Lost Emails show up in Google Desktop Search, but not in Outlook

K

Ken V

After putting up with a duplicate Personal Files folder for at least two
years, I finally found a fix, posted on microsoft.com only last October.
Unfortunately, when I printed it out, the first instruction, "Move the .PST
files to a different directory", ended up printing continuous with the
header, and I missed it. The result was that when I set up my new Outlook
arrangement, it copied its PST files over the old ones, and I lost all
emails, sent and received, between last February and last evening.

This morning I discovered that a search with the Google Desktop Search finds
at least some of those lost emails somewhere. Where could they possibly be,
and how can I move them into Outlook? I've been running the Windows Search
Companion to look for file content, but the little dog hasn't found anything
so far.
 
D

Diane Poremsky [MVP]

search your hard drive for *.pst - use the advanced option to include hidden
files and folders. how many pst's do you find?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/

Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)




You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.
 
K

Ken V

Thanks, Diane. The little dog has found 35 so far. Many are in Recycle or
Recycler folders, and all are dated today, which is too late. I need
something from yesterday before the evening.

Diane Poremsky said:
search your hard drive for *.pst - use the advanced option to include hidden
files and folders. how many pst's do you find?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/

Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)




You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.


Ken V said:
After putting up with a duplicate Personal Files folder for at least two
years, I finally found a fix, posted on microsoft.com only last October.
Unfortunately, when I printed it out, the first instruction, "Move the
.PST
files to a different directory", ended up printing continuous with the
header, and I missed it. The result was that when I set up my new Outlook
arrangement, it copied its PST files over the old ones, and I lost all
emails, sent and received, between last February and last evening.

This morning I discovered that a search with the Google Desktop Search
finds
at least some of those lost emails somewhere. Where could they possibly
be,
and how can I move them into Outlook? I've been running the Windows Search
Companion to look for file content, but the little dog hasn't found
anything
so far.
 
D

Diane Poremsky [MVP]

it's possible google has them in the search index even though they were
deleted.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/

Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)




You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.


Ken V said:
Thanks, Diane. The little dog has found 35 so far. Many are in Recycle or
Recycler folders, and all are dated today, which is too late. I need
something from yesterday before the evening.

Diane Poremsky said:
search your hard drive for *.pst - use the advanced option to include
hidden
files and folders. how many pst's do you find?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/

Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)




You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point
your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.


Ken V said:
After putting up with a duplicate Personal Files folder for at least
two
years, I finally found a fix, posted on microsoft.com only last
October.
Unfortunately, when I printed it out, the first instruction, "Move the
.PST
files to a different directory", ended up printing continuous with the
header, and I missed it. The result was that when I set up my new
Outlook
arrangement, it copied its PST files over the old ones, and I lost all
emails, sent and received, between last February and last evening.

This morning I discovered that a search with the Google Desktop Search
finds
at least some of those lost emails somewhere. Where could they possibly
be,
and how can I move them into Outlook? I've been running the Windows
Search
Companion to look for file content, but the little dog hasn't found
anything
so far.
 
K

Ken V

That may be, but I wouldn't expect it to be able to show the entire email
then. If I search for Pendleton, which is part of a correspondent's address,
I get a thread of three emails. It even says it's a thread, and I can select
"Older" to go back from the top one. I could just copy and paste them into
Outlook and send them to myself to get them back in the file, but I couldn't
begin to find all the other emails that may be "out there" and past them in.

I see nothing to indicate a tree of some kind to show where they're buried.
Would just an index show this much? It's amazing and baffling!

Diane Poremsky said:
it's possible google has them in the search index even though they were
deleted.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/

Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)




You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.


Ken V said:
Thanks, Diane. The little dog has found 35 so far. Many are in Recycle or
Recycler folders, and all are dated today, which is too late. I need
something from yesterday before the evening.

Diane Poremsky said:
search your hard drive for *.pst - use the advanced option to include
hidden
files and folders. how many pst's do you find?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/

Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)




You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point
your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.


After putting up with a duplicate Personal Files folder for at least
two
years, I finally found a fix, posted on microsoft.com only last
October.
Unfortunately, when I printed it out, the first instruction, "Move the
.PST
files to a different directory", ended up printing continuous with the
header, and I missed it. The result was that when I set up my new
Outlook
arrangement, it copied its PST files over the old ones, and I lost all
emails, sent and received, between last February and last evening.

This morning I discovered that a search with the Google Desktop Search
finds
at least some of those lost emails somewhere. Where could they possibly
be,
and how can I move them into Outlook? I've been running the Windows
Search
Companion to look for file content, but the little dog hasn't found
anything
so far.
 
V

VanguardLH

Ken said:
Thanks, Diane. The little dog has found 35 so far. Many are in Recycle or
Recycler folders, and all are dated today, which is too late. I need
something from yesterday before the evening.

Diane Poremsky said:
search your hard drive for *.pst - use the advanced option to include hidden
files and folders. how many pst's do you find?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/

Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)




You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.

Ken V said:
After putting up with a duplicate Personal Files folder for at least two
years, I finally found a fix, posted on microsoft.com only last October.
Unfortunately, when I printed it out, the first instruction, "Move the
.PST
files to a different directory", ended up printing continuous with the
header, and I missed it. The result was that when I set up my new Outlook
arrangement, it copied its PST files over the old ones, and I lost all
emails, sent and received, between last February and last evening.

This morning I discovered that a search with the Google Desktop Search
finds
at least some of those lost emails somewhere. Where could they possibly
be,
and how can I move them into Outlook? I've been running the Windows Search
Companion to look for file content, but the little dog hasn't found
anything
so far.

Oh, the little dog. So I'm guessing you are using the Find Files search
utility in Windows. Did you include hidden files in your search?

The search utility in Windows XP got screwed up. It will not find all
files (and actually will hide upon command of a desktop.ini or for
"special" folders). In a DOS shell, you could could start at the root
folder of a drive and run "dir /s *.pst". Also, unless there is a
prebuilt viewer that can show the content of a file, the search utility
in Windows XP won't find the file (i.e., it finds files that it can show
their content). Most users find a substitute for the search utility
that Microsoft screwed up in Windows XP (which worked correctly in
Windows 2000).

I use Agent Ransack (yeah, I know, probably not a good product name;
it's paid bigger brother is called FileLocator). Ransack finds files
that the search utility in Windows won't find. Although perhaps not a
big feature to you now, Ransack also lets you define regular expressions
to find files rather than use the severely limited DOS wildcarding
method.

http://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/
 
K

Ken V

I've downloaded and installed Agent Ransack. It looks as though it will take
some effort to learn. Thanks.

VanguardLH said:
Ken said:
Thanks, Diane. The little dog has found 35 so far. Many are in Recycle or
Recycler folders, and all are dated today, which is too late. I need
something from yesterday before the evening.

Diane Poremsky said:
search your hard drive for *.pst - use the advanced option to include hidden
files and folders. how many pst's do you find?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/

Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)




You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.

After putting up with a duplicate Personal Files folder for at least two
years, I finally found a fix, posted on microsoft.com only last October.
Unfortunately, when I printed it out, the first instruction, "Move the
.PST
files to a different directory", ended up printing continuous with the
header, and I missed it. The result was that when I set up my new Outlook
arrangement, it copied its PST files over the old ones, and I lost all
emails, sent and received, between last February and last evening.

This morning I discovered that a search with the Google Desktop Search
finds
at least some of those lost emails somewhere. Where could they possibly
be,
and how can I move them into Outlook? I've been running the Windows Search
Companion to look for file content, but the little dog hasn't found
anything
so far.

Oh, the little dog. So I'm guessing you are using the Find Files search
utility in Windows. Did you include hidden files in your search?

The search utility in Windows XP got screwed up. It will not find all
files (and actually will hide upon command of a desktop.ini or for
"special" folders). In a DOS shell, you could could start at the root
folder of a drive and run "dir /s *.pst". Also, unless there is a
prebuilt viewer that can show the content of a file, the search utility
in Windows XP won't find the file (i.e., it finds files that it can show
their content). Most users find a substitute for the search utility
that Microsoft screwed up in Windows XP (which worked correctly in
Windows 2000).

I use Agent Ransack (yeah, I know, probably not a good product name;
it's paid bigger brother is called FileLocator). Ransack finds files
that the search utility in Windows won't find. Although perhaps not a
big feature to you now, Ransack also lets you define regular expressions
to find files rather than use the severely limited DOS wildcarding
method.

http://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/
 
D

Diane Poremsky [MVP]

Windows Search will find pst files provided you use the advanced option to
search all hidden files and folders. There is no need for another tool.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
(e-mail address removed)

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.


VanguardLH said:
Ken said:
Thanks, Diane. The little dog has found 35 so far. Many are in Recycle or
Recycler folders, and all are dated today, which is too late. I need
something from yesterday before the evening.

Diane Poremsky said:
search your hard drive for *.pst - use the advanced option to include
hidden
files and folders. how many pst's do you find?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/

Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)




You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point
your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.

After putting up with a duplicate Personal Files folder for at least
two
years, I finally found a fix, posted on microsoft.com only last
October.
Unfortunately, when I printed it out, the first instruction, "Move the
.PST
files to a different directory", ended up printing continuous with the
header, and I missed it. The result was that when I set up my new
Outlook
arrangement, it copied its PST files over the old ones, and I lost all
emails, sent and received, between last February and last evening.

This morning I discovered that a search with the Google Desktop Search
finds
at least some of those lost emails somewhere. Where could they possibly
be,
and how can I move them into Outlook? I've been running the Windows
Search
Companion to look for file content, but the little dog hasn't found
anything
so far.

Oh, the little dog. So I'm guessing you are using the Find Files search
utility in Windows. Did you include hidden files in your search?

The search utility in Windows XP got screwed up. It will not find all
files (and actually will hide upon command of a desktop.ini or for
"special" folders). In a DOS shell, you could could start at the root
folder of a drive and run "dir /s *.pst". Also, unless there is a
prebuilt viewer that can show the content of a file, the search utility
in Windows XP won't find the file (i.e., it finds files that it can show
their content). Most users find a substitute for the search utility
that Microsoft screwed up in Windows XP (which worked correctly in
Windows 2000).

I use Agent Ransack (yeah, I know, probably not a good product name;
it's paid bigger brother is called FileLocator). Ransack finds files
that the search utility in Windows won't find. Although perhaps not a
big feature to you now, Ransack also lets you define regular expressions
to find files rather than use the severely limited DOS wildcarding
method.

http://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/
 
D

Diane Poremsky [MVP]

I don't use google desktop search so I don't know what it includes in the
indexes but I know other indexing applications will copy the full message
into their index.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
(e-mail address removed)

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.


Ken V said:
That may be, but I wouldn't expect it to be able to show the entire email
then. If I search for Pendleton, which is part of a correspondent's
address,
I get a thread of three emails. It even says it's a thread, and I can
select
"Older" to go back from the top one. I could just copy and paste them into
Outlook and send them to myself to get them back in the file, but I
couldn't
begin to find all the other emails that may be "out there" and past them
in.

I see nothing to indicate a tree of some kind to show where they're
buried.
Would just an index show this much? It's amazing and baffling!

Diane Poremsky said:
it's possible google has them in the search index even though they were
deleted.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/

Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)




You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point
your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.


Ken V said:
Thanks, Diane. The little dog has found 35 so far. Many are in Recycle
or
Recycler folders, and all are dated today, which is too late. I need
something from yesterday before the evening.

:

search your hard drive for *.pst - use the advanced option to include
hidden
files and folders. how many pst's do you find?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/

Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)




You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point
your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.


After putting up with a duplicate Personal Files folder for at least
two
years, I finally found a fix, posted on microsoft.com only last
October.
Unfortunately, when I printed it out, the first instruction, "Move
the
.PST
files to a different directory", ended up printing continuous with
the
header, and I missed it. The result was that when I set up my new
Outlook
arrangement, it copied its PST files over the old ones, and I lost
all
emails, sent and received, between last February and last evening.

This morning I discovered that a search with the Google Desktop
Search
finds
at least some of those lost emails somewhere. Where could they
possibly
be,
and how can I move them into Outlook? I've been running the Windows
Search
Companion to look for file content, but the little dog hasn't found
anything
so far.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top