trying to retrieve inbox emails that weren't backed up

[Rae]

I had to build a new computer unexpectedly and so nothing was recently
backed up (including outlook's inbox emails)

When I built this new computer, I used a new sata hard drive, installed

XP and then later after everything was up and running and tested out
okay, added my old IDE pata hard drive and have been copying old files
I want/need to my new boot up drive.


I notice when I perused the old drive that the installed programs are
no longer functional but that just the data files are there. So I am
unable to open outlook on that drive and build a .pst file so I can
import it to the new drive's copy of outlook.


I've tried many things to retrieve those emails and have only been able

to get emails from .pst files I had backed up at various times.


If I can open outlook on the old drive, I can get to the files. So
what's the simplest and SAFEST way to do this? Can I go into bios and
change my boot order to boot from my old hard drive which is attached
on the IDE interface and then once I've built the .pst files, change
the boot order back to the new sata drive? Is there risk of harm to
anything to do that? Is there any other way to get to those files?


Thanks

 

[DL]

You dont/cannot do that;
You have to install programs on your new HD, including Office/OL
Start/Configure OL on the new drive.
Locate your old pst file on the old drive, copy it to some location on your
new hd, eg My Documents, do NOT overwrite any existing pst.
Then in OL File>Open>Data File....browse to the location.
Either designate this pst as the default, and close the existing pst, or
copy data to the new pst.

See here for locations of the pst
http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/backupandrestore.htm#Import_pst-file
Also you may have to take ownership of the origonal
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421/en-us

PS Import/Export is never the correct way to deal with a pst to pst
transfer/copy

 

[Rae]

I wasn't clear in my post. I did install all my programs on the new
hard drive. I'm trying to get my data from the other old hard drive.

 

[Rae]

also, just to clarify, .pst does no good if you didn't create a .pst
and back up to start with. I didn't and that's my problem.

 

[DL]

If your old pst (data file) exists on the old HD you can recover it, by
following the links/info I gave you.

OL doesnt build a pst, other than by adding a data file to your OL profile.
The pst is simply the data file that holds your OL data.
ie Its pretty much the same as any data file, eg a word doc, copy it to your
new hd then open with OL.
It doesnt matter whether you backed up the pst, provided a pst exists
(assuming its not corrupt).

 

[Brian Tillman]

also, just to clarify, .pst does no good if you didn't create a .pst
and back up to start with. I didn't and that's my problem.

Unless you were using Outlook with Exchange or Outlook Live with a Hotmail
Premium account, you had a PST on the old hard drive. There's no way around
it. Its default location is x:\Documents and Settings\user\Local
Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook, where "x" if the current drive
letter and "user" is the Windows username you were using when that drive was
the C drive.