Outlook 2002 and sudden loss of all .pst data.

E

Ed

After turning on my computer each morning, I routinely
activate Outlook from an icon on my buttonbar. I've been
doing this daily for several years. Yesterday when I
clicked on the Outlook icon the Outlook wizard came on.
It was as if I was using a CD and loading it for the
first time. I cancelled out of the wizard and reactivated
the buttonbar Outlook icon. When the Outlook screen came
up there was nothing there. The inbox, contacts,
scheduler, etc. were all empty. Again, it was as if I had
just installed Outlook for the first time and had not yet
setup my e-mail account or anything else. My question
is "has this happened to you? or have you heard of it
happening to anyone else? and why did it happen? I've
used Outlook for my e-mails, etc. for years and never had
this happen before. I'd like to think there is a logical
reason and be able to prohibit it from happening again.
 
J

Jocelyn Fiorello [MVP - Outlook]

Have you searched your computer for all .PST files? Outlook may have
somehow lost the connection to the file which contains all your data;
possibly your profile was corrupted somehow. If you can find the right .PST
file, you can open it in Outlook via File | Open and then tell Outlook to
use it as your default.

Note: If you're using Windows 2000 or XP, you'll need to search in hidden
folders and possibly (but not likely) system folders to find all .PST files.

--
Jocelyn Fiorello
MVP - Outlook

*** Messages sent to my e-mail address will NOT be answered -- please
reply only to the newsgroup to preserve the message thread. ***


In
 
E

Ed

In Outlook, via File | Import and Export..., I find
three .pst files. They are named "outlook", "Outlook1"
and "Outlook backup". Which one would I use and how do I
tell Outlook to use it as my default? I'm using Windows
XP.
Thank you.
Ed
 
B

Brian Tillman

Ed said:
In Outlook, via File | Import and Export..., I find
three .pst files. They are named "outlook", "Outlook1"
and "Outlook backup". Which one would I use and how do I
tell Outlook to use it as my default? I'm using Windows
XP.
Click to expand...

Don't use Import and Export. Use File>Open>Outlook Data File like Jocelyn
said. Open them all and examine them to see which is the one you want.
Make it your default delivery location (Tools>E-mail Accounts>Next, "Deliver
new e-mail to the following location" drop-down) and close the others
(File>Data File Management).
 
E

Ed

Thank you Brian. Also, I just realized I had no Personal
Address Book. I went to (Tools>E-mail Accounts, etc.) and
added the Personal Address Book. However, it has no
entries. Prior to this problem it was full. How do I
get the addresses of my "contacts" into my PAB?
Thank you.
Ed
 
B

Brian Tillman

Ed said:
Thank you Brian. Also, I just realized I had no Personal
Address Book. I went to (Tools>E-mail Accounts, etc.) and
added the Personal Address Book. However, it has no
entries. Prior to this problem it was full. How do I
get the addresses of my "contacts" into my PAB?
Click to expand...

Outlook 2002 does not use the PAB. Remove that service. What you want to
do is make sure you add the "Outlook Address Book" service, then right-click
on Contacts, select Properties, then the "Outlook Address Book: tab. Check
the "Show this folder and an e-mail Address Book" box.
 
E

Ed

Thanks Brian. Your suggestion worked perfectly. I now
have a contacts list in the Address Book window with all
my contacts info. Thanks again!
 
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