Restoring Outlook 2003 contacts - Windows 7, 32-bit
I've searched through many pages of your on-line forum seeking an answer to my problem, without success.
In order to retrieve the contacts in a back-up of my Outlook 2003 pst file, I need to either:
1) Relocate the existing pst file, which contains e-mail messages I must retain, or
2) Restore the back-up pst file to a different location and/or to a file with a different name to avoid overwriting the existing pst file.
I've not figured out how to rename or relocate the existing pst file (I have administrator privileges), and I don't know if TI will allow me to specify a different name or location for the restore operation.
How do you suggest I proceed?
Thanks for your suggestions.
I do not have a separate pst file for contacts.
What I'm trying to do is replace the contacts in the existing pst file with the contacts in the TI backup version (of the full pst file).
How can I "mount it" without overwriting the existing pst file and loosing the messages in it?
Gordon, you could restore the .pst file to a new location on your system. If the .pst files have the same name, change the name of the restored .pst file. Then open Outlook and add the restored data file. It will then be displayed and you can copy or move the contacts from one data file to another. It is also possible to use the import function to import the contacts from the restored .pst file into the current data (.pst) file without adding it as a second data file in Outlook.
See here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/import-outlook-items-fro…
James,
Many thanks for your help!
What I did not know until now is that TI can restore a file to a location that's different from its original location. Is this correct?
In advance, thanks again.
Yes, you can restore files/folders to a different or new location from both file/folder backups as well as from disk/partition backups.
Hi Guys,
Gordon,
All you have to do is open the .PST file in outlook as I explained. It doesn't have to be in a special location. Your desktop will do. It doesn't have to have another name unless you want that to appear in it's heading. Outlook handles this and opens it in the Personal Files Folder Area below the current Outlook profile that is active. You can expand it and copy item from those heading, mail, contacts, calendar... that you wish and drag them up into the corresponding buckets above in your current active profile. When you have what you want, you right-click it and select close.
ShadowS & James,
Okay, I've done my best to follow your advice, but still am stymied.
I set out this morning to recover my pst file, so that I could extract its contacts. But TI will not allow me to recover it to a different location.
After selecting Outlook Backup from the My Backups screen, I selected the version to recover from Disks and Partitions Tab, then clicked on Recover. The E-mail Recovery window opened and would only permit me to recover the files to the original location.
I've gone through these steps twice, trying to find how I can specify a different recovery location, and failed.
HELP!!!
Gordon,
The backup that contains the .pst files will either be a file/folder backup, or a disk/partition backup. You should be able to restore the .pst file from either of these type of backups. The Outlook backup is a special case backup that opens the .pst and backs up the individual email items. Check to see if you have a backup other than the Outlook backup, and check to see if you can find and restore the .pst file(s) from those type of backups.
James,
In addition to the backup of Outlook and Microsoft Contacts, I have a disk (partition) backup pf my C and E partitions. The pst file was on the C partition, so probably was backed up. My E is where I load applications, so probably isn't relevant.
If I correctly understand your suggestion, I should recover my C and E partitions to a new location, then find and import contacts from the pst file. Is this correct?
(The only disadvantage is that this backup is almost 27 Gbytes!)
In advance, many thanks!
Gordon,
You can restore individual files/folders from a disk/partition backup. There is no need to restore the entire image. You can also double click the .tib file (the backup of your "C" drive) and open the backup in Windows Explorer, navigate to the folder that contains the .pst file you need, and copy it to a new location on your drive with Windows copy and paste commands. As an alternative, you can also "Mount" the backup file from the Tools and Utilites tab. Once "Mounted" or opened in Windows Explorer, you could then search for the .pst file(s). Be sure you have "Display hidden and system files/folders" turned on in Windows Explorer, when searching for the .pst files.
Okay, I'm still not able to do what I think you've said I can/should do. When trying to recover just Outlook's pst file from a backup of the C and E partitions, I'm not able to find a way of recovering less than the full C partition - about 68 Gbytes! How can I find and use a directory-like structure to find and specify just the pst file?
In advance, many thanks!
Gordon, are you unable to either mount the backup archive or to open it in Windows Explorer? Under either scenario, you could then locate the .PST and drag/copy it to a location on your internal HD.
To Tuttle, James F and Shadowsports,
Thanks to you all for your kind assistance. This problem/issue has been resolved!
Gordon,
That's great. For the team's information, I assume you were able to browse or mount an image that contained the .PST, then open and drag what you needed out?
We'd appreciate knowing.
Thanks