Contacts

  • Thread starter Thread starter David Reed
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David Reed

One of my users had a seperate Contacts folder...his computer crashed.

I need to find the file on the backup that contained those. Does anyone
know where the default file for Contacts is kept, and what the filename
might be?

Thanks,
 
Hi there Russ,

Thanks for writing. What I should have mentioned is that we are using an
Exchange 2000 server and our users all have mailboxes on the server, rather
than using .pst files.

So when he (the Comp. Pres...naturally) would open a new email to send, and
click TO: and to go the Global Address List, the drop-down would show
"Primary Contacts", and he'd select that, and chose his address from that
list.

Is THAT still a .pst file, stored somewhere, presumably, on the C: partition
(by default?). Or is it stored as a .PAB file or something like that. He
didn't even tell me he had the thing before his computer went down, so when
we reformatted it, we didn't know it was there, to check the Properties on
it beforehand. Now I'm screwed looking for this stupid "Primary Contacts"
he's talking about, without really knowing what it is he's referrin' to, ya'
know?

*sigh*.

Anyway, I HAVE a good backup of the entire C: drive, I just have to figure
out what file that data was stored in.

So, given the additional info, is it still in a .pst file?

Thanks,

David


Russ Valentine said:
The file you need to look for is your Personal Folders file (*.pst) It's
where all the mail, calendar, contacts etc are stored.

Take a look at these pages for info on Outlook data backup:
http://www.slipstick.com/config/backup.htm

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
David Reed said:
One of my users had a seperate Contacts folder...his computer crashed.

I need to find the file on the backup that contained those. Does anyone
know where the default file for Contacts is kept, and what the filename
might be?

Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Yes. It certainly would have been nice to know that you were using Exchange.
All that data is in the Exchange mailbox, not stored in a PST file.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
David Reed said:
Hi there Russ,

Thanks for writing. What I should have mentioned is that we are using an
Exchange 2000 server and our users all have mailboxes on the server, rather
than using .pst files.

So when he (the Comp. Pres...naturally) would open a new email to send, and
click TO: and to go the Global Address List, the drop-down would show
"Primary Contacts", and he'd select that, and chose his address from that
list.

Is THAT still a .pst file, stored somewhere, presumably, on the C: partition
(by default?). Or is it stored as a .PAB file or something like that. He
didn't even tell me he had the thing before his computer went down, so when
we reformatted it, we didn't know it was there, to check the Properties on
it beforehand. Now I'm screwed looking for this stupid "Primary Contacts"
he's talking about, without really knowing what it is he's referrin' to, ya'
know?

*sigh*.

Anyway, I HAVE a good backup of the entire C: drive, I just have to figure
out what file that data was stored in.

So, given the additional info, is it still in a .pst file?

Thanks,

David


Russ Valentine said:
The file you need to look for is your Personal Folders file (*.pst) It's
where all the mail, calendar, contacts etc are stored.

Take a look at these pages for info on Outlook data backup:
http://www.slipstick.com/config/backup.htm

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
David Reed said:
One of my users had a seperate Contacts folder...his computer crashed.

I need to find the file on the backup that contained those. Does anyone
know where the default file for Contacts is kept, and what the filename
might be?

Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Hi Russ,

Well, of course I've got his Exchange mailbox open, but I'm not familiary
that much with Contacts, unless they in the form of a .PAB file. He still
has the CONTACTS folder that is in his Exchange mailbox, but that doesn't
seem to hold what he is looking for. And I've been through his mapped
network folder (his H: drive), and found 22 .pst files, and 3 .pab files.

You can see the challenge I'm up against trying to find his lost "Primary
Contacts" folder, not knowing what the filename was to begin with.

I think at this point I need to create a folder on the server and restore
all the files of his C: drive to it, and search the entire contents of his
original C: drive and look for any OTHER .pab files.

Do you concur?

David

Russ Valentine said:
Yes. It certainly would have been nice to know that you were using Exchange.
All that data is in the Exchange mailbox, not stored in a PST file.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
David Reed said:
Hi there Russ,

Thanks for writing. What I should have mentioned is that we are using an
Exchange 2000 server and our users all have mailboxes on the server, rather
than using .pst files.

So when he (the Comp. Pres...naturally) would open a new email to send, and
click TO: and to go the Global Address List, the drop-down would show
"Primary Contacts", and he'd select that, and chose his address from that
list.

Is THAT still a .pst file, stored somewhere, presumably, on the C: partition
(by default?). Or is it stored as a .PAB file or something like that. He
didn't even tell me he had the thing before his computer went down, so when
we reformatted it, we didn't know it was there, to check the Properties on
it beforehand. Now I'm screwed looking for this stupid "Primary Contacts"
he's talking about, without really knowing what it is he's referrin' to, ya'
know?

*sigh*.

Anyway, I HAVE a good backup of the entire C: drive, I just have to figure
out what file that data was stored in.

So, given the additional info, is it still in a .pst file?

Thanks,

David


Russ Valentine said:
The file you need to look for is your Personal Folders file (*.pst) It's
where all the mail, calendar, contacts etc are stored.

Take a look at these pages for info on Outlook data backup:
http://www.slipstick.com/config/backup.htm

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
One of my users had a seperate Contacts folder...his computer crashed.

I need to find the file on the backup that contained those. Does anyone
know where the default file for Contacts is kept, and what the filename
might be?

Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I do not work with Exchange. I do know that Contacts do not exist in a
separate file. All Outlook data is in the Exchange mailbox. If the Contacts
Folder is intact, all the data is there. What is missing? If he just can't
see the Contacts Folder in the Outlook Book, did you check to see if it is
enabled as an email address book and that the Outlook Address Book Service
is installed?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
David Reed said:
Hi Russ,

Well, of course I've got his Exchange mailbox open, but I'm not familiary
that much with Contacts, unless they in the form of a .PAB file. He still
has the CONTACTS folder that is in his Exchange mailbox, but that doesn't
seem to hold what he is looking for. And I've been through his mapped
network folder (his H: drive), and found 22 .pst files, and 3 .pab files.

You can see the challenge I'm up against trying to find his lost "Primary
Contacts" folder, not knowing what the filename was to begin with.

I think at this point I need to create a folder on the server and restore
all the files of his C: drive to it, and search the entire contents of his
original C: drive and look for any OTHER .pab files.

Do you concur?

David

Russ Valentine said:
Yes. It certainly would have been nice to know that you were using Exchange.
All that data is in the Exchange mailbox, not stored in a PST file.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
David Reed said:
Hi there Russ,

Thanks for writing. What I should have mentioned is that we are using an
Exchange 2000 server and our users all have mailboxes on the server, rather
than using .pst files.

So when he (the Comp. Pres...naturally) would open a new email to
Click to expand...
send,
and
click TO: and to go the Global Address List, the drop-down would show
"Primary Contacts", and he'd select that, and chose his address from that
list.

Is THAT still a .pst file, stored somewhere, presumably, on the C: partition
(by default?). Or is it stored as a .PAB file or something like that. He
didn't even tell me he had the thing before his computer went down, so when
we reformatted it, we didn't know it was there, to check the
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Properties
on
it beforehand. Now I'm screwed looking for this stupid "Primary Contacts"
he's talking about, without really knowing what it is he's referrin'
Click to expand...
to,
ya'
know?

*sigh*.

Anyway, I HAVE a good backup of the entire C: drive, I just have to figure
out what file that data was stored in.

So, given the additional info, is it still in a .pst file?

Thanks,

David


The file you need to look for is your Personal Folders file (*.pst) It's
where all the mail, calendar, contacts etc are stored.

Take a look at these pages for info on Outlook data backup:
http://www.slipstick.com/config/backup.htm

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
One of my users had a seperate Contacts folder...his computer crashed.

I need to find the file on the backup that contained those. Does anyone
know where the default file for Contacts is kept, and what the filename
might be?

Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Hi Russ,

I think, based on what he's told me, that he did have a .PAB file imported,
though I can't tell for sure. In my wanderings, I found several MORE .PST
files, and another. .PAB file, but none of them contained any great amount
of contacts, as I thought he was implying he had.

I also went through all the .PST files and copied the CONTACTS folder to a
subfolder of his Mailbox Contacts, so he can see if that's what he was
looking for (I ended up finding, all told, almost 30 seperate .PST
files...for this one user...and he had no idea they even existed...can you
imagine?)

Hopefully next week I can sit down with him and have a delicate talk about
the virtues of using the system the way it's designed to be used, for
everyone's good. I suspect from the way he asks for things to be done, the
previous Network Administrator simply "Yes"-menned himself into satisfiying
the bosses requests at the moment, without considering the bigger picture
(information overflow by having to MANY backups, in no organized
method)...his H: folder (mapped network share) was littered with them from
as far as 6 years ago...what a nightmare trying to find that one file or
address book he says he wants...

Thanks Russ,

David

Russ Valentine said:
I do not work with Exchange. I do know that Contacts do not exist in a
separate file. All Outlook data is in the Exchange mailbox. If the Contacts
Folder is intact, all the data is there. What is missing? If he just can't
see the Contacts Folder in the Outlook Book, did you check to see if it is
enabled as an email address book and that the Outlook Address Book Service
is installed?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
David Reed said:
Hi Russ,

Well, of course I've got his Exchange mailbox open, but I'm not familiary
that much with Contacts, unless they in the form of a .PAB file. He still
has the CONTACTS folder that is in his Exchange mailbox, but that doesn't
seem to hold what he is looking for. And I've been through his mapped
network folder (his H: drive), and found 22 .pst files, and 3 .pab files.

You can see the challenge I'm up against trying to find his lost "Primary
Contacts" folder, not knowing what the filename was to begin with.

I think at this point I need to create a folder on the server and restore
all the files of his C: drive to it, and search the entire contents of his
original C: drive and look for any OTHER .pab files.

Do you concur?

David

Russ Valentine said:
Yes. It certainly would have been nice to know that you were using Exchange.
All that data is in the Exchange mailbox, not stored in a PST file.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Hi there Russ,

Thanks for writing. What I should have mentioned is that we are
Click to expand...
using
an
Exchange 2000 server and our users all have mailboxes on the server,
rather
than using .pst files.

So when he (the Comp. Pres...naturally) would open a new email to send,
and
click TO: and to go the Global Address List, the drop-down would show
"Primary Contacts", and he'd select that, and chose his address from that
list.

Is THAT still a .pst file, stored somewhere, presumably, on the C:
partition
(by default?). Or is it stored as a .PAB file or something like
Click to expand...
that.
He
didn't even tell me he had the thing before his computer went down, so
when
we reformatted it, we didn't know it was there, to check the
Click to expand...
Properties
on
it beforehand. Now I'm screwed looking for this stupid "Primary Contacts"
he's talking about, without really knowing what it is he's referrin' to,
ya'
know?

*sigh*.

Anyway, I HAVE a good backup of the entire C: drive, I just have to figure
out what file that data was stored in.

So, given the additional info, is it still in a .pst file?

Thanks,

David


The file you need to look for is your Personal Folders file
Click to expand...
(*.pst)
It's
where all the mail, calendar, contacts etc are stored.

Take a look at these pages for info on Outlook data backup:
http://www.slipstick.com/config/backup.htm

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
One of my users had a seperate Contacts folder...his computer crashed.

I need to find the file on the backup that contained those. Does
anyone
know where the default file for Contacts is kept, and what the
filename
might be?

Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
That would explain why he's the "previous" administrator. PAB's went away 6
years ago, and you already know what a bad idea PST files are in Exchange.
Good luck.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
David Reed said:
Hi Russ,

I think, based on what he's told me, that he did have a .PAB file imported,
though I can't tell for sure. In my wanderings, I found several MORE .PST
files, and another. .PAB file, but none of them contained any great amount
of contacts, as I thought he was implying he had.

I also went through all the .PST files and copied the CONTACTS folder to a
subfolder of his Mailbox Contacts, so he can see if that's what he was
looking for (I ended up finding, all told, almost 30 seperate .PST
files...for this one user...and he had no idea they even existed...can you
imagine?)

Hopefully next week I can sit down with him and have a delicate talk about
the virtues of using the system the way it's designed to be used, for
everyone's good. I suspect from the way he asks for things to be done, the
previous Network Administrator simply "Yes"-menned himself into satisfiying
the bosses requests at the moment, without considering the bigger picture
(information overflow by having to MANY backups, in no organized
method)...his H: folder (mapped network share) was littered with them from
as far as 6 years ago...what a nightmare trying to find that one file or
address book he says he wants...

Thanks Russ,

David

Russ Valentine said:
I do not work with Exchange. I do know that Contacts do not exist in a
separate file. All Outlook data is in the Exchange mailbox. If the Contacts
Folder is intact, all the data is there. What is missing? If he just can't
see the Contacts Folder in the Outlook Book, did you check to see if it is
enabled as an email address book and that the Outlook Address Book Service
is installed?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
David Reed said:
Hi Russ,

Well, of course I've got his Exchange mailbox open, but I'm not familiary
that much with Contacts, unless they in the form of a .PAB file. He still
has the CONTACTS folder that is in his Exchange mailbox, but that doesn't
seem to hold what he is looking for. And I've been through his mapped
network folder (his H: drive), and found 22 .pst files, and 3 .pab files.

You can see the challenge I'm up against trying to find his lost "Primary
Contacts" folder, not knowing what the filename was to begin with.

I think at this point I need to create a folder on the server and restore
all the files of his C: drive to it, and search the entire contents of his
original C: drive and look for any OTHER .pab files.

Do you concur?

David

Yes. It certainly would have been nice to know that you were using
Exchange.
All that data is in the Exchange mailbox, not stored in a PST file.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Hi there Russ,

Thanks for writing. What I should have mentioned is that we are using
an
Exchange 2000 server and our users all have mailboxes on the server,
rather
than using .pst files.

So when he (the Comp. Pres...naturally) would open a new email to send,
and
click TO: and to go the Global Address List, the drop-down would show
"Primary Contacts", and he'd select that, and chose his address from
that
list.

Is THAT still a .pst file, stored somewhere, presumably, on the C:
partition
(by default?). Or is it stored as a .PAB file or something like that.
He
didn't even tell me he had the thing before his computer went
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
down,
so
when
we reformatted it, we didn't know it was there, to check the Properties
on
it beforehand. Now I'm screwed looking for this stupid "Primary
Contacts"
he's talking about, without really knowing what it is he's
Click to expand...
referrin'
to,
ya'
know?

*sigh*.

Anyway, I HAVE a good backup of the entire C: drive, I just have to
figure
out what file that data was stored in.

So, given the additional info, is it still in a .pst file?

Thanks,

David


The file you need to look for is your Personal Folders file (*.pst)
It's
where all the mail, calendar, contacts etc are stored.

Take a look at these pages for info on Outlook data backup:
http://www.slipstick.com/config/backup.htm

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
One of my users had a seperate Contacts folder...his computer
crashed.

I need to find the file on the backup that contained those. Does
anyone
know where the default file for Contacts is kept, and what the
filename
might be?

Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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