Email Difficulties

A computer crash at the end of last week wiped out my email for the whole of 2007 so far, and when I came to restore the Outlook backup file I found that it was empty. So I learned a lesson there - always check that back-up files actually contain something before relying on them!

If you have emailed me over the last week or so and have not had a reply, please resend your email and accept my apologies for the delay.

Comments

[Tim]

You might want to try Acronis and an external hard drive so this won't happen again.

[Piers]

I have had that exact problem, thought I was backed up, as I had a been systematically and frequently updating my .pst files on a external hard drive. However with .pst files you can't check what is on them, just have to hope they are correct. Is there a way round this?

Piers Thurston

[Mark Forster]

Tim, that's exactly what I have - Acronis and an external hard drive. The problem was that I had to restore an image dating from several weeks ago. When I tried to restore the Outlook backup, which I had also recorded separately on the external disk, I found it was empty. Result: I lost all the email between the image date and now.
Mark

[Mark Forster]

Piers, I think there is a way round this. You restore the backup to see if there is anything in it. In Outlook the backup comes up as a separate folder, so it doesn't obliterate the existing folder. That's what I am going to be doing from now on.
Mark

[Tim]

I backup my complete system daily with Acronis and also keep a weekly, monthly, and quarterly image. If you were doing that, then you can just mount your most recent image and copy your PST file to your hard drive and open it in outlook. Then you can just drag and drop your old e-mails into your current functioning PST.

[Mark Forster]

Unfortunately I wasn't doing that, Tim. The image I was restoring was the newest I had. However thanks for the tip. I'll bear it in mind the next time I'm in that situation.
Mark