After changing to a new Computer I experienced the loss of my Outlook .pst
file. I will give a tip of 50 Dollar to the person who gives me the
answer that helps to restore my .pst-File without loss of data.

I have three possible versions of my old .pst-file. Anyone of the
three versions could be used for trying to recover the data. The
descriptions of the files are as follows:


1) One copy of the .pst-file is on a CD-ROM. After copying it to the
appropriate folder on the new harddrive and trying to
import it, Outlook says, that it is not a personal folder (.pst-file). I
believe the reason for this problem is that Outlook was still open,
when I made this copy of my .pst-file.

I already copied the files to my harddrive and used scanpst.exe to
repair it. Scanpst.exe finished and after opening Outlook there
actually is seems to be a restored personal folder but it does not
contain my old folders and data. It contains noting.

2) A (deleted) copy of the .pst-file is on another harddrive. After I made
the copy describe under 1) I accidentally felt save and deleted the
original file. I did so by creating a new user (administrator) in
Windows XP and then
just deleting the old user. After deleting the user, the computer was
turned off imediately and nothing else was saved.

I tried to run some standard recovering tools on the harddrive, but I
cculd not find the file. I do not konw how to use the recovery programm well,
though.

3) Another copy of the .pst-file is on a formatted hard drive (not the
one described under 2) but another one). After I made copy 1) I felt
save and formatted my former backup harddrive. I used the standard
Windows Command in Explorer and clicked on "Fast format".

I still have this harddrive but cannot see any data on it. After
formatting nothing has been saved on this harddrive.


The lost data is very important to me. I will try every hint and will
give a tip of 50 Dollar to the person who gave me the correct
instructions to solve this problem. I will pay the full 50 Dollar in
case my .pst-file is completely restored. If only part is restored I
will pay an appropriate smaller amount as a tip. In case the correct
answer is given as a comment I will contact the person and offer to
send a check by mail or use any other possible paying method.

Thank you very much for you help!

---

Clarification of Question by jenny_wintzer-ga on 07 Jul 2005 04:56 PDT

Thank you for all of your comments. I will try everything next weekend
and let you know about the results. Please return to this question.

In regards to option 3, do you know if you converted this drive to
NTFS or is it still FAT?

It's good that you selected the fast format option. :) IMPORTANT:
Install the hard drive that you mentioned in option 3 as a 2nd hard
drive in a working system. Install the recovery software on the
primary drive (the drive Windows is on).

http://www.recovermyfiles.com/

You can download it from their site and try it right away.

If you want something a little more technical this product may work, too:
http://www.data-recovery-software.net/
R-STUDIO

Here is one more:
http://www.finaldata.com/

Good Luck!

Creating .PST files with Outlook open is normal and should have zero
negative effect on the file. What version of Outlook? What size is the
.PST file on the cdrom? I would suggest copying the .PST file from the
cdrom onto the local computer disk and trying to import from there.
Depending on the version of outlook they might have imported and just
aren't showing. You're gonna want to have the folder bar showing,
click view -> folders - maybe they are there?
When importing the .PST file you currently have does it show any progress?
Also Click file -> open -> outlook datafile (Using outlook 2003
myself) and see what happens.
Good luck

Can you provide the following.  
What is the size of the pst file?
How did you delete the user?  If you go to the windows explorer and
then enable to view hidden files then go to the profiles folder do you
see the old user?
Have you tried to link to this .pst file?  Under outlook you can do it.

If you need more detail in how to do these, don't hesitate.  I will
try to look at this topic in the near future.

max

I don't see anyone mentioning... PST files cannot be read only. When
you write to a CD, files become read only. You have to copy the PST to
your hard drive, right-click and untick the read only property, and
THEN try opening from Outlook.

Try to paste your .pst file in proper location that is ?C:\Documents
and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook? and make sure that .pst file is not read and
hidden only. Make sure while doing this MS Outlook application must be
closed.