Vista Ultimate / Ultimate lost emails

[Laura]

It seems that I have lost ALL my emails, not only from my inbox, but all
folders under "personal." Not sure what I did, but I do recall a bold
"follow-up" folder that I think I deleted.

Now everything is gone. I tried to import the *.pst folders from their
'assigned' locations, emails still are still missing. I do not understand how
to retrieve my emails. One Outlook Help search described how to recover
deleted items, yet under the tools menu, the "recover deleted items" does not
appear for "where you deleted the item, or in the deleted items folder"
(quoted from article). This happened TODAY, early this morning. Am I wrong to
assume they are still somewhere on my computer? I hope I can retrieve them!

HELP, please!!!!!!!!!!!! Any and all suggestions are welcome and appreciated!

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Locate your pst-file or recover it from backup. Then reconnect to it by
File-> Open-> Outlook Data File...
In either case; don't import any pst-files that you may have.

under the tools menu, the "recover deleted items" does not
appear for "where you deleted the item, or in the deleted items folder"

Correct, as that is an Exchange feature and you are not connecting to an
Exchange server.

 

[Laura]

Thanks for the suggestion! And for the timely response!

First, all imports are gone (deleted). I found all my pst files - there are
7, plus one archive. None will open when attempting to open data files. I
found all these in the location assigned in Outlook.

I find similar files (pst files) from the Desktop > admin > appdata > local

microsoft > outlook ... Again, there are "outlook1" thru "outlook7", plus a

single "outlook" and an "archive" - all pst files.

As to "recovery" - it seems my administrative access will not allow me to
open the folder. Permission denied. I believe I am getting more confused as I
go along. I was certified with NT4 - but this is quite overwhelming. Have I
just lost all my emails? Or is there another suggestion as to where to go
next - or what to do next? Thanks!

p.s. What is Outlook.sharing.xml.obi?

 

[Roady [MVP]]

None will open when attempting to open data files.
What happens when you try? If they are already connected in Outlook, you
cannot connect them again of course ;-)

As to "recovery" - it seems my administrative access will not allow me to
open the folder. Permission denied.

Which folder are you referring to here?

p.s. What is Outlook.sharing.xml.obi?

It holds some cached configuration settings for shared resources like
additional mailboxes and SharePoint lists.
Which mail account type are you using?

 

[Laura]

Once again, thank you for your response!

What happens when I try?

Nothing happens. I expect a process window, but nothing appears. I check my
folders in MS Outlook and the emails are still missing. Shouldn't the archive
pst file contain the most recent archived - possibly compressed - files? And
do you have any idea why I have so many outlook pst files?

The tab with data files has "archive" + location and 7 Personal folders - same location. Did I do this or did it happen automatically?

We have 4 email accounts - mine being the main account and the option of up to 5 users.

Recovery

When I attempt to access my back up files. Outlook stores everything on the
main hard drive (C and my back up files are placed on my computer, but
different drive (D. I don't recall setting up the backup file location.
New computer, most software already installed. I could set them to backup to
my external drive. Hence, I do not know how to "recover" any files, yet my
user account is “administrator†and password protected..

Which mail account?

I receive email through the local phone company (DSL) (it works much better
and is more consistent in my location - even thru T-storms, tho we power off
during storms We love the cooling breezes here, except the named ones ...
Erin, Opal, Ivan, George, Dennis, outskirt of Katrina ... ).

Could this have any effect with the issue - bad T-storms yesterday. The
local DSL company requires MS Outlook is setup from MS Outlook is setup from
Bellsouth requires: A) all lower case letters and B) account Server settings
are:

Account Type: POP3 - gray and unable to change
Incoming server: mail.bellsouth.net
Outgoing server (SMPT): mail.bellsouth.net

While typing, why does this format return to the beginning (top) instead of the cursor staying where I'm typing after checking information from Outlook?

Shall I visit the web sites accompanying your name/information?

Again - THAN K you so much!

 

[Sergey Wasilenkow]

It seems that I have lost ALL my emails, not only from my inbox, but all

folders under "personal." Not sure what I did, but I do recall a bold
"follow-up" folder that I think Ideleted.
...
HELP, please!!!!!!!!!!!!  Any and all suggestions are welcome and appreciated!

You can try to find and recover your emails with Easy Outlook Recovery
software:

http://www.munsoft.com/EasyOutlookRecovery/

The program uses original algorithms that assist in the recovery of a
maximum number of messages even if the mail client cannot open the
message database.

 

[Laura]

Thanks so much for your response and link. Much appreciated! I am sure this
program works fine for OE, however, I don't see how to use it for Windows
Mail (OE is not in Vista, Windows Mail replaces OE). I found an article that
goes into a long explanation about WM and the long file name now used for
storage.

account{B72C3BDA-44FA-44E0-940E-6E082AD3D88A}.oeaccount

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms715237.aspx

Most of the article is foreign to me. My email is set up as a POP3 - which
appears in the list in the article. I feel naive at the moment. This is most
likely an IBM problem (Idiot Behind the Machine).

Shall I try to import from that file? It's not a pst file. Any
recommendations on how to retrieve the information I probably lost stored in
this file? Any possibility to get any definitions to the information in the
article?

Again, thanks so much. Your response is really educating me to the many new
changes in Vista!, but still needing help or definitions to what is in the MS
article! Thanks!