I was having a problem with Outlook which one of our techs fixed by
installing Windows 2003 SP. The problem is he wiped out every one of my
defined views...and I had about 30 of them in my Tasks and Notes. It took me
hours to get everything organized and I don't want to even think about having
to redo everything. Is there a way to get these back? I had created an .osp
file of My Documents and Settings but that didn't do it. He backed up two
folders with Outlook files (.pst, .ost, etc.) he said one of those will put
them back but he doesn't know what one it is. Can one help me with this?

See this link for info on file locations and usage:
http://www.slipstick.com/config/backup.htm

My guess would be it's the VIEWS.DAT file. To verify, close Outlook and rename
existing VIEWS.DAT to VIEWS.DA_ and then copy the backup file in its stead.
Launch Outlook and see what happens.

If no joy, close Outlook and delete VIEWS.DAT and then rename existing VIEWS.DA_
file to VIEWS.DAT.

Good luck!

"Ann" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:94B6D4FF-2183-4C06-A2FF-(E-Mail Removed)...
| I was having a problem with Outlook which one of our techs fixed by
| installing Windows 2003 SP. The problem is he wiped out every one of my
| defined views...and I had about 30 of them in my Tasks and Notes. It took me
| hours to get everything organized and I don't want to even think about having
| to redo everything. Is there a way to get these back? I had created an .osp
| file of My Documents and Settings but that didn't do it. He backed up two
| folders with Outlook files (.pst, .ost, etc.) he said one of those will put
| them back but he doesn't know what one it is. Can one help me with this?

Views.dat has nothing to do with views of Outlook data. Views are stored in the Outlook data store, not in a separate file. If the technician wiped out all the views (which can be done with a command-line switch), they're gone forever. If the technician built a new profile with a different data store, then your views are still in the old data store and will work if you make that store the default.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
http://www.turtleflock.com/olconfig/index.htm
and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx

"David Webb" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:OY2mso%(E-Mail Removed)...
> See this link for info on file locations and usage:
> http://www.slipstick.com/config/backup.htm
>
> My guess would be it's the VIEWS.DAT file. To verify, close Outlook and rename
> existing VIEWS.DAT to VIEWS.DA_ and then copy the backup file in its stead.
> Launch Outlook and see what happens.
>
> If no joy, close Outlook and delete VIEWS.DAT and then rename existing VIEWS.DA_
> file to VIEWS.DAT.
>
> Good luck!
>
> "Ann" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:94B6D4FF-2183-4C06-A2FF-(E-Mail Removed)...
> | I was having a problem with Outlook which one of our techs fixed by
> | installing Windows 2003 SP. The problem is he wiped out every one of my
> | defined views...and I had about 30 of them in my Tasks and Notes. It took me
> | hours to get everything organized and I don't want to even think about having
> | to redo everything. Is there a way to get these back? I had created an .osp
> | file of My Documents and Settings but that didn't do it. He backed up two
> | folders with Outlook files (.pst, .ost, etc.) he said one of those will put
> | them back but he doesn't know what one it is. Can one help me with this?
>
>

Thanks for the clarification. I'm sure it will be a great benefit the OP.

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
Views.dat has nothing to do with views of Outlook data. Views are stored in the
Outlook data store, not in a separate file. If the technician wiped out all the
views (which can be done with a command-line switch), they're gone forever. If
the technician built a new profile with a different data store, then your views
are still in the old data store and will work if you make that store the
default.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
http://www.turtleflock.com/olconfig/index.htm
and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx

"David Webb" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:OY2mso%(E-Mail Removed)...
> See this link for info on file locations and usage:
> http://www.slipstick.com/config/backup.htm
>
> My guess would be it's the VIEWS.DAT file. To verify, close Outlook and rename
> existing VIEWS.DAT to VIEWS.DA_ and then copy the backup file in its stead.
> Launch Outlook and see what happens.
>
> If no joy, close Outlook and delete VIEWS.DAT and then rename existing
VIEWS.DA_
> file to VIEWS.DAT.
>
> Good luck!
>
> "Ann" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:94B6D4FF-2183-4C06-A2FF-(E-Mail Removed)...
> | I was having a problem with Outlook which one of our techs fixed by
> | installing Windows 2003 SP. The problem is he wiped out every one of my
> | defined views...and I had about 30 of them in my Tasks and Notes. It took
me
> | hours to get everything organized and I don't want to even think about
having
> | to redo everything. Is there a way to get these back? I had created an
..osp
> | file of My Documents and Settings but that didn't do it. He backed up two
> | folders with Outlook files (.pst, .ost, etc.) he said one of those will put
> | them back but he doesn't know what one it is. Can one help me with this?
>
>