Damaged/Lost Outlook.PST file

[Guest]

My windows XP home SP2 crashed. I reinstalled windows using the repair
install, but now my primary Outlook.PST file is 0 kb and cannot be opened.
However, a secondary .PST file that I set up purely for my Hotmail account
does in fact work, however this is mainly for junk mail.

Is there a way I can recover the main Outlook.PST file? and if so what
software is recomended. Will Microsoft's scanpst.exe file do the trick?

Any help will be greatly appreciated because I have year's worth of
irreplaceable data in the PST file

--David

 

[Guest]

Hi David:

I had a similar problem when I moved files from one machine to another --
when I tried to use XP's "transfer files & settings" tool, I was informed
that my .pst file was corrupt. I used the "detect and repair" tool on that
file, and while I have no idea what it did, I was afterward able to move my
main .pst file over to the new machine.

Be aware, though, that if you installed Office in any other than a "full"
install, you may be prompted to enter the Office disk so "detect and repair"
can be installed.

Directions for "detect and repair":

1. Open Outlook
2. Go to "Help" in top menu
3. Choose "detect and repair" in the dropdown
4. Follow instructions

I hope this helps.

--Kate

 

[DL]

Search for *.pst, to include hidden files

"David in Florida with Outlook disaster" <David in Florida with Outlook
(e-mail address removed)> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your reply DL - unfortunately I already tried that, but I
appreciate your help all the same.
--David

 

[Guest]

Hi Kate - thanks so much my your help -

I tried your suggestion but got a message"this action is only valid for
products that are currently installed"

It seems that when I did the repair reinstall of windows that certain
programs stopped working, however I am too scare to reinstall Office as I
don't want to write to the hard drive as there may be a way to use dedicated
data recovery software to recover the lost Outlook data.

Thanks again for your suggestion - much appreciated
--David

 

[DL]

A reinstallation of office will not impact on any data files.

"David in Florida with Outlook disaster"

 

[Guest]

I agree that if I reinstall office it should not impact on any existing pst
file, however if the file was previously deleted in error by me then by
writing new data to the hard drive by reinstalling office, this could
overwrite the hard drive area where the file was previously situated and this
could then prevent me from being able to recover the deleted file.

To be safe, i will reinstall office on my second hard drive and then try the
"detect and repair" suggested by kate.

 

[DL]

If it was deleted in error you will need either third party recovery
software, or a data recovery specialist.
Since the default location of the pst files is in the c:\documents and
Settings... folder re installing anything, or even using the pc make make
recovery more problomatic.
"irreplaceable data" ? no backup?, presumably like all of us youve learnt
from your mistakes.

"David in Florida with Outlook disaster"

 

[Guest]

I'm sure we don't need to assume that David does not routinely back up his
files. For all we know, he was in the process of doing the best backup ever
when XP crashed. Perhaps the basement in his house flooded and all his his
tape backups were destroyed, because even though he kept them down there in a
waterproof safebox, the whole box floated out of the window down there while
David was out of town, doing his job as brain surgeon for indigent Cuban
orphans, and the box floated down the gully to the highway where it was run
over by a speeding 18 wheeler. Maybe his girlfriend went banabas and threw
all his discs in the Gulf in a fit of peeve. It's not impossible that
David's dog, in the process of tackling a burgler who was about to kidnap
David's twin toddlers, managed to save the children and bite the arm off the
burgler, but peed in anger and then in relief all over David's backup drive,
which he keeps in a locked closet of which the burgler (who, incidentally,
used to be a Navy SEAL) picked the lock and tried (unsuccessfully) to hide
from the dog.

Or maybe the burglar was a gypsy from the circus. I don't know.

Perhaps David's lesson is far more complicated than we can imagine, but it
might not have anything to do with how devotedly he backs up his important
digital data.

 

[Guest]

Hi Kate-

you were very close to the mark. I actually took my computer with me when I
travelled to Cuba to perform the brain surgery. It was then that the Cuban
government confiscated my computer to make sure that I was not some type of
spy. After I received the machine back, it would not re-boot. It may have
been a power surge due to the poor quality of power supply in Cuba. Damit, I
told those Cuban agents to make sure they use the surge protector! Infidels!

ps. how did you know that I am a brain surgeon? you would have to be a
rocket scientist to have guessed that!

the truth is that I never make backups and now I will have to pay the price
of never recovering the data, or having a 3rd party recovery expert try and
recover it.

-David

 

[Brian Tillman]

David in Florida with Outlook disaster

I agree that if I reinstall office it should not impact on any
existing pst file, however if the file was previously deleted in
error by me then by writing new data to the hard drive by
reinstalling office, this could overwrite the hard drive area where
the file was previously situated and this could then prevent me from
being able to recover the deleted file.

Probably not. It you're using WIndows XP, you'll just get a new PST with a
(1) in the name. It won't overwrite the prior PST. You can always make a
copy of the original, however, if you're worried.

To be safe, i will reinstall office on my second hard drive and then
try the "detect and repair" suggested by kate.

That don't help because the PST is always kept on the C drive (by default.
You can, of course, move it elsewhere is you wish).

 

[Guest]

Hello,

EASEUS DataRecoveryWizard utility can help. Speaking about me, it was
easily able to restore deleted, lost file and unformat drive,
so I think you will also find it quite useful. Really recommended
tool, give it a try.

http://www.easeus.com/