Oultook recovery after failed HD

[Alberto]

Good morning,

I'm looking for some help in recovering my e-mails. Here's what happened.
I got a bad download/install of my drivers, and something happened to my BIOS
that would allow Windows to run. I had to send in my computer to get it
restored, but before I did, I bought a HD enclosure kit, and copied my HD
onto an external HD. I got my laptop back, and a 'fresh' HD, but now I'm
looking for my old e-mails/contacts/etc, and I can't find the archive.pst
file on the external HD (I usually didn't auto-archive my e-mails anyway).

Is there any way I can recover my old e-mails or is all of it lost?

Thanks in advance

 

[Tim]

If you copied all of your files then your pst file should be there...it's
just a matter of finding it. If you haven't been using Outlook's archiving,
then don't bother looking for "archive.pst", rather look for the main pst
file (likely called "outlook.pst"). The default location of the pst file
varies depending on the version of Windows (for example, in Vista, the pst
file is kept, by default, in
"c:\Users\your_logon_name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook"). It's different
in Win XP...sorry I don't remember the exact path. Browse your backup drive
and just copy the pst file to the same folder on your repaired laptop. Open
Outlook and you should be back in business (after you re-configure your
Outlook account settings, of course).

If you can't find your pst file...you're hosed. Now is the time to start
routinely backing up your pst file (in addition to your other important
files).

Tim

 

[Alberto]

Thanks for the quick reply Tim.

Unfortunately, I've searched several times for any ".pst" file, including
hidden files and/or folders, and nothing comes up.... I can't even find the
outlook folder in the microsoft folder...

Any ideas?

 

[Tim]

Bummer...is this Windows XP or Vista? What version of Outlook?

Tim

 

[James]

Did you by any chance save your files on a network or removable drive?

 

[Alberto]

It's XP Pro and it's Outlook 2003

Bummer...is this Windows XP or Vista? What version of Outlook?

Tim

 

[Alberto]

Here's what I did:

I pulled out my HD, and put it in a HD enclosure kit. I then borrowed a
friends pc, and plugged the enclosure kit, and my external HD to his laptop,
and then copied the entire HD into the external HD (through his computer).
My entire HD is copied onto my external HD right now, but I can't find the
file (for some unknown reason)...

 

[James]

How many partitions did the old drive have? If more than one, did you copy
all partitions?

 

[Alberto]

It only had 1

How many partitions did the old drive have? If more than one, did you copy
all partitions?

 

[Brian Tillman]

Unfortunately, I've searched several times for any ".pst" file,
including hidden files and/or folders, and nothing comes up.... I
can't even find the outlook folder in the microsoft folder...

If this is true, you're out of luck. Apparently you didn't copy like you
thought you did.

 

[Alberto]

Thanks guys

If this is true, you're out of luck. Apparently you didn't copy like you
thought you did.

 

[Tim]

Don't mean to beat this to death so feel free to ignore...

On your backup HD, do you see the following string of folders? \Documents
and Settings\your_user_name\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

If you do, navigate all the way to the Outlook folder and post back what you
see in it. If you do not see those folders on your backup drive then you are
officially hosed. Sorry.

Tim