Locating outlook.pst in Vista

[Phil at MNS]

Hi

I've got a very strange issue in Vista while trying to locate the
outlook.pst file.

(for purpose of this message the user logged in is Matt with full Admin
access)

Outlook itself puts the file in
C:\Users\Matt\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\outlook.pst. I know this as
when I look at the advanced settings on Personal Folders it tells me the
location. This is also the location I find it in on other PC's in the
office.

However - when I view the directory structure under Vista in Computer there
is no "c:\users\Matt" directory at all.

I managed to do a search for outlook.pst and Vista found it in C:\Documents
and Settings\Matt\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook. I
created a shortcut to this and can open the directory, however when I try to
access the C:\Documents and Settings directory from the left hand menu in
Computer, I get an access denied message as though it doesnt exist.

We have another laptop in the office running Vista Home Premium and there is
a C:\Users\<user> directory and the outlook.pst can easily be found.

Please can anyone help and advise as to why we are unable to find this
outlook.pst file and why the <user> directory is not showing under c:\users.

Thanks
Phil

 

[Mike Brannigan]

Hi

I've got a very strange issue in Vista while trying to locate the
outlook.pst file.

(for purpose of this message the user logged in is Matt with full Admin
access)

Outlook itself puts the file in
C:\Users\Matt\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\outlook.pst. I know this as
when I look at the advanced settings on Personal Folders it tells me the
location. This is also the location I find it in on other PC's in the
office.

You would only have a \Documents and Settings folder at the root of the
drive if that machine had been built as an upgrade to Vista from something
like Windows XP

 

[JCS]

Actually, you do not have full Administrator rights. In Vista, only THE
Administrator account has full administrator rights. Creating an account
and making it an administrator account is not going to do it. This is one
major difference between XP and Vista. In Vista you have to actually enable
the Administrator account so that it appears on your log-in screen, then log
into your machine using that account. Only then will you have full
Administrator rights. To do this:

Click Start, type cmd into the search pane, right-click the cmd.exe item at
the top, and choose Run as administrator. Type net user administrator
/active:yes and enter, then log off. The Administrator account now shows up
on the welcome screen.

 

[Kerry Brown]

Actually, you do not have full Administrator rights. In Vista, only THE
Administrator account has full administrator rights. Creating an account
and making it an administrator account is not going to do it. This is one
major difference between XP and Vista. In Vista you have to actually
enable the Administrator account so that it appears on your log-in screen,
then log into your machine using that account. Only then will you have
full Administrator rights. To do this:

Click Start, type cmd into the search pane, right-click the cmd.exe item
at the top, and choose Run as administrator. Type net user administrator
/active:yes and enter, then log off. The Administrator account now shows
up on the welcome screen.

How does this help in this case?

 

[Kerry Brown]

Hi

I've got a very strange issue in Vista while trying to locate the
outlook.pst file.

(for purpose of this message the user logged in is Matt with full Admin
access)

Outlook itself puts the file in
C:\Users\Matt\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\outlook.pst. I know this as
when I look at the advanced settings on Personal Folders it tells me the
location. This is also the location I find it in on other PC's in the
office.

However - when I view the directory structure under Vista in Computer
there is no "c:\users\Matt" directory at all.

I managed to do a search for outlook.pst and Vista found it in
C:\Documents and Settings\Matt\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook. I created a shortcut to this and can open the
directory, however when I try to access the C:\Documents and Settings
directory from the left hand menu in Computer, I get an access denied
message as though it doesnt exist.

We have another laptop in the office running Vista Home Premium and there
is a C:\Users\<user> directory and the outlook.pst can easily be found.

Please can anyone help and advise as to why we are unable to find this
outlook.pst file and why the <user> directory is not showing under
c:\users.

While logged on as the user Matt open a command prompt. What folder does the
prompt open in? In the command prompt type SET and press Enter. What is the
value for USERPROFILE?

 

[Phil at MNS]

Hi there

It opens into c:\users\Matt

I can then go into the AppData directory however I cannot see the Local
directory, just the Locallow and Roaming directories. How do I make the
Local directory become visible?

Thanks
Phil

 

[Phil at MNS]

As a follow on, I've gone into control panel and selected folder options and
i have the option selected to show hidden files & folders but they are still
hidden.

 

[Saucy]

As a follow on, I've gone into control panel and selected folder options
and i have the option selected to show hidden files & folders but they are
still hidden.

Don't forget the hidden *system* files checkbox.

Saucy