Recover from inadvertant file deletion (Outlook.pst)

[Guest]

Client was trying to share the Outlook "Look & Feel" between 2 systems, one
being a laptop (XP Home) and a desktop (XP Pro) Updates are current on both
systems and the desktop is the MAIN system for Outlook; previously, client
had a shared folder on the desktop to share between laptop and desktop, but
when she went on a trip, she couldn't use the Outlook and see what she sees
on her desktop.

So....... in the process of manually trying to set this up on a 1GB USB
flash drive using the briefcase, the original outlook.pst (Which was ~1GB)
was deleted inadvertantly. No problem, we tried to recover from the recycle
bin, but it wasn't there, although the archive.pst was there........

We tried several file recovery programs (Winhex, disk cdr, a few others) and
NOTHING showed up that was even close to being the outlook.pst file.

Client ran her business pretty much off Outlook and the recovery of this pst
file is very important. I am looking for a few additional answers as well:

1 - If the outlook.pst file was compressed[NOT encrypted], will it affect
what will happen to the file if it is deleted?

2 - If Outlook program is opened and a scheduled backup (Nero backup) is
attempting to backup the system - including the outlook.pst file - will the
file actually be backed up? Or will the system refuse to back up the file
because it is opened?

Thank you - I appreciate any assistance and/or guidance on this

 

[Fitz]

If you've done a search for *.pst files and it's not there then it's
probably gone. It depends on how it was deleted. If you have a backup copy
of the file (from Nero), try to restore the file to a different location and
see if Outlook will open it, or rename the current *.pst file to something
else and restore the original to the default location. Don't let Nero
backup until you can recover the file. If Nero backs up the current file,
it may overwrite the backed up copy.
***

 

[Guest]

Thanks Fitz, I think the file actually is gone............. somehow.... The
most recent Nero backup was 29 Oct, and it did not reflect the proper .pst
file size in the backup, making me think that Outlook was open at the time of
backup, which has been confirmed with the user, as she keeps Outlook open
about 99.9% of the time the computer is on.

If you've done a search for *.pst files and it's not there then it's
probably gone. It depends on how it was deleted. If you have a backup copy
of the file (from Nero), try to restore the file to a different location and
see if Outlook will open it, or rename the current *.pst file to something
else and restore the original to the default location. Don't let Nero
backup until you can recover the file. If Nero backs up the current file,
it may overwrite the backed up copy.
***

Client was trying to share the Outlook "Look & Feel" between 2 systems,
one
being a laptop (XP Home) and a desktop (XP Pro) Updates are current on
both
systems and the desktop is the MAIN system for Outlook; previously, client
had a shared folder on the desktop to share between laptop and desktop,
but
when she went on a trip, she couldn't use the Outlook and see what she
sees
on her desktop.

So....... in the process of manually trying to set this up on a 1GB USB
flash drive using the briefcase, the original outlook.pst (Which was ~1GB)
was deleted inadvertantly. No problem, we tried to recover from the
recycle
bin, but it wasn't there, although the archive.pst was there........

We tried several file recovery programs (Winhex, disk cdr, a few others)
and
NOTHING showed up that was even close to being the outlook.pst file.

Client ran her business pretty much off Outlook and the recovery of this
pst
file is very important. I am looking for a few additional answers as
well:

1 - If the outlook.pst file was compressed[NOT encrypted], will it affect
what will happen to the file if it is deleted?

2 - If Outlook program is opened and a scheduled backup (Nero backup) is
attempting to backup the system - including the outlook.pst file - will
the
file actually be backed up? Or will the system refuse to back up the
file
because it is opened?

Thank you - I appreciate any assistance and/or guidance on this

 

[Fitz]

How was the file deleted? If it was deleted through the "sync" feature of
the Briefcase, then it's most likely gone. Is your box set to show all
hidden files, etc when you search?

Sorry I can't be of more assistance...maybe someone else has an idea.
***

Thanks Fitz, I think the file actually is gone............. somehow....
The
most recent Nero backup was 29 Oct, and it did not reflect the proper .pst
file size in the backup, making me think that Outlook was open at the time
of
backup, which has been confirmed with the user, as she keeps Outlook open
about 99.9% of the time the computer is on.

If you've done a search for *.pst files and it's not there then it's
probably gone. It depends on how it was deleted. If you have a backup
copy
of the file (from Nero), try to restore the file to a different location
and
see if Outlook will open it, or rename the current *.pst file to
something
else and restore the original to the default location. Don't let Nero
backup until you can recover the file. If Nero backs up the current
file,
it may overwrite the backed up copy.
***

Client was trying to share the Outlook "Look & Feel" between 2 systems,
one
being a laptop (XP Home) and a desktop (XP Pro) Updates are current on
both
systems and the desktop is the MAIN system for Outlook; previously,
client
had a shared folder on the desktop to share between laptop and desktop,
but
when she went on a trip, she couldn't use the Outlook and see what she
sees
on her desktop.

So....... in the process of manually trying to set this up on a 1GB
USB
flash drive using the briefcase, the original outlook.pst (Which was
~1GB)
was deleted inadvertantly. No problem, we tried to recover from the
recycle
bin, but it wasn't there, although the archive.pst was there........

We tried several file recovery programs (Winhex, disk cdr, a few
others)
and
NOTHING showed up that was even close to being the outlook.pst file.

Client ran her business pretty much off Outlook and the recovery of
this
pst
file is very important. I am looking for a few additional answers as
well:

1 - If the outlook.pst file was compressed[NOT encrypted], will it
affect
what will happen to the file if it is deleted?

2 - If Outlook program is opened and a scheduled backup (Nero backup)
is
attempting to backup the system - including the outlook.pst file - will
the
file actually be backed up? Or will the system refuse to back up the
file
because it is opened?

Thank you - I appreciate any assistance and/or guidance on this

 

[Guest]

The file was not deleted through briefcase because it wasn't set up yet; we
were tryint to pare down the size of the pst file to fit on a 1gb usb flash
drive. File was deleted from a shared folder on the desktop (XP Pro)
machine, but the recycle bin was pretty full at the time, and with a 200GB HD
and a 1% recycle bin, I think it may have bypassed the recycle bin - but that
still doesn't explain why no recovery programs can find it, nor why the most
recent backups have the wrong file size as well. I will try to boot from a
CD and do data recovery that way next. Thanks for the suggestions.

How was the file deleted? If it was deleted through the "sync" feature of
the Briefcase, then it's most likely gone. Is your box set to show all
hidden files, etc when you search?

Sorry I can't be of more assistance...maybe someone else has an idea.
***

{CUT}