Can't Import Archive file.

[Jim Shank]

Problem Description: Yesterday (11/18) when I opened
Outlook, a small box popped up asking me if I wanted to
archive files that I haven't used for awhile and to empty
my Deleted folder. I clicked OK and for the next 1 to 2
hours, files were being archived. When done, I had lost
all my folders I had created in the Folder List along with
their contents.

I have used Microsoft Help and followed Article 196492 to
Import Personal Data and have my Address Book and Contacts
back, plus a partial Sent Items and two other personal
folders. When I follow the instructions for "Importing
Personal Folder Data" in Artical 196492, a small window
opens titled "Import - Archive Folders". It shows files
being transferred, but just stops, after it has
transferred the following files: Will & Patty Lewis
(personal), Sent Items, Inbox, Traffic Swarm (personal),
Contacts and Drafts. This process takes about 5 to 10
minutes, then just stops and the window closes.

I have a new file that was created yesterday titled
Archive. It's located at:
C:\WINDOWS\ApplicationData\Microsoft\Outlook\archive.pst
and that's the file I've been trying to Import.

What I need to know is, What do I do to restore all my
folders in my Folders List? I've trid to Open the Archive
file, but I can't seem to get it to open (not sure what
format to use.) I also Really need to Restore the
Calendar, as all my business appointments are in there!

Thanks in advance, for your quick responce to this!

Jim Shank

 

[Jocelyn Fiorello [MVP - Outlook]]

Open the archive.pst file in Outlook via File | Open. (This is the only way
to open a .PST file; it can't be opened from Windows.) It will open in your
Folder List and you can drag and drop from one set of Personal Folders to
the other. Don't import from the file; you'll likely just lose more data or
settings that way.

I don't know why AutoArchive would have removed any of your folders,
though -- it should only move items from within folders.

--
Jocelyn Fiorello
MVP - Outlook

*** Messages sent to my e-mail address will NOT be answered -- please
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[Jim Shank]

I tried what you suggested, to open the file, but could
not open it.

When I try to open the .pst file, it tries to open it
in "Imaging for Windows" and I get an error message that
says, "Failed to open document". Am I trying to open this
file from the wrong location? I'm trying to open to by
going to:
C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\archive.pst
I right mouse click on the file name and then click Open.
That's when it tries to open in Imaging for Windows. Is
there another format that will open a PST file? Please
help as I'm not sure what do do next.

Thanks in advance for your quick response!

Jim Shank

 

[Jocelyn Fiorello [MVP - Outlook]]

To quote my previous reply:

"Open the archive.pst file in Outlook via File | Open. *(This is the only
way to open a .PST file; it can't be opened from Windows.)*

So, go into Outlook, click File | Open | Outlook Data File (if you're using
Outlook 2002 or 2003...it is extremely helpful if you include your Outlook
version when posting a request for help) or File | Open | Personal Folders
File (if you're using Outlook 98 or 2000), browse to the archive.pst file,
and click OK.

--
Jocelyn Fiorello
MVP - Outlook

*** Messages sent to my e-mail address will NOT be answered -- please
reply only to the newsgroup to preserve the message thread. ***


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[Jim Shank]

Hello Joselyn!

After doing more research, I noticed the following things:

1.) First I'm using Outlook 2000

2.) When I right click on "Deleted Items" in Folder List,
click on Properties and then on Auto Archive tab, I found
out the box was checked to "Clean out items older than 2
months" and "Permanently delete old items." How this got
set up like this, I have no idea.

3.) The way my Folder List was set up, I had many
important sub folders under the "Delete Items" folder. (My
mistake) So, I think I may have lost everything there. :-(

4.)When I right click on "Sent Items" in the Folder List,
Click on Properties and then on the Auto Archive tab, I
found out the box was checked to "Clean out items older
than 2 months" and "Move old items to:" The folder that
it was to be moved to was: C:\WINDOWS\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook\archive.pst.

5.) When I followed the steps for "Importing Personal
Folder Data" ( MS Article 196492), I was able to Import
the "Sent Files" from Sept 17, 2003 on back, but nothing
after Sept. 17th.

6.) All the other folders in the Folder List had nothing
checked under the Auto Archive tab.

7.) The File Size of the "Archive File" shows 110431K.
Broken down, the list shows a lot of files with 0K, Inbox
with 229K (these are current from 11/18/03 when all this
started) and Sent Items with 109175K.

8.)When in Outlook, I click File/Open/Personal Folders
File (.pst), I get a window titled "Open Personal
Folders". There are 4 files listed. This is what happens
when I try to open each one:
a.) archive (110MB) - I get a blank preview pane
titled "Archive Folders."
b.) backup (32KB)- I get a blank preview pane
titled "Personal Folders."
c.) outlook (500MB)- A window pops up titled "Personal
Folders". It says : "Properties for this information
service must be defined prior to use". Then when I click
OK, another window pops up titled "Microsoft Outlook". It
says: "File access is denied. You do not have the
permission required tom access the file
C:\WINDOWS\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook\outlook.pst. I click OK and its
done.
d.)Personal Folder(1) (125MB)- It brings me to a preview
pane titled "Personal Folders - Outlook Today"

9.) On or around Oct. 22, 2003, I backed up all my data
onto CD's. I have a CD, that shows all my folders from
Outlook. When I access the info on the CD, everything is
a dbx file. My question is "HOW DO I OPEN A DBX FILE?" so
I can access the info on the CD.

10.) I hope I have given you enough info, to help you come
up with a solution to my problem.

Thanks in advance for your quick response!

Jim Shank

 

[Jocelyn Fiorello [MVP - Outlook]]

I won't address all those separately, but I can tell you the following:

-- Some folders are pre-set at the factory to AutoArchive after a certain
amount of time, and some are set to delete permanently (like Deleted Items)
where others are set to send old data to an archive file. Still other
folders are not set to AutoArchive at all. However, if you don't have
AutoArchiving turned on globally in Tools | Options | Other | AutoArchive,
no archiving should occur automatically. If AutoArchive was allowed to run
on your Deleted Items folder, then yes, all of the items in that folder
older than 2 months at the time of the archive are gone forever. And in
that case, the folders you'd placed in Deleted Items were deleted too.

-- Don't use your Deleted Items folder as a filing cabinet. You wouldn't
store important papers in your trash can, would you?

-- The file you got an error on when trying to open it via File | Open |
Personal Folders File is probably marked read-only. .PST files can't be
accessed by Outlook if they are read-only.

-- The Preview Pane will be blank if the root folder of the file you just
opened is selected; you have to expand the folder tree to see what's in the
file. Do that with all the files you opened and see if your data is in any
of them.

-- Outlook does not use DBX files. Outlook Express does.

--
Jocelyn Fiorello
MVP - Outlook

*** Messages sent to my e-mail address will NOT be answered -- please
reply only to the newsgroup to preserve the message thread. ***


In

 

[Guest]

I'm having the same difficulty using Outlook 2000. When I try to access a personal folders file, I get "Properties for this information service must be defined prior to use". Hit OK and it comes up this is not a .pst file when it is. This all started when I tried to autoarchive email and it did so. I looked at the resulting file to read them, in Word, and of course they were all encrypted or whatever. So I trashed them. Outlook without that then 'reset' itself and opened with no email files at all, nothing. I had lost everything. Then I went to web and bought a 'filesaver' to retrieve the .pst file from the recycle bin, which it did. It is 17000+kb but not apparently being recognized now as an outlook personal information file. I've lost all my contacts, emails and calendar in the process. How do I get Outlook to read this file and retreive all my info? This is all beyond me at this point.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP]]

If you opened the file in Word and allowed Word to save it, then the file
may be toast as far as Outlook is concerned. (WordPad is a *much* better
choice for this kind of examination, because it doesn't have an AutoSave to
kick in.) Try running Scanpst.exe against the file to see if anything can be
recovered. See http://www.slipstick.com/problems/scanpst.exe.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

I'm having the same difficulty using Outlook 2000. When I try to access a

personal folders file, I get "Properties for this information service must
be defined prior to use". Hit OK and it comes up this is not a .pst file
when it is. This all started when I tried to autoarchive email and it did
so. I looked at the resulting file to read them, in Word, and of course they
were all encrypted or whatever. So I trashed them. Outlook without that then
'reset' itself and opened with no email files at all, nothing. I had lost
everything. Then I went to web and bought a 'filesaver' to retrieve the .pst
file from the recycle bin, which it did. It is 17000+kb but not apparently
being recognized now as an outlook personal information file. I've lost all
my contacts, emails and calendar in the process. How do I get Outlook to
read this file and retreive all my info? This is all beyond me at this
point.