Help, where are my wife's Outlook and Outlook Express files?

[rudy45]

A few days ago my wife asked someone to install software on her Toshiba laptop, which runs XP Home. Her account (which she signs on as) is (for this purpose) "M." For whatever reason, the friend created a new account on the computer, call it "K."

My wife tried using the computer afterward, and when she signed on as M, found that her data files apparently were gone. However, I looked, and saw that all of them were under a new folder for K, within "Documents and Settings." That part is OK. The real problem, though, is that her Outlook and Outlook Express files seem to be gone. When she starts either program, it prompts her for first time setup.

I have tried doing a system restore, but I still can't find the files. Right now, I am running a file recover program.

Any insight or suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

[politicalwit]

It could be the individual renamed M's account to K. I would suggest logging on as K to see if the Outlook files are there.

[neb52]

They should be in these folders. Search for .pst and .dbx files.

Outlook

C:\Documents and Settings\M\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

Outlook Express

C:\Documents and Settings\M\Application Data\Identities\{ED155028-062A-4A03-9EC4-A505A4A33096}

[jdm]

neb52's suggestion looks like a good bet. I can feel for you because I lost all my Firefox bookmarks about a week ago. And there were like 300 of them! Good luck getting it back to normal. I know you'll get lots of helpful replies here.

[Perseverando]

Make sure you enable - Show hidden files and folders in Windows Explorer. Click on Windows Explorer, click Tools, then Folder Options, click View, and select Show Hidden Files & Folders. Press Apply and OK.

Next in Windows Explorer, select C:\Documents and Settings\HP_Administrator\Application Data\Identities\"The Correct Identity that contains your wife's e-mails"\Microsoft\Outlook Express.

Ck dates to insure you've found the correct accounts.

Those should be your e-mail files. They're .dbx files.

Good luck.

[Perseverando]

Correction. I believe this is the correct location for your wife's e-mail account info.

C:\Documents and Settings\HP_Administrator\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\(Correct Identity) \Microsoft\Outlook Express

Hope this is helpful.

Also do a search on "outlook express" here on FreeRepublic.

[rudy45]

Aha... I recovered Outlook Express.

However, even though I think I recovered the Outlook files (Outlook.pst, extend.dat and archive.pst) I still don't see anything. I start up Outlook, then, when prompted to open a file, openthe Outlook.pst that I recovered to a file on my desktop. This file is 8mb large, but even after I select on it, I don't see any calendar entries, notes etc. What am I doing wrong? Thanks.

[rudy45]

I recovered an outlook.pst file that is 8mb. I ran the Microsoft scanpst.exe utility on this file, and the utility said no errors were found in the pst file. However, when I try to open this file in Outlook, I get no data as a result. I have no notes, no calendar entries, no contact etc. Yet the file is 8mb, so SOMETHING is there.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Open Outlook Express.
Switch to your wife's account.
Click on Tools >> Options and then click on the Maintenance tab.

Click on the Store Folder button and a window will pop up that has the path to your wife's message store.
This step ahould be done and the message store saved before installing a new OS.
Afterwards the message store file(s) can be placed in the proper path.