I have experienced the worst thing that can happen to a computer user.
A hard drive failure that has resulted in the "click of death". The
hard drive was NOT properly backed up prior to the failure.
As I noticed the hard drive slowly coming to its death I decided a
quick way to salvage what I could was to hook the drive up to another
computer and copy some directories over.
The specifications that are relevant to this question are as follows:
Operating system: Windows 2000
Microsoft Office Version: 2002
Files/Folders backed up from failed hard drive: C:\Documents and
Settings, C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\

Those are the two directories that I was able to copy to another drive
before complete failure occured.

I would like to know how I can salvage my Outlook information
including Contacts, Email Boxes, and Calendar, from the information
that I backed up.
Please instruct as to how I can extract or reload the Outlook data on
a fresh hard drive with a fresh install of Windows 2000.
In summary, I need to retrieve the emails from the data that was
backed up (as well I'd like the contact information, but that is not
critical) prior to failure. The data includes that which is within the
"c:\Documents and Settings" directory and the "c:\program
files\microsoft office\Office10" directory. Please do not post an
answer recommending drive recovery services or anything that is NOT a
way to recover my emails from the data that I have backed up. Also, I
do NOT have a backup .pst file so that is not a possible solution.
Thanks for your help.

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Request for Question Clarification by huntsman-ga on 30 Jul 2002 15:10 PDT

Takeitout,

Are you sure there isn't a *.PST file in the folders you managed to
save?

In Microsoft Outlook 2002, *all* of your email messages & folders,
addresses, contacts, and calendar info are contained in the default
OUTLOOK.PST file (personal folders file), or in an alternate *.PST
file that you may have created after the initial installation of
Outlook.

If you don't have a backup copy of your working *.PST file from your
dead hard drive, then you cannot recover or restore any of your
Outlook data.

Huntsman

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Request for Question Clarification by secret901-ga on 30 Jul 2002 15:50 PDT

Have you tried reinstalling Office, then replace the new folders with
your salvaged folder?  If those folders contain any information, it
should show up when you run Outlook.

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Request for Question Clarification by secret901-ga on 30 Jul 2002 16:39 PDT

Can you check to see if there is any file at: C:\Documents and
Settings\YOUR_USERNAME\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook ?

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Request for Question Clarification by nishka-ga on 04 Aug 2002 15:43 PDT

Hello takeitout-ga!

Can you please do a search on the back up files and let us know if you
have anything with a *.PST extension?  This will go a long way in
recovering the data.

Typically if you grabbed the ENTIRE c:\documents and settings\
directory we should be able to help you out here.  Let us know and one
of us can jump in a get this problem fixed for you.

-Nishka-GA

Hi takeitout-ga,

I happen to have the same setup (Windows 2000 Pro and Office XP) as
you do, and am familiar with how to recover your data.

First, I would assume that you have another working computer (or have
replaced the hard drive on the first computer) that has Office XP
running on it.  If you do not, you'll need to install Office XP onto
another computer.

By default, Outlook XP saves all your information (messages, contact
book, calendar, etc) in the following folder: C:\Documents and
Settings\Your User Name\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook, where "Your User Name" is the username you
used in Windows 2000 when you accessed MS Outlook.  Provided you have
backed up the entire Documents and Settings folder, and you did not
change the directory in which your messages are stored (which is
unlikely, as if you had you would have backed up the additional
directory first), I have good news: your messages are safe.

To retrieve them, do the following:

(1) If you have already begun using Outlook XP on another computer,
understand that you can only use one set of messages (either those
from your old Hard Drive, or those from your new).  With that, I
assume you will want the messages from your old Hard Drive.
(2) Open the C:\Documents and Settings\Your User Name\Local
Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook folder, and copy its
contents to the same folder on your new Hard Drive (unless of course
you're using a different username, in which case you would use the new
username in the "Your User Name" section of the path).  If you are
asked if you want to replace the files already in that directory,
choose “Yes.”
(3) Open Outlook XP, and you will be able to access your old messages

In the case that the above directory does not exist in your backups,
it is more than likely impossible for you to be able to retrieve your
old e-mail.  You could always search for a *.pst file in your backups,
though.  If you need assistance doing this, please request
clarification, and I will provide instructions for such a procedure.

SEARCH STRATEGY:
None.  I used my copy of Outlook XP and Windows 2000 to obtain all the
information I needed.  I have also preformed such recoveries for
clients in the past (I am employed as a computer consultant).

Hope this helps,

rmn-ga

Perfect answer! Was right on the money, I'm sorry that I wasn't
responsive to the inquiries for clarification earlier. My email
address that was registered with Google was going through technical
difficulties. RMN- I have some more questions I would like to run by
you. Please contact me at the following address, info@ my
GoogleAnswers name minus the GA plus .net
Thanks

Recovering disks takes some knowledge and skill. If you attemptr it
using your PC you will need another disk instaled in your pC large
enough to contaoin 1) the old fried disk, 2) a new copy of your
operating system 3) some free space.
You will also need a dat recovery tool - I used Norton Utilities whne
I had a doisk die on me 6 months ago.
Disconnect suspect disk in PC and install new disk and operating
system.

aarghh - haven't finished message yet,,, continuing...
Once thats working connect old disk as a secondary (youwill probably
have to replug jumpers).

double arrghhh - continuing
ormat old suspect disk (do not install software on it though)
Boot Utility CD and proceed.

double arrghhh - continuing
Format old suspect disk (do not install software on it though)
Boot Norton Utility CD and proceed. (I think steve Gibson's SpinRight
may also be good but I haven't used it)
I got the best part of 48,000 files back onmy machine this way,

If it a unrecoverable hardware problem then youneed to send the disk
to a specialist. they can get data back from disks with holes in them
even - but not cheap.
If all this requires a level of expertise that is beyond you then find
your local neighbourhood reliable PC fixer upper.

Spinrite from grc.com is an excellent little program for getting data
from failing hard drives. You could also try removing the dead HDD,
placing it in a freezer for several hours/overnight (the cold
temperature should make the metal parts of the disk and read/write
heads contract a bit, hopefully enough so that that don't collide with
each other and start clicking right away).  Then remove the HDD from
the freezer, IMMEDIATELY replace it in the PC and try to boot up. If
it boots up, quickly copy out any additional files that you must have,
or use a program such as Norton's Ghost to copy an image of your dying
hard drive's contents to a new drive.