Desperate for Outlook HELP! Need to recover my emails.

[ashbykaye]

Hi all, I have been a long time user of Outlook. All goes well until the
other day. I cannot open it. I get the following error message: Cannot start
Microsoft Office Outlook. Unable to open the Outlook window. The set of
folders could not be opened. The set of folders could not be opened. I have
found other posts on here concerning this, but I have a different problem. I
did create a new Outlook, and I can open it, but 2 problems remain:
1st: I get all kinds of error messages about the "normal" folder. Whatever
that is
2nd (and MOST important): I desperately need to access my old emails that I
had in files. I cannot figure out how to get to them.

I am at the point that I don't even care if I cannot use Outlook anymore,
but I need those emails. Please, if you can help, let me know. Thanks so
much for your help.

Michelle

 

[Roady [MVP]]

The error suggests an issue with your pst-file. Verify its location and that
it still exists.

If it's not in its location you somehow deleted it and you'll need to
restore it from backup.
See http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/backupandrestore.htm

If it's in its location you'll probably need to check it for errors with
scanpst.exe
See http://www.msoutlook.info/question/77

If you are using an ANSI formatted pst-file and its size is around 2GB
you'll need to crop it with the pst2gb tool.
See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/296088

 

[ashbykaye]

Can you dumb it down a little please?

The error suggests an issue with your pst-file. Verify its location and that
it still exists.

If it's not in its location you somehow deleted it and you'll need to
restore it from backup.
See http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/backupandrestore.htm

If it's in its location you'll probably need to check it for errors with
scanpst.exe
See http://www.msoutlook.info/question/77

If you are using an ANSI formatted pst-file and its size is around 2GB
you'll need to crop it with the pst2gb tool.
See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/296088

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Which part?
Where do you get stuck?
All referenced websites contain more info about what you need to do.

 

[ashbykaye]

I'm sorry, I just don't even know what a pst file is, let alone where it is
located. I am computer literate, but not computer savvy. I will do my best
to figure this out. Microsoft just doesn't seem to make it easy sometimes. I
am still stumped as to how this happened. Thanks for your information.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

The pst-file is the main file Outlook stores your data in. It's pretty much
what a doc-file is to Word.
Again, the guides will explain you more about it and how to retrieve it.
If you get stuck; you know where to find us.