What's the most effective way to back up data from Outlook? (I have
Outlook 2000 SR-1, 9.0.0.3821, running on an XP operating system.)
There seems NO efficient way to back up data only (e-mail of course,
and/or preferences and settings--i.e., everything except the fixed
part of the program itself) without drilling down through many
folders.
(I get instructions like "first, copy Micrsoft/windows/Outlook/xxx,
and then copy Windows/Outlook/...etc. etc." -- which is dangerously
complex, and even then I'm not sure I'm getting everything). Help!
Outlook is 100 percent essential to my business (editing a
newsletter), and I keep e-mail in many folders, inside Outlook. To
clarify: I don't need help concerning general backup concepts
(dragging files, writing a CD). But I desperately need authoritative
help on WHICH parts of Outlook I need to back up. And is there any
reasonable way to automate the steps involved (i.e., to do at least
part of this with macros of some kind?) I have explained at some
length, for clarity, but this is really one question.

Greetings bbb-ga,

I was faced with the same problem at one point and then someone
referred me to an excellent Outlook Backup add-in by Microsoft.  It
has configurable options such as how often to save a backup of your
Personal Folders.  From personal experience using the add-in, it
appears to save all your email folders, contacts, calendar, tasks, and
everything under the main Personal Folders in Outlook as well as Rules
Wizard filters.  However, it does not appear to save settings or
preferences such as email accounts (logins/passwords).  The latter is
not surprising since that information is generally stored in the
system registry anyway.

The Backup addin from Microsoft works with both Outlook 2000 and
Outlook XP/2002 and is available at (
http://office.microsoft.com/downloads/2002/pfbackup.aspx ).


Additional information:

Ways to Back Up Outlook 2000 Data
http://office.microsoft.com/assistance/2000/olbackup.aspx


I hope that this solution is what you were looking for.  Let me know
if you additional need clarification.  Thanks.

Regards,
mrbuzz-ga

This was good as far as it went, but it certainly did not go that far.
The comment provided afterwards, by theta-ga, had much more
information and some valuable options, too.

Just my luck! I was right in the middle of answering your Question
when IE crashed.By the time I got back online, my lock had expired! :(
The above answer is probably your cheapest option for data backup,
although there are better options available if you are willing to go
in for commercial products.
Anyways, here is the answer I was going to post. If you find it
useful,tell me and I'll post it as an answer.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The way I see it,your question boils down to two parts :
1)WHICH parts of Outlook I need to back up ?
    AND
2)Is there any reasonable way to automate the steps involved  ?

So lets tackle them one by one :
1)WHICH parts of Outlook I need to back up ?
  The following articles provide instructions on how to back up data
and settings in Outlook 2000.
  - MS Knowledgebase Q195719 : How to Back Up, Restore, or Move
Outlook Data
    ( http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;q195719&
)
    This article provides comprehensive step by step instructions to
manually backup your Outlook data/settings files.
  - SiteDevelopers OUTLOOK BACKUP TUTORIAL
    ( http://www.sitedeveloper.ws/tutorials/outlook.htm )
    A very good backup tutorial for the various versions of Outlook.
Contains helpful screenshots to show you what to do.
  - Peter Curtis's How to backup Email Messages
    ( http://www.pcurtis.com/backmail.htm )
    Manual backups cant get simpler than this. Just find-copy-save!

    The above articles also contain information on the various files
that Outlook 2000 uses. here is the info culled from the above
articles.

 The Personal Folder file (.pst) is where Outlook stores its data.Each
file contains all of your Outlook folders, including the Inbox,
Calendar, and Contacts. You may have a single .pst file (usually
called "Internet Folders" or "Personal Folders" in your Folder List),
or an additional .pst file that you use to archive messages (named
"Archive Folders"). By backing up these PST files you will be backing
up all your Outlook information.
The table below lists key Outlook files that you may want to back up
in addition to your Personal Folder(s). You will need to completely
exit Outlook prior to copying these files. Depending upon your
configuration some or all of these files may be present in your
Outlook directory.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
 DATA ITEM                              File Name or Extension 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
 Personal Folders                 - .pst files 
 Personal Address Book            - .pab file
 Outlook Bar shortcuts            - <Profile Name>.fav files 
 Rules Wizard rules               - .rwz files 
 Nicknames                        - .nick files 
 Customized toolbar/menu settings - outcmd.dat 
 Customized system folder views   - Views.dat 
 Macros and VBA programs          - VbaProject.otm 
 Stationary                       - .htm files 
 Templates                        - .oft files 
 Dictionary                       - .dic files 
 A reference the loaded addins    -  extend.dat files 
 HTML auto signature              - <Profile Name>.htm 
 Rich Text Format Auto signature  - <Profile Name>.rtf 
 Plain Text format Auto signature - <Profile Name>.txt 
NOTE: If you use Word as your e-mail editor, signatures are stored in
the Normal.dot as Autotext entries. This file should be backed up as
well.

You can find more info concerning the above files in the indicated
articles.

Now for the second part of your question :
2)Is there any reasonable way to automate the steps involved  ?
  - Microsoft provides a free outlook addin to backup your Personal
Folders
         Outlook 2002/2000 Add-in: Personal Folders Backup
         ( http://office.microsoft.com/downloads/2002/pfbackup.aspx )
  - GenieSoft has a commercial product that provides a variety of
options to back up your Outlook data and Settings.
         Genie Outlook 2000/XP Backup
         Cost : $29.95
         ( http://www.genie-soft.com/products/ob2000xp/ob2000xp.html )
  - AJSystems has another custom Outlook backup solution. Here is a
review of the product at WUGNET (
http://www.wugnet.com/csreviews/software/outbackplus/ )
         Outback Plus
         Cost : $29.95
         ( http://www.ajsystems.com/outback.html )
You can find many more with the following Google Search terms:
   download freeware backup e-mail outlook 2000 settings -express

-----------
Hope the above helped you. If you need any clarifications, just ask !
:)

Ack!  That sucks!  That sort of thing is really irritating.  I'm sorry
to have to be the one that happened to tread on your question.  :/

I'd like to thank theta-ga for providing a very thorough and helpful
answer to this question. I'm amazed at how well organized the
information in that answer is. Moreover, it was also good to include a
better explanation of the Outlook files than  (of course) Microsoft
supplies. But probably most important was the inclusion of two
utilities to automate and simplify the backup process. I'm going to
assume that they do the job better than the Microsoft add-in, because
Microsoft is so often moronically inept at making programs simple. If
its corporate culture weren't pathologically arrogant regarding OPD
(other people's data; recall how easy it was to wipe out your hard
disk, in DOS days, every time you formatted a floppy?), then it might
have occurred to the geniuses there that people need a way to back up
e-mail, especially now that our work often depends on it. Anyway, to
theta-ga: Are you a computer consultatant?

A consultant ? Who me?
Nah.
But thanks for the compliment.
:)