O/L 2007 Backup (restore) problem

[Steve M]

I have read the threads searching O/L '07 Backup prior to submitting.

I have used the MS O/L Backup Add-In to backup my .pst files. I have been
storing these .pst files in a folder I created (OL Backup) in My Docs. The
specific problem I am having is: when restoring (importing) the .pst
Personal file data, all I can access is my Archived file. No Personal Files.
And, yes I do know that there are 2 .pst files (Personal <quite large> &
Archive <much smaller kb> .

All that I can access is the Archive file. The data stored in these Archive
file (email & calendar) is data that is 6 months old and older. Nothing from
present date going back 6 months. I think I had my Archive setting set at 6
months. My contacts are shown either. Same is true with my Calendar - appts
shown over 6 months ago. Nothing current to 6 months ago.

I backed-up my .pst files every 2 weeks onto a external HDD - I have 12+
months of .pst backups all saved & stored in folders dated every other week.
I know this may sound a bit too much, but if you got the room on an external
HDD, why not use it!

What am I doing wrong so that I can access my Personal Files?

 

[DL]

Within Outlook simply open the backup.pst, you will have to browse to its
location.

Your Import process is simply looking in the default pst location
Generally you dont Import or Export native outlook data

 

[Steve M]

I have tried that. The first thing I tried was browsing to the .pst file
location on the HDD. I know that O/L will move the file to the C drive.
Still unable to see data (emails, appts, etc) in the past 6 months - only can
see Archive data.

I have also used the copy to function on Windows Explorer to copy the .pst
file to C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook\

Prior to doing this, I deleted the existing .pst file. Same problem. Only
can see email, appts over 6 months old.

 

[DL]

Outlook doesnt move any pst
The default location is as you gave, a pst does not have to be located in
the default folder
If you browsed to and opened the pst that is located in the alternate
location, a second set of Personal Folders would have opened in the Outlook
folder View, you did expand this?

 

[Steve M]

In the main O/L window, I expanded all mail folders. Only one folder is
showing - Archive. Personal folder is not showing.

The Personal folder would have all data from current date back 6 months.
This is the data that I am missing.

 

[DL]

Are you saying that no Personal Folder is showing at all?

If with OL closed in Control Panel double click the Mail applet what is
shown under data file management

 

[Steve M]

The Control Panel Mail applet data is the exact same data file as shown under
Outlook Data Management:
Name: File Name:
Archive Folder Outlook PST Backup.pst in C:\Documents and
Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\
archive folder which is 1,821,329 kb in size - and -

archive Folder archive.pst (same exact file path) which is 265 kb in
size.

The Personal Folder is missing. I have done search (including searching for
hidden files & folders) in my computer for all .pst files and these are the
only two .pst files.

I can access my archived data (data older than 6 months), but no data from
current date going back 6 months. Also, my Contacts are missing.

 

[DL]

If your outlook.pst is on an external drive, copy it to your Documents
Folder, then using the Mail applet > Data Management, add this data file &
set it as the default msg store.

 

[Steve M]

Both O/L files are on external drive - I have copied both to My Documents &
placed in a folder labeled Outlook. Went to Control Panel, Mail, Data Files
and set Archive.pst (1,821,329 kb) as Default.

Opened Outlook, checked Mail Folders so that all mail data files had a
checkmark - still unable to see any mail or calendar entries for past 6 mo.
No contacts showing.

I did set it as default msg store. Now I see 2 sets of Archive files - both
sets are exactly the same - neither set has any data for past 6 months.

Still unable to see any mail or appointments for current date back 6 months.
Also no Contacts are shown. Contacts missing alltogether.

I have only 1 user profile on this computer.

 

[DL]

An Archive pst will only contain data copied to it from the origonal
outlook.pst that has a modified date as set in the Archive settings - by
default, I recollect it is 6 months.

An Archive is not a copy of the origonal outlook data file, it only contains
data removed from the origonal data file that meets the modified date
criteria used in the archive settings.

So unless you have any other data files - the default data file created when
you install outlook is named outlook.pst, subsequently created data files
created would be outlook1.pst then outlook2.pst, though you can name them
differently - you have lost your data

To backup a data file, you simply copy it, whilst outlook is closed, or you
use the free backup addin available from MS Outlook site

 

[Steve M]

I have been using the Microsoft Backup addin to backup my Outlook data files.
I would appreciate if a MVP would look at this discussion to determine why
I am not able to see data from the present date going back 6 months.

I have run the Outlook Backup addin correctly and backed-up my .pst file
correctly every 2 weeks. Now when I want to restore the previously backed-up
Outlook data, the only data I can access is data over 6 months old.

MICROSOFT MVP - I would appreciate you looking at this case.

 

[DL]

The backup created with the addin would be named 'datafilename'backup.pst
If you have dont have anything other than archivebackup.pst you were backing
up the wrong pst
What are the names of the pst data files both on your PC and your external
drive?

 

[Steve M]

I ran a search on my C drive and my external drive for all files ending with
..pst The only two file names are: Outlook backup.pst and archive.pst I
have been backing up my Outlook 2007 every other week for the past year
saving each backup individually in separate folders on my external HDD. I
did a complete search including searching for hidden files and the 2 files
names above are the only 2 names.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

I ran a search on my C drive and my external drive for all files ending
with
.pst The only two file names are: Outlook backup.pst and archive.pst I
have been backing up my Outlook 2007 every other week for the past year
saving each backup individually in separate folders on my external HDD. I
did a complete search including searching for hidden files and the 2 files
names above are the only 2 names.

Then you've deleted it somehow, it would seem. What's the modified date on
Outlook Backup.pst? Copy Outlook Backup.pst to some other folder and call
it Outlook.pst. Open that in Outlook and see what it contains.

 

[DL]

Then outlookbackup.pst is the backup of your origonal data file.
If you open this within Outlook, you should see two sets of Personal
Folders, the properties of one of these will show the name as
outlookbackup.pst
If some data for this file is still missing, check your outlook views.

 

[Steve M]

SUCCESS! I went back a couple of backups (good thing I saved my backups in
indiv. folders every other week) and found a good one. I now have my
messages, calendar & contacts! It appears that I will only loose 2 weeks of
data. Still unsure what happened to the last backup & how that .pst file
became corrupt.

I plan to continue backing up my Outlook .pst files every other week saving
them in individual dated folders on my external HDD.

One last question - has anyone used the program available for purchase at
outlookbackup.com?

Many thanks to "DL" and "Brian Tillman - MVP"!

 

[DL]

Good to hear.
Its allways wise to actually test any backup, whether an OL backup or any
other data backup

 

[Steve M]

This is a lesson I have learned. Yes, it's impt to backup your data, but it
is equally impt to test your backup data. I was not happy about potentially
loosing the past 6 months of email, appts and all of my contacts.

Have added test data to my do-list.

Still waiting to hear if anyone has any experiance with the program
available for purchase at Outlookbackup.com.