ATI 2016 and the Outlook.pst file backup

John, I am not aware of any specific problem with backing up Outlook .OST or .PST files other than that only the copies of these files which have been written to disk can be captured for backup, so any changes still kept in memory by Outlook would not be included.

Having said that, have a read through forum post: 117030: acronis true image 2016 not backing up outlook files which had a lengthy discussion on this subject around a year ago and refers to default exclusions set in the Windows Registry by Microsoft for some Outlook files, but not for PST files.

If you have a full partition image of your system, then this should include your Outlook .PST file if it was held on that same partition.

Can you post any of the logs from your incremental and full backup tasks to the forum, this would allow us to check what is or isn't being excluded from the backup?

The MVP Log Viewer can help with looking at log files - link in my signature below.

Hi John,

Don’t panic! Outlook data files (ost or pst) are existing at local PC i.e. big threat to security.

Any kind of bug or virus can damage your Outlook data file severely. Apart from this pain point, you should also avoid keeping these files on a network share. As per Microsoft Guideline, this practice can violate PST file structure. Finally, we can say that regular backup is the safest approach. In the process to recover your lost items, you can go for Inbox Repair Tool (ScanPST.exe) or alternative Stellar Phoenix Outlook PST repair.

Try some references: https://support.microsoft.com/en-in/help/272227/how-to-repair-your-outlook-personal-folder-file-.pst

https://www.stellarinfo.com/outlook-pst-file-recovery.php

Hello John,

I also use Outlook for email and this is how I back up and protect my email system.

I am using MS Office 2010 and Windows 10.  In email, I clicked on the "Add-Ins" tab and added the Microsoft Outlook Backup utility.

This MS Outlook utility allows one to backup your email folder system to a .pst file and place it where you wish.  You can set it to backup once per day and it will prompt you upon exiting outlook.  This gives you one good copy of your entire email personal folder setup.

My day to day, normal, email .pst file system will be backed up each and every time my documents folder is backed up by TIH because my outlook .pst file lives there.   In Outlook, you can tell the system where to build your .pst file.  So, now I have 3 copies of my entire email folder set up.

If you ever need to replace all or one of your emails, you can simply open the backup .pst file (from within outlook) , drill down, find what you need and drag it to the appropriate email folder or one can restore the entire email folder system by importing the .pst file.

So, I have my day to day .pst file that outlook uses (On my C: drive), my daily backup done once per day from the outlook program (stored on a second drive) and a copy available from my externally stored TIH backup.

And... if you have your outlook set to leave a copy on the server for at least 30 days... you will also be able to pull in incoming messages from the past 30 days if you have to rebuild your email from scratch and dont have a backup newer than 30 days.

Hope my method gives you some insight 

Regards,

Steve F.

More info.

My Office is Ofice 365

I backup selected files daily at 1AM

I backup the full system once a week, 12:01AM Sunday.

One error: The daily backup missing the Outlook.pst is my fault. Wife installed new version of Outlook and it moved the location of the .pst file.

I have 6 copies of the weekly full backup and not one of them have a .pst file in them anywhere.

Here is a copy of one of the Weekly backup logs. Note the creation of "partion images". The Outlook file is located in

"..Users/Grace/Documents/Outlook Files" When restoring the C: partition the Outlook Files folder file does not  contain any files.

Since Failure was noted I installed Acronis 2017  and things seem to be back to normal in that is is backing up the .pst file but the lost files are still gone.  I need to restore my Wifes Contacts list from the .PST file. The Calendar seems to be OK (Calender.pst was not disturbed)

"Begin of Acronis Full backup run"

1    True Image    4/23/2017 12:01:02 AM    Backup reserve copy attributes: format tib; need_reserve_backup_copy false;

2    True Image    4/23/2017 12:01:02 AM    Operation Graces Weekly Full Backup started by schedule.

3    True Image    4/23/2017 12:01:22 AM    Backup reserve copy attributes: format tib; need_reserve_backup_copy false;

4    True Image    4/23/2017 12:01:22 AM    Operation: Backup

5    True Image    4/23/2017 12:01:22 AM    Priority changed to Low.

6    True Image    4/23/2017 12:01:23 AM    Create Backup Archive From: Disk 1 To file:      "F:\Grace Weekly Backup\Grace partitions\Graces Weekly Full Backup.tib" Compression:      Normal Exclude:   Files matching mask Match criterion:      hiberfil.sys, pagefile.sys, $Recycle.Bin, swapfile.sys, System Volume Information, *.tib, *.tib.metadata, *.~, *.tmp, C:\Users\Grace\AppData\Local\Temp, C:\Users\LogMeInRemoteUser\AppData\Local\Temp, C:\Users\Grace\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache, C:\Users\LogMeInRemoteUser\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache, C:\Users\Grace\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Cache, C:\Users\Grace\AppData\Local\Opera Software, C:\Users\Grace\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles, C:\Users\Grace\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Cache, C:\Users\Grace\AppData\Local\Opera Software, C:\Users\Grace\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles, C:\WINDOWS\CSC 

7    True Image    4/23/2017 12:01:23 AM    Pending operation 172 started: 'Creating partition image'.

8    True Image    4/23/2017 12:01:24 AM    Writing full version to file: Graces Weekly Full Backup_full_b52_s1_v1.tib

9    True Image    4/23/2017 12:01:25 AM    Pending operation 172 started: 'Creating partition image'.

10    True Image    4/23/2017 12:20:41 AM    Pending operation 172 started: 'Creating partition image'.

11    True Image    4/23/2017 12:20:46 AM    Pending operation 172 started: 'Creating partition image'.

12    True Image    4/23/2017 12:23:56 AM    Pending operation 172 started: 'Creating partition image'.

13    True Image    4/23/2017 12:23:57 AM    The following backups have been successfully created: "F:\Grace Weekly Backup\Grace partitions\Graces Weekly Full Backup_full_b52_s1_v1.tib"

14    True Image    4/23/2017 12:23:57 AM    Validate Backup Archive Location:      "F:\Grace Weekly Backup\Grace partitions\Graces Weekly Full Backup_full_b52_s1_v1.tib" 

15    True Image    4/23/2017 12:23:57 AM    Pending operation 4 started: 'Validate Backup Archive'.

16    True Image    4/23/2017 12:37:18 AM    Consolidate Backup Archive Location:   "F:\Grace Weekly Backup\Grace partitions\Graces Weekly Full Backup_full_b52_s1_v1.tib" Destination:      "F:\Grace Weekly Backup\Grace partitions\Graces Weekly Full Backup_full_b52_s1_v1_38DCE352-879C-46C2-8518-F2FC9C08B627.tib" 

17    True Image    4/23/2017 12:37:18 AM    Consolidate Backup Archive Location:   "F:\Grace Weekly Backup\Grace partitions\Graces Weekly Full Backup_full_b52_s1_v1.tib" Destination:      "F:\Grace Weekly Backup\Grace partitions\Graces Weekly Full Backup_full_b52_s1_v1_38DCE352-879C-46C2-8518-F2FC9C08B627.tib" 

18    True Image    4/23/2017 12:37:18 AM    Deleting backup file with path F:\Grace Weekly Backup\Grace partitions\Graces Weekly Full Backup_full_b47_s1_v1.tib.

19    True Image    4/23/2017 12:37:19 AM    Operation has succeeded.

John wrote:

Since Failure was noted I installed Acronis 2017  and things seem to be back to normal in that is is backing up the .pst file but the lost files are still gone.  I need to restore my Wifes Contacts list from the .PST file.

John, you will need to go back to an earlier backup image file where your wife's PST was still being backed up, i.e. from befor the new version of Outlook was installed / upgraded which moved the PST location.  I am assuming that you have checked in the new location for the PST file?

I blame the failure of the daily backup as my fault. I have dealt with the issue.

I am real concerned about the Weekly Image backup. I restored the C: partition from one of the oldest backups I have and it did not have a .pst file anywhere.

John, I am out of ideas here as to why your older backups don't include any .PST files, especially if your backup tasks are including these now when you do new backups?

I assume that you have mounted the old backups and have searched for any *.pst files anywhere in the backup image rather than just searching specifically for outlook.pst?

Just a thought, some recent versions of Outlook use *ost for IMAP and MS Exchange server mail. the *.pst is only used for POP. 

Ian

PS on the road at present so cannot give more guidance on this issue.

Steve and Ian,

thanks for the responses. The weekly fuill image backup of this morning went as planned. All .pst files are accounted for and in the proper place.

'

It mystifies me as to why Office 365 decided to locate the files in "..user/Documents\Office Files\.. " instead of the normal APPDATA file thread.

Yes, it is very odd. I will need to check all my backups.

ian