Christine, if I understand how Outlook works correctly, then all your sub file folders are contained within the structure of our Outlook .PST file and therefore if you backup the folder where you .PST file(s) are held you will be backing up the whole contents of the same.

The key consideration when backing up this type of file is to ensure that either you are not actively using Outlook if backing up individual files, or make sure that any changes made within Outlook have been changed, so that these are captured on disk rather than just being in the computer memory.

If you are making a full disk image backup then all your email folders should be included but do check the Exclusions page for your backup task configuration to ensure that no essential folders are excluded from your backup by the default rules that Acronis sets in the application.

Steve is correct.  As long as the outlook file (or any MS Office file for that matter) has had a background save first, it should be included in your Acronis backup when it runs.  You may want to make sure that you have auto-save turned on and at intervals of your liking for your Office products.  Otherwise, changes may only be in memory and will not get backed up until you manually save the PST (close out of outlook) or your other MS office files.

Automatically save and recover Office files

Hi Steve & Bob,

Thank you.  I am a complete novice so don't understand much of what you said.  Should I interpret that once a program is closed, it is backed up on computer - is that what background save is?   Should I interpret Outlook .pst folder files are backed up on external drive so long as program is closed?  Can't find exclusions page.  My friend set this up, and attached is the back up screen I get.  Is this correct?

I'm converting from paying office 360 suite since it expires 4/17, and going to the standard version.  Maybe I can find auto save there as it's not in my present version.  Sorry I am so helpless with all this.

Steve & Bob, one more question please.  Backing up entire computer VS back up disks & partitions which is the attachment I just sent is also a confusion.  Which should I use? 

Christine,

Yes, if Outlook is closed, it will backup your .pst file exactly as it lives on the drive.  Basically, when the .pst is open, it will backup as well, but only to the point that Outlook was last saved (like working on a word document).  Outlook has an autosave feature that can be turned on so that you don't have to keep saving manually.  This is how a backup with autosave would work if autosave is set to occur every 10 minutes in Outlook.

You open your .pst at 12:00PM.  You get 3 new emails at 12:03 PM.  Your Acronis backup starts at 12:05PM.  It backs up the .PST as it looked at 12:00PM becuase that was the last time it was "saved".  

At 12:10PM, Outlook would autosave the PST again.  If you ran a backup at 12:11PM, then those 3 emails that came in at 12:03PM would be in the PST backup that occured at 12:11PM. 

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"Entire PC" backups up your main drive and all other internal drives (but may grab USB drives too).  I never use Entire PC because you don't always know what it may try to grab when other drives are attached.  

I always do just a "disk" backup, but make sure that all paritions for that disk are selected (for my main OS drive).  This ensures that the backup only contains this drive, but it will have everything necessary to fully recover to a bootable Operating system if I ever need to restore a backup to the same drive or if I want to restore to a new/different drive. If you have other full drives you want to backup, I would do the same for each of those separately instead of relying on the "entire pc" options which will backup them all up in one backup job. 

Bob, sorry to say I can't figure out how to check the partitions.  I clicked on validate, click on outlook mail, click on right arrow, but nothing registers.  Would you be willing to discuss on phone as it is so hard to understand the lingo?  Or should I stay with entire PC?  My reading comprehension in this area is less than zero.  I'm very concerned about my Outlook folders getting backed up.

Hi Christine,

I would stick to "disks and partitions" - that way you always know exactly which disks/partitions you'll be backing up - no suprises.  

Check out the attached screenshots.   They show how to select an entire disk and how to verify that all available paritions are selected (just in case).  Normally, checking the main box next to the disk is sufficient, but you can switch to "full parition" list at the bottom and verify that they all have truly been selected as well.

If desired, you can select more than one disk at a time for this type of backup too.  I would recommend not combinging disks though so that your main disk (OS drive / C: drive disk) is as small as possible for speedier backups and recoveries.  Then repeat the process and create similar backups for any other disks and/or parititions that you want to backup as well.

Finally, I would also recommend a secondary / supplemental backup.  There's nothing preventing you from doing multiple backups.  Perhaps, do a full backup of the entire drive on a daily basis, with 6 incrementals (1 full + 6 incremetnals / daily = 1 week).  IF you want a month of backups, then enable cleanup to only keep 4 version chains.  After the 5th full backup runs, version chain 1 (the first 1 full + 6 incremetals) will automatically be removed and the process will repeat with the completion of every new full backup thereafter.

To supplement that, you can also do a file/folder backup of just your profile and/or just your .pst's.  If you just want to backup the .pst's (which will be in your daily as well), you could do the same scheme as above, but run that backup every 2 hours with one version chain being 12 backups (24 hours).  Then do a cleanup after 7 version chains (1 week).  

There's really no right/wrong way, as long as your backups are occurring as often as you need them to be comfortable and/or as long as you have the space to hold them.   

Here are examples of the backup methods suggested above (feel free to supplement incrementals with differentials as well).  If you have a supplmental backup of just .pst's - differentials would be just fine since the entire .pst file will get backed up each time anyway.

Example 1: daily full disk backup / 1 version chain = 7 days / keep 4 version chains (4 weeks) and groom out the oldest chain after the next full backup completes

capture.jpg = daily, once a day for a full disk backup.  

capture2.jpg = 1 full + 6 incrementals for approximately a week of backups in a single version chain. Selected to have cleanup enabled and to keep no more than 4 version chains = 4 weeks

Example 2: PST only supplemental backup / 1 version chain = 24 hours / keep 7 version chains (7 days) and groom out the olders version chain after the next full  backup completes.  

capture3.jpg - daily, backup occurs every 2 hours

capture4.jpg = 1 full + 11 incrementals for approximately 24 hours of backups in a single version chains.  Selected to have cleanup enabled and to keep no more than 7 version chains - 1 week.  

As a result, you now not only have a daily full backup of yorur disk which includes your .pst once each day, but you also have several more frequent backups of just your .pst file.  Two hours is just a suggestion as well, you can do incrementals hourly too.  Heck, if you wanted, you could do a third backup hourly as well and offset it to run at the 1/2 hour so that one backup runs at the top of the hour and the other at the 1/2 hour.  

Bob, all I want to do is a non-scheduled, monthly back up on my external drive for the whole computer.  The attached is what shows when I click validate in disks/partitions.  It's also exactly the same in entire PC.  I don't know how to get to back up source as there are no choices for that visible to me.  I would also like to do a separate back up of my Outlook 2016 folders, but don't see files & folders as a choice.  I'm truly at a loss to understand what you send me when I'm a true novice knowing very little.

Easy Peasy - I can't tell what how your backup is currently setup from the screenshot, but if you are backing up the entire C: drive, it will include your .pst file.

You need at least 2 separate backup jobs:  1 for your entire monthly backup of the system  and the second for you 2016 outlook folders.

I would start by creating 2 NEW backup jobs exactly the way you want them configured before running them.  Once a job is configured, it is NOT recommended to go back in and modify it again or you're more likely to have database corruption (not backup corruption, but never mind that for now)

See attachments.

Full monthly non - scheduled backup...

1) Click on PLUS sign to add new backup

2) Name the new backup at the top.  Hover over where it says "Entire PC" and it will change to "Change Source"

3) Select "Disks and Paritions" (note the option below it for "files and folders" to use for your second backup task later on to backup just your PST folders) 

4) Select the check box next to the top of your main hard drive.  At the bottom of the page, click on "show full parition list" and make sure all paritions on that disk are also selected

5) Schedule:  You can set this to occur on a specific date/time automatically.  If you don't want it scheduled at all, select the bottom option "Do not schedule".  If you do not schedule, you'll need to manually run the backup when you want one.

6) Backup Scheme:  Sounds like you just want to use a single Full each month, so set it to full.  Any time you manually run the job (or if it is scheduled), it will create a new FULL.

If you want to only keep a certain number of backups, turn on cleanup schedule.  The number of version chains will determine how many fulls to keep before they start grooming out.  You need to do this here and now unless you want your disk to fill up.  Do NOT manually delete backups outside of Acronis or it will mess up your backup task (since it won't know that you removed them outside of Acronis) and would require you to recreate it if you do.

7) check the exclusions tab - the defaults are fine, but I woudl remvoe the ones for Chrome, Firefox, Opera if you use those browsers and want to keep your favorites

8) Advanced tab - check the circled ones out.  If you want to password protect the backup, set the backup size (for instance if the total backup is 100GB, you may not want a single 100GB file, but instead limit it to 10GB max that would create 10 x 10GB files).  Set the priority of the backup (I usually change it from low to Normal).  Set the compression - default is good for most, I always use high though.  Ignore errors in case a dirty sector is detected on the disk, it will skip past it so the backup runs anyway. 

9) Once you have everything configured, make sure you hit the backup up now button and run the backup, or click the drop down next to it and tell it to run later.  If you don't do one of these, it will not save the job and you'll have to do it all over.

After that, go back and do the same thing for your second PST folder backup, but select files and folders instead of Disks and Paritions.  

Hi Christine

Would it help to explain about Outlook and where it stores the files? This will then clarify whether or not they are backed up. It might also be useful regarding your imminent change from Office 360.

I am going to describe the standard set-up in Windows 7 (which I know about) but I think it is very similar in other Windows versions.

Outlook stores your personal data in .pst files; this includes everything including the email set-up data, mail items in your inbox, sent, deleted folders and also calendar, contact task, notes items. In some cases, eg if you connect via the internet to your employers email system, then the data might be held in a .ost file (which is an offline copy) that allows you to work without an internet connection.

Technically, Outlook can work with multiple .pst / .ost files at the same time. Multiple data files might be forced on you if you have several different types of email address or you might choose to create 'extra' data files to store your email messages in a more structured way.

You can find out how many data files you are actually using by collapsing each one until you see just a single line in Outlook's left hand panel. Look for the small triangle to collapse the folder list (see screenshot attached); when you have collapsed everything as much as possible, you will be left with one line per data file.

Most people with a simple set-up will have either:

• one data file (the one with the email inbox, etc); or
• two data files (the one with the inbox, etc and another one for old 'archived' emails).

You can now check the actual data file location(s) by <right clicking> the data file in the left panel and choosing 'Open File Location' (see screenshot attached). If this location is included in the Acronis backup 'source', then your emails, etc are being backed up. You should do this for each line (data file) that remained when you collapsed the lists.

Note:

• The name you see displayed in the left hand panel in Outlook can be changed so it might not be the same as the file name. To check which is the correct file name, <right click> and select Data File Properties then Advanced; you can now see both the displayed name and the file name.
• The most likely location is from when Outlook was installed when an initial .pst data file (or an .ost file) would have been created in the folder C:\Users\<your_user_name>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook 
• If you use the archiving feature, then you will probably also see a file called Archive.pst (or similar) in the same location.

Regarding your move from Office 360. What you might choose to do is create a new .pst file to hold a copy of your valuable historical data over the transition to the new Outlook tool. I would do this personally as I do not 100% trust that emails, contacts, etc from 360 will survive the ininstall / reinstall process (yes... it is supposed to be watertight... but...!). The process below can also be used to create extra long term places to store your old emails, etc.

Steps:

• Create a new .pst data file by clicking on the New Items button and selecting New Data File (see screenshot). Choose .pst file type at the second step. Choose any filename and location you like at the third step (I put mine into a folder called 'Outlook' inside MyDocuments as it is convenient and I know this will be backed up by Acronis).
• You can now <right click> in the new header in the Outlook left hand panel and create as many subfolders as you wish using the 'New Folder' option. You can then either copy your existing emails and folders (to create a temporary reserve in case the reinstallation goes wrong) or make it into your new permanent archive by moving your existing emails (but rmember that new incoming emails will still arrive in the original inbox). [Switch between move and copy by holding the <Ctrl> button when you drag and drop an item.]
• You can also add folders for contacts, calendar and task items by <rght clicking> the new header and changing the folder type whe you add a folder. This will allow you to copy these items into your reserve as well.
• To connect a .pst file to Outlook so that you can use it (eg after the change from 360), click on the File tab in Outlook, choose Open, Open Outlook Data File and navigate to wherever you placed the file (see screenshot).
• Note: you can also Close a .pst file by <right clicking> it in Outlook and choosing 'Close xxx Data File'. The file is not deleted; it just does not open when Outlook is loaded. You can then delete the file or move it to another folder using Windows Explorer and open it again later.

Summary

Determine how many Outlook Data Files you are using and their locations.

Select these folders when you make your "separate Outlook only" backup in Acronis (using 'Files and Folders').

Keep your 'Entire PC' or 'Disks and Partitions' backup for everything else; this will include the Outlook stuff. (If you tick all the disks and partitions, then these will have the same data but the 'Disks and Partitions' backup is more flexible if you need to recover a destroyed PC.)

Simon

If you want to know more about Outlook try the personal message icon on the left of ths box.