a new emaill account and then ticked either add or
change directory.

The result was, that all my old folders were replaced by neww blank folders
- with the exception of 'sent'?

Is ther any way that this can be reversed or can i still locate the old
emails?

 

[Roady [MVP]]

If you added an account, both Hotmail and your Exchange mailbox should be
listed. Adding a Hotmail account will not remove an Exchange account.

Anyway, since you don't have access to the Exchange server anymore you
cannot resync to get those emails back. You should for an ost-file on your
disk and make a backup of that first; that's the only place where your
original mails are now. As an ost-file is tied to the Exchange mailbox, you
cannot open it directly without having the Exchange account configured. Try
doing a System Restore to the point in time where you still had the Exchange
account configured. You should then be able to open the ost-file. To save
these emails and enable you to open them without depending on the Exchange
account, create a new pst-file and copy over its contents.

After that you can remove the Exchange account and add the Hotmail account
by using the Outlook Connector;
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=7aad7e6a-931e-438a-950c-5e9ea66322d4

If the System Restore trick didn't work for you but you still have the
ost-file of your Exchange server, you would need a 3rd party recovery tool
to convert it to an accessible pst-file and those really don't come cheap;
http://addins.howto-outlook.com/datanumen_exchangerepair

If you decide (need? :-S) to order use DNC-APME-HT to get a discount.

 

[Kam gill]

I restored to a point when the server was in place but i still cannot open
the ost file, is there anything else i can try or is it going to be an
expensive outlay?

 

[Roady [MVP]]

If you restored to a point where the Exchange account is still configured
and you still have the ost-file in its correct place, then you should be
able to open Outlook and access the Exchange mailbox. What happens when you
try? Do you get an error?

 

[Kam gill]

I have certainly restored to a point where the Exchange account is still
configured and when i try and open the following files i get these messages:

1. Archive.pst :"There was an error opening this document. This file is
already open or in use by another application".

2. Outlook.ost: it cannot open it and is asking me what to use to open it?

Note:

The location is:C:\Users\lee.gill\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook
For some reason i have normal acces to all my sent emails?

 

[Roady [MVP]]

1. The archive.pst file can be ignored for this issue but you might want to
look into this later and find out what is causing the lock on the file. You
should not have this issue when you start Windows itself in Safe Mode (with
networking support).

2. If it allows you to browse, point it to the ost-file that you
saved/recovered earlier. If the path is correct, then you might have a
corruption within the ost-file. How large is it? You can use scanost.exe (so
not scanpst.exe) to scan your ost-file for errors.
See http://www.msoutlook.info/question/77

For some reason i have normal acces to all my sent emails?

These are located within the ost-file or in another folder set (pst-file?)
If within the same ost-file, and scanost.exe didn't solve it for you, you
probably need to go the expensive route and use the recovery tool I pointed
out earlier.