Hi everybody. If you use Microsoft Outlook you know how complex that program can be. You might also know that if your .PST file becomes corrupted, it is sometimes very difficult to get your e-mails back if you do not have a backup of your PST file. Backing up a file from Outlook is not the easiest thing to do because it is well hidden within the User Data folder.
For most installations, the PST file is located in the App Data Local file of your user account. Here is the way to access it. First you will need to show your hidden files. To do this, go to Control Panel, and then choose Folder Options. Once the Folder Options box opens, go to the View tab. Now look for Hidden Files and Folders and put a tick in the Show Hidden Files and Folders box. Click OK to close the box.
In this step, we are going to look for the PST file so we can create a backup. First, open your C drive and look for the folder Users if you are using Vista or Windows 7 and Documents and settings if you are using XP. Once these folders are open you will see a list of users. Click on the user name that you normally use. Now, you need to look for and open the file called Local Files. Once you open the folder navigate to Application Data and open the folder. You should see a file called Microsoft. Navigate to and open that folder as well. Look for the folder called Outlook and open it as well. Here you should see your PST files. Look for your Outlook.pst file and right click on the file and choose copy. Navigate to your backup destination, preferably a removable disk like a USB thumb drive or an external hard drive. You might want to do the same for the archive.pst as well.
You now have a backup of your Outlook PST file. In case of a problem with your current file, you can go to your backup and overwrite the original and you will again have your Outlook working.
This is the best way to maintain a good Outlook backup. Remember to create a new backup whenever you make a lot of changes to your Outlook database.
Author: Joe Zelenak, Staff Writer
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