Outlook 2003 - Recovering .pst - Inbox, Folders, Contacts

[Tony Plutino]

Hello,
I have installed a new hard drive and am attempting to restore my old Inbox,
Email Folders and Contacts. I have attempted to follow some of the tips
presented in this forum and elsewhere, but have not been completely
successful. I have been able to import the .pst file from my backup drive.
After the data was imported the following occurred. 1) My old Inbox is
missing, although my new Inbox is working. Should my old Inbox be included
as an email folder? Is my new Inbox causing my old Inbox to play
second-fiddle? 2) The restored email folders are not listed with theire
original names, but have been restored in a folder called "Restored Personal
Folders" in a sub-folder called "Lost and Found". The files are labeled as "
Recovered Folder 17962", etc.. 3) My contatcs folder is empty. However, I
can see my contacts in one of the "Recovered Folders" mentioned in item 2
above. It seems that Outlook is confused as to where to put things and I
definitely am. Thanks for any help or suggestions that can be offered.
Regards,
Tony

 

[Pat Willener]

I don't think that you found any tips in this newsgroup that advises the
use of the Import function. Don't use Export or Import in connection
with PST files, as it will reformat all data, and lose some in the process.

Just open your original PST file (or a copy of it) with Outlook, and you
will not have any problems.

 

[Tony Plutino]

Hmmm. I could very well have everything hosed beyond repair. I did have a
copy of the original and unmutilated backup. I placed it into my Local
Settings Folder (in the Outlook folder). Then I opened Outlook and and went
to File>Open>Outlook Data File. The issue was not resolved. Dang! Should I
uninstall MS Office and start over?
Thanks,
Tony

 

[Brian Tillman]

I have installed a new hard drive and am attempting to restore my old
Inbox, Email Folders and Contacts.

See if this helps: http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/backupandrestore.htm

 

[Pat Willener]

Reinstalling Office will not help you in this case. What exactly do you
get when you open your original backup PST file?

 

[Tony Plutino]

Hello, sorry for the delayed response. When I open the .pst I don't see
anything visible happen (no windows open, no warnings, etc..).

I do have other .pst files on my computer. Perhaps this is creating a
conflict. These .pst files were created by me when I set up Outlook afer
replacing my harddrive.

I noticed on the link that Brian gave that the author suggest putting a .old
extension on the old .pst after moving it to a new location. This is what
got me thinking that I might have too many active .pst files and that is
confusing Outlook.

The new .pst files do have some emails downloaded into them, but they are
less important than my old inbox. I could just delete them if that would
help.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks, Tony

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

outlook doesn't care how many "active" psts you have until you get up around
50 open in your profile.If they are not open in your profile, outlook
doesn't know they exist.

Check file dates on the psts (using windows explorer) - the largest one is
likely the one you used the longest. Open it using file, open. If the others
have data in them open them using file, open and drag the messages to your
"good" pst. To set the contacts folder as an address book right click on it
and choose properties and on the address book tab enable it as an address
book. You'll also want to set the "good" pst as the default delivery
location - tools, accounts... select it from the drop down.



** Please include your Outlook version, Account type, and Windows Version
when requesting assistance **

 

[Tony Plutino]

Hi Diane,
Thanks for the tips. I tried these, but the problem was not resolved. I am
beginning to think that I have corrupted my original backup .pst. Perhaps I
did this with the scanpst.exe tool or somehow with the import/export feature
(that I now know not to use for .pst ).

I tried something else that I saw on another thread. I deleted my profile
entirely and created a new one. Then I associated my original backup .pst
file to it. Doing tat created a folder called "Recovered Personal Folders".
Inside this folder is an Inbox with a newer set of email, but not my
original. (It is from some earlier trial and error). The folder also
contains a folder called "Lost and Found" that has my original Email Folders
(where I filed my emails). These folders are called "Recovered Folder #####"
(with the ##### symbols representing unique numbers on the various "Recovered
Folders"). One of these "Recovered Folders" contains my Contacts. When I
click on it I can see a Contact Window just as I would normally see it if I
clicked on "Contacts" in the main Outlook interface window.

I hope you can offer a few more suggestions. I have tried very hard to
follow your directions and those of your colleagues. Sorry if I am not
picking up on something y'all are trying to tell me.

Regards,
Tony