recovering emails said:
I most likely know the answer already by I want to make sure. I have
uninstalled and reinstalled Outlook 2007 on my computer (restored it to
original settings). Is there any way to get the emails I had before back
(are they stored on my computer), or are they gone for good (all of my
other
documents and programs I had: word, excel, downloads, etc. are still
there)?
Reuben
Quick, non-Outlook specialist answer: as much as you are able, stop using
that computer. The more you use it, the smaller your chances of a successful
recovery should one need to be attempted.
How were you retrieving and storing your e-mails, do you know? I suspect the
most likely set-up is that they were downloaded and deleted from the server,
and stored in a PST file (eg Reuben.pst) in the folder:
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook
Have a look there to see what .PST file/s are there. It could be that
Outlook is now using Reuben2.pst and that it's still got Reuben.pst with a
date & time of just before you reinstalled it, so all you'd need to do is
repoint Outlook. Also check for archive.pst & backup.pst with useful dates -
they might end up being the best you can do.
Otherwise, hunt down a free (or even non-free) file recovery utility to look
for .pst files. If possible, slave the hard drive to another computer and
work off of that one to help minimise the chances of overwriting these
files.
But, as TaurArian says, the folks over at an Outlook group might be able to
help more:
microsoft.public.outlook.general
