Milo: How can I move Outlook.pst to MyDocuments for easy backup?

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I like to back up my data by just dragging "MyDocuments" to my external drive.

When I got this computer, someone out there showed me a way to move
Outlook.pst successfully to a MyDocuments folder so that it would get backed
up whenever I saved "MyDocuments".

Well, it worked great when I had a C: crash last week and I was able to
import it to Outlook and get all my mail and contacts back.

The PROBLEM is that I no longer have the instructions on how to get it under
MyDocs again to resume backing it up weekly. Any help?
 
Simple. Close Outlook. Locate the .pst file and move it (don't copy) to
the folder of your choice. Open Outlook and when it complains, point it to
the new location.

Also, never import/export the .pst file when installing on a new drive or
reinstalling. Simply use File->open- Outlook data file to access your data
or configure your profile to point to your .pst file initially.


--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, Milo-in-San-Diego asked:

| I like to back up my data by just dragging "MyDocuments" to my
| external drive.
|
| When I got this computer, someone out there showed me a way to move
| Outlook.pst successfully to a MyDocuments folder so that it would get
| backed up whenever I saved "MyDocuments".
|
| Well, it worked great when I had a C: crash last week and I was able
| to import it to Outlook and get all my mail and contacts back.
|
| The PROBLEM is that I no longer have the instructions on how to get
| it under MyDocs again to resume backing it up weekly. Any help?
 
I had already done the import you suggest against. I think you're right.
Would have worked better if I hadn't, but to go back and just do what you say
would have lost a couple of days of updates.

Thanks! I'll save your advice for the future...may it never be needed!
 
Good Day Milly,
You stated below... and I am confused a bit, (new to munipilating outlook)
does this mean I can use my document back up to auto backup my outlook's pst
file?
Can you explain in detail as I find outlook a wierd program to munipilate.
Thanks, Walt
 
You cannot backup an OL data file whilst OL is open as it will lead to
corruption of the backed up data file.
If your OL data file is located in My Documents and you have some backup
application running on My Documents, then yes the OL data file will be
backed up.

Walt said:
Good Day Milly,
You stated below... and I am confused a bit, (new to munipilating outlook)
does this mean I can use my document back up to auto backup my outlook's pst
file?
Can you explain in detail as I find outlook a wierd program to munipilate.
Thanks, Walt

Milly Staples said:
Simple. Close Outlook. Locate the .pst file and move it (don't copy) to
the folder of your choice. Open Outlook and when it complains, point it to
the new location.

Also, never import/export the .pst file when installing on a new drive or
reinstalling. Simply use File->open- Outlook data file to access your data
or configure your profile to point to your .pst file initially.


--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, Milo-in-San-Diego asked:

| I like to back up my data by just dragging "MyDocuments" to my
| external drive.
|
| When I got this computer, someone out there showed me a way to move
| Outlook.pst successfully to a MyDocuments folder so that it would get
| backed up whenever I saved "MyDocuments".
|
| Well, it worked great when I had a C: crash last week and I was able
| to import it to Outlook and get all my mail and contacts back.
|
| The PROBLEM is that I no longer have the instructions on how to get
| it under MyDocs again to resume backing it up weekly. Any help?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
How will Outlook 'complain'? What exactly do I do to 'point it to the new
location'? I would like to set it up but don't want to get lost halfway
through!

I am afraid I set up my new computer by doing an import from my old
computer's back-up file, contrary to what you instruct. It all seems to work
OK, but is there anything that I might be missing?
 
"Complain"-> prompt for the new location.
Don't use import, we advise against that for good reasons.

For proper backup and restore instructions see;
http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/backupandrestore.htm

This guide also instructs how to move the pst-file to a different location.



Tim in Poole said:
How will Outlook 'complain'? What exactly do I do to 'point it to the new
location'? I would like to set it up but don't want to get lost halfway
through!

I am afraid I set up my new computer by doing an import from my old
computer's back-up file, contrary to what you instruct. It all seems to
work
OK, but is there anything that I might be missing?

Milly Staples said:
Simple. Close Outlook. Locate the .pst file and move it (don't copy) to
the folder of your choice. Open Outlook and when it complains, point it
to
the new location.

Also, never import/export the .pst file when installing on a new drive or
reinstalling. Simply use File->open- Outlook data file to access your
data
or configure your profile to point to your .pst file initially.


--Â
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, Milo-in-San-Diego asked:

| I like to back up my data by just dragging "MyDocuments" to my
| external drive.
|
| When I got this computer, someone out there showed me a way to move
| Outlook.pst successfully to a MyDocuments folder so that it would get
| backed up whenever I saved "MyDocuments".
|
| Well, it worked great when I had a C: crash last week and I was able
| to import it to Outlook and get all my mail and contacts back.
|
| The PROBLEM is that I no longer have the instructions on how to get
| it under MyDocs again to resume backing it up weekly. Any help?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
How canI locate the .pst files? The only one I've found is called archive
and is 120Mb.

I'm running Winxows Xp with Office 2003.
 
John said:
How canI locate the .pst files? The only one I've found is called
archive and is 120Mb.

I'm running Winxows Xp with Office 2003.
Click to expand...

The main PST will likely not have the name "Archive". That's usually the
archive PST's name. Your main PST's location can be found by clicking
File>Data File Management in Outlook. Open a Windows Explorer window and
navigate to that location. It's usually a hidden folder, so the folder
browser might not be able to find it, but you can either enable viewing
hidden files and folders in Windows or you can simply enter the entire path
into Windows Explorer's address bar and then click Go. Hidden or not, that
should show you the folder.

With Outlook closed, just move the PST to My Documents (I'd put it in a
subfolder there). Open Outlook and it will complain that it can't find its
folders. In the browser window that will appear, browse to where you put
the PST, select it, and Outlook will happily open again.

To move your Archive PST, click Tools>Options>Other>Autoarchive and change
the location you have specified for the archive PST. Stop and restart
Outlook and the next time autoarchive runs, it will create a new PST there.
Were I you, I'd copy the old one to the same folder, but give it a new name,
but you can try just moving it to the location you specified in Outlook and
see if Outlook will continue to add to it, but I'm not sure that Outlook
won't create a new version of it called Archive(1).

Keep in mind that no backup tool can make a good backup of your PSTs while
Outlook is running.
 
Thanks for your helpful reply Brian.

I've now found that I don't have .pst files, I have .ost files. Can the
..ost files be moved to My Documents?
 
I've now found that I don't have .pst files, I have .ost files. Can
the
.ost files be moved to My Documents?
Click to expand...

With Outlook closed, open the Mail applet in Control Panel. Select the
E-mail Accounts button, select View or change existing e-mail accounts>Next.
Select the Exchange account and click Change, then More Settings. Select
the Advanced tab and uncheck "Use Cached Exchage Mode". Then click Offline
Folder File Settings. Enter the path you want in the File box. Click OK.
Recheck the "Use Cached Exchange Mode" box (and the "Download Public Folder
Favorites" box if it was checked before) and click OK. Click Next, then
Finish, then Close. Start Outlook. It should create the OST you defined.
 
I have been unable to retrieve my backed up personal files after an
unfortunate need to reindtall my OS. I used pfbackup to move them to an
external hard drive. However, when I try to retrieve them using either the
import/export or the File>Open>Outlook Data file> I get nothing. Help!
 
Mary Ann said:
I have been unable to retrieve my backed up personal files after an
unfortunate need to reindtall my OS. I used pfbackup to move them to an
external hard drive. However, when I try to retrieve them using either
the
import/export or the File>Open>Outlook Data file> I get nothing. Help!
Click to expand...

Define "nothing".
 
I mean nothing is retrieved. I get a message when I try to use Import that
says the Personal Files Folder (.pst) is already in use. I get no response
when using the ile>Open>Data File option.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Mary Ann
 
Mary Ann said:
I mean nothing is retrieved. I get a message when I try to use Import that
says the Personal Files Folder (.pst) is already in use. I get no
response
when using the ile>Open>Data File option.
Click to expand...

You still need to be FAR more detailed. What EXACTLY happens when you do
File-Open-Outlook data File? ("I get no response" is so vague as to be
useless).
 
I mean I get no response. Absolutely NOTHING HAPPENS. I cannot get any more
specific. N-O-T-H-I-N-G happens.

Mary Ann
 
What absolutely doesn't happen when you move the pst to My documents?

If you can't find the pst, see
http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/filepath.htm.

Also, while this method is for IMAP accounts, you can use it for POP3
accounts too.
http://www.slipstick.com/emo/2008/up081016.htm#2

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]





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.
 
I am not trying to move the file to My Documents. I am trying to restore the
files after a reinstall of my OS and of Microsoft Office.

I have the .pst file on an external drive. I know exactly where it is. It
says that it has 65,000 kb of information in the file, but I cannot restore
it to Outlook. In Outlook, I have tried importing the file and get the
message that I indicated earlier. When I use the File>Open>Personal folders,
N-O-T-H-I-N-G happens. By that I mean there is absolutely NO RESPONSE. I
don't know how to get more specific unless I look up the definition of
nothing in the dictionary - no messages, no little hourglass indicating that
the computer is trying to do something - NOTHING.

Mary Ann

Diane Poremsky said:
What absolutely doesn't happen when you move the pst to My documents?

If you can't find the pst, see
http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/filepath.htm.

Also, while this method is for IMAP accounts, you can use it for POP3
accounts too.
http://www.slipstick.com/emo/2008/up081016.htm#2

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]





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.


Mary Ann said:
I mean I get no response. Absolutely NOTHING HAPPENS. I cannot get any
more
specific. N-O-T-H-I-N-G happens.

Mary Ann
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Copy the pst to your local drive. Run scanpst on it if it won't open in
outlook using File, Open. Do not use import.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]





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.


Mary Ann said:
I am not trying to move the file to My Documents. I am trying to restore
the
files after a reinstall of my OS and of Microsoft Office.

I have the .pst file on an external drive. I know exactly where it is.
It
says that it has 65,000 kb of information in the file, but I cannot
restore
it to Outlook. In Outlook, I have tried importing the file and get the
message that I indicated earlier. When I use the File>Open>Personal
folders,
N-O-T-H-I-N-G happens. By that I mean there is absolutely NO RESPONSE. I
don't know how to get more specific unless I look up the definition of
nothing in the dictionary - no messages, no little hourglass indicating
that
the computer is trying to do something - NOTHING.

Mary Ann

Diane Poremsky said:
What absolutely doesn't happen when you move the pst to My documents?

If you can't find the pst, see
http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/filepath.htm.

Also, while this method is for IMAP accounts, you can use it for POP3
accounts too.
http://www.slipstick.com/emo/2008/up081016.htm#2

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]





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.


Mary Ann said:
I mean I get no response. Absolutely NOTHING HAPPENS. I cannot get
any
more
specific. N-O-T-H-I-N-G happens.

Mary Ann

:

I like to back up my data by just dragging "MyDocuments" to my
external
drive.

When I got this computer, someone out there showed me a way to move
Outlook.pst successfully to a MyDocuments folder so that it would get
backed
up whenever I saved "MyDocuments".

Well, it worked great when I had a C: crash last week and I was able
to
import it to Outlook and get all my mail and contacts back.

The PROBLEM is that I no longer have the instructions on how to get it
under
MyDocs again to resume backing it up weekly. Any help?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I have moved it to my local drive. I just tried to "open" the file from
Outlook again. This time, it recovered the archived folders, but not the
inbox. How do I run scanpst?

I just read my last response and feel that I need to apologize for the tone.
I am just frustrated with the situation. Please accept my apology.

Diane Poremsky said:
Copy the pst to your local drive. Run scanpst on it if it won't open in
outlook using File, Open. Do not use import.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]





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.


Mary Ann said:
I am not trying to move the file to My Documents. I am trying to restore
the
files after a reinstall of my OS and of Microsoft Office.

I have the .pst file on an external drive. I know exactly where it is.
It
says that it has 65,000 kb of information in the file, but I cannot
restore
it to Outlook. In Outlook, I have tried importing the file and get the
message that I indicated earlier. When I use the File>Open>Personal
folders,
N-O-T-H-I-N-G happens. By that I mean there is absolutely NO RESPONSE. I
don't know how to get more specific unless I look up the definition of
nothing in the dictionary - no messages, no little hourglass indicating
that
the computer is trying to do something - NOTHING.

Mary Ann

Diane Poremsky said:
What absolutely doesn't happen when you move the pst to My documents?

If you can't find the pst, see
http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/filepath.htm.

Also, while this method is for IMAP accounts, you can use it for POP3
accounts too.
http://www.slipstick.com/emo/2008/up081016.htm#2

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]





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.


I mean I get no response. Absolutely NOTHING HAPPENS. I cannot get
any
more
specific. N-O-T-H-I-N-G happens.

Mary Ann

:

I like to back up my data by just dragging "MyDocuments" to my
external
drive.

When I got this computer, someone out there showed me a way to move
Outlook.pst successfully to a MyDocuments folder so that it would get
backed
up whenever I saved "MyDocuments".

Well, it worked great when I had a C: crash last week and I was able
to
import it to Outlook and get all my mail and contacts back.

The PROBLEM is that I no longer have the instructions on how to get it
under
MyDocs again to resume backing it up weekly. Any help?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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