Outlook 2002 How to Retrieve Hard Deleted Items?

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Yesterday I accidentally deleted pages of mail from an Outlook profile.

Looking for a solution, I finally followed instructions in Microsoft
Knowledge Base article 256986, creating a new registry file which supposedly
would enable a Deleted Item Recovery function on the Tools menu in Outlook.

It didn't.

I then tried System Restore, 3 times with 3 different restore points, each
time receiving the message 'Your System Could Not Be Restored To This Point'.
I haven't gone to look up how to check if System Restore is off, since my
understanding is that turning it on couldn't give me an earlier restore point
anyway.

Can anyone advise as to where and how I could find the deleted pst info
before it disappears forever?

I've been using this computer hardly at all since the deletion incident to
minimize data buildup and skipped the daily backup last night also.
My OS is XP pro.

Thanks for any input!
 
Vera said:
Yesterday I accidentally deleted pages of mail from an Outlook
profile.

Looking for a solution, I finally followed instructions in Microsoft
Knowledge Base article 256986, creating a new registry file which
supposedly would enable a Deleted Item Recovery function on the Tools
menu in Outlook.

It didn't.

I then tried System Restore, 3 times with 3 different restore points,
each time receiving the message 'Your System Could Not Be Restored To
This Point'. I haven't gone to look up how to check if System Restore
is off, since my understanding is that turning it on couldn't give me
an earlier restore point anyway.

Can anyone advise as to where and how I could find the deleted pst
info before it disappears forever?

I've been using this computer hardly at all since the deletion
incident to minimize data buildup and skipped the daily backup last
night also. My OS is XP pro.
Click to expand...

If you haven't overwritten the .pst file with any other .pst file, then
probably you can get it back with data recovery software. Here are some
links to various programs. I use Easy Recovery Pro, but it is
expensive. People whom I respect have recommended R-Studio and
Restoration. YMMV. If you use data recovery software, install it on
another machine and either use it from that operating system or create
a bootable cd/floppy and work with that.

http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html
PCInspector File Recovery -
http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/welcome.htm
Executive Software “Undelete†-
http://www.execsoft.com/undelete/undelete.asp
R-Studio - http://www.r-tt.com/
Ontrack's EasyRecovery - http://www.ontrack.com/software/

The alternative is to send the drive to a professional data recovery
company like Drive Savers (my preference) or Seagate Data Recovery.
General prices run from $500USD on up. Drive Savers recovered all the
data on a failed laptop drive for one of my clients and it cost $2,700.
He thought it was worth the money; only you know what your data is
worth. Some insurance companies will cover data recovery expenses under
"Loss of Intellectual Property".

Drive Savers - http://www.drivesavers.com
Seagate Data Recovery Services - https://www.seagatedatarecovery.com/

If you don't have the skill and/or equipment to do the software
procedures and the data is crucial, take the machine to a professional
computer repair shop that has experience in doing data recovery. This
will not be your local version of BigStoreUSA. In-shop data recovery is
usually not exactly cheap (for ex., my charges are generally
$150-350USD), but it normally costs less than sending the drive to a
company like Drive Savers. You need to make the determination of the
value of your data and decide what to do.

Malke
 
Thank you for the fast reply and specific information, Malke.

I did start looking at data recovery software, although I'm not certain that
the learning curve I'd need to acquire those skills is worth it for me quite
yet. I realized from your answer, though, that I can easily take my external
backup drive to an expert. My subconcious must have been telling me that when
I deliberately skipped backup last night.
Unfortunately I'm a few thousand miles away from Silicon Valley, so Drive
Savers isn't an option. Somewhere I have made note of the 2 data recovery
experts/firms within an hour's drive of me.

Thanks again.

Now I'm just wondering if I should ignore the DumpsterAlwaysOn registry file
I created, which served no useful purpose for me, or whether digging further
might uncover this mythical Deleted Item Recovery function in Outlook.
Certainly sounds like a useful feature. :)

Vera
 
The "DumpsterAlwaysOn" if only if you are using a Excahnge Server.
It turns on the option under "Tools" "Recover Deleted Items"

When you delete mail from your deleted items folder on a exchange server it
is moved to the "Dumpster" and saved for a period of time. During that time
it can still be recovered using this option.
 
Can you not restore from your backup? From what your saying you have only
lost one day of backups.

mi
 
Thank you, gray. More info is always a bonus.

You're right Miss.
This is what happens when I work five 16 hour days in a row. ie. miss the
obvious when flying on auto-pilot...
That's exactly what I just finished doing. Using the backup utility to
restore the application data from the F drive copy 24 hours earlier, and it
looks like it's all there! Hurrah.
After writing my response to Malke, I realized it wasn't necessary to take
the external backup anywhere.

This is my first post on these forums and I really do appreciate all you
guys' responses and the specific information offered is great.
Hopefully I'll be more awake with a more difficult/real problem to solve for
my next question.
I learn lots here, and can't contribute too much at this level, but always
do when I can.

Maybe someone reading these posts will be moved to get an external backup
drive as I finally did recently.

Vera
 
Vera said:
Thank you, gray. More info is always a bonus.

You're right Miss.
This is what happens when I work five 16 hour days in a row. ie. miss
the obvious when flying on auto-pilot...
That's exactly what I just finished doing. Using the backup utility to
restore the application data from the F drive copy 24 hours earlier,
and it looks like it's all there! Hurrah.
After writing my response to Malke, I realized it wasn't necessary to
take the external backup anywhere.

This is my first post on these forums and I really do appreciate all
you guys' responses and the specific information offered is great.
Hopefully I'll be more awake with a more difficult/real problem to
solve for my next question.
I learn lots here, and can't contribute too much at this level, but
always do when I can.

Maybe someone reading these posts will be moved to get an external
backup drive as I finally did recently.
Click to expand...

I'm so happy you were able to restore from backup. For future reference,
you don't need to take the drive to DriveSavers - they work
internationally and you send the drive.

But a simple backup procedure is a far better solution!

Get some sleep and have a great weekend.

Malke
 
Malka, thanks for the answer. Please address my query..

I have deleted my PST (~400 MB) mistakenly and then OutLokk created empty
PST (270 KB) at the same place by same name, then only I come to know about
the deletion.

I have tried GetdataBack and couple of softwares, but these are not even
able to locate those deleted PST files, other deleted files I am able to
recover which I dont need.

Please suggest the way to recover as those PSTs have lot of business data.
 
Bhuvan said:
Please suggest the way to recover as those PSTs have lot of business data.
Click to expand...

He did suggest a way. In a lot of detail. You're up shit creek
without a paddle if you don't understand what he told you to do.

It's probably gone forever anyway. Maybe this will teach you to keep
backups.
 
By far the most reliable tool to retrieve your Outlook file
is a restoration from backup. A 2.5" USB disk in an external
USB case makes for a highly effective and low cost backup
medium. If your Outlook file contains key business data and
if you don't have any backups then it's time to review your
backup philosophy.

If you don't have any backups then you should do this:
1. Stop using the machine ***now***.
2. Get a copy of an imaging tool such as Acronis DriveImage.
3. Install it on a different PC.
4. Connect the disk containing the deleted file as a slave disk.
5. Create an image of the partition containing the deleted file.
6. Restore this image to a spare disk.
7. Try a number of recovery tools.
8. Repeat Steps 6 and 7 until successful.
9. If still unsuccessful, engage the services of a recovery bureau.

If you keep using the machine or if you install recovery
tools on the machine containing the deleted file then you
greatly diminish your chances of a successful recovery.
 
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