Microsoft patch corrupted our Outlook 2002

[NEWMOTORGB]

Apparently an automatic hotfix patch came in to my computer on Sunday May
14th 2006 and after it automatically installed the patch it shut my computer
down so it can be restarted. I came in my office on Monday morning noticed it
needed a restart and proceeded after the restart to open my outlook 2002.I
opened the program but wouldn't load any files.Someone in my office located
the Outlook PST file and it was corrupted from the patch.She ran a scan disk
and the file went from 300,000 KB to 0. I lost all my
contacts,emails,folders,etc. from this patch.I searched all hidden folders
and I cannot find the records anywhere. I have a POP 3 set up and
unfortunately it doesn't look like I had any automatic back ups in place. I
have tried many things but the kicker is that the patch is what corrupted my
file. Anybody have any further ideas, I lost some very, very valuable
contacts. Thank you.

 

[William Lefkovics [MVP]]

When something happens like that, I just restore from backup. Where is your
backup?

I confidently suggest a Microsoft patch did not cause your data loss. It
may have exposed a problem on your system, however. Was ScanDisk set to
report errors or to automatically fix them?
scandisk places a log file at c:\scandisk.log. That might have some
information about potential drive issues.

Or did you run scanpst.exe?

Anyway, what are the exact errors Outlook returns when you try to open it?

 

[NEWMOTORGB]

Thanks. Well first of all I don't think I have a backup.If I do, I don't know
where it is.When I turned on my monitor and I had seen the computer had been
restarted,I opened my Outlook.It read"Unable to display the folder.Oulook
could not access the specified folder location. The file
C:..............\Outlook.pst could not be opened.She located the file
outlook.pst through "my computer\C.When she found it,she tried to make a copy
and it would not let her.At that point she ran a scan disk, and she does not
recall there being an option for us.It finished and she went to open Outlook
and we then got the error that was similar except it said .....Outlook.PST is
not a personal folders file.We then tried to run the scanpst file and it
would not run.We then went to look at the file again and the file went from
over 300,000KB to 0.At that time she renamed it, and created a new Oulook.pst
file so we now can access new email.It works fine now,but all the old
important data is gone. Thanks

 

[William Lefkovics [MVP]]

Well certainly a tough lesson. You are saying your computer restarted
because it is set to download and install updates? Perhaps set it to
download but not install, if that fits the policy of where you are. Then
install it when you are able to without any applications open and restart if
necessary.

Important content = have a backup. .pst files are very active read/write
files that can corrupt. Also there are 2 kinds of hard drives - those that
have crashed and those that will crash. Make backups and know where they
are.

I'd still be a little curious if scandisk.log identifies any problems.

 

[NEWMOTORGB]

William, are you thinking that my outlook was left open when the update
automatically restarted my computer? Perhaps you are correct. If that
happened do you suspect this is a lost cause? My contacts would be my most
valuable to find if at all possible. You also mention scandisk.log. Where can
I find and view this? Thank you.