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OT; MS Outlook backup utility
 

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KerryIrons
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 3234
Location: Midland, MI

11/25/13 7:59 PM

OT; MS Outlook backup utility

I recently had to do a clean install of my operating system due to corruption from an unknown source. Long story short I discovered that the Windows 7 backup utility doesn't do Outlook so I lost a bunch of emails and my calendar. I can't imagine why MS doesn't think that Outlook should be backed up along with everything else.

I have found a method to backup Outlook (export process to a PST file) but it is not the kind of "one click" process that you would hope to have for routine backups. I didn't dig too deeply but did find a 3rd party backup tool but it is $40. Does anybody have a better solution (preferably freeware)?

And no, I'm not interested in changing to a different mail/calendar system.

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Andy M-S
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Hamden (greater New Haven) CT

11/25/13 8:40 PM

Hmm

That's a nasty problem. I have four or five mail services talking to Outlook (I prefer one uniform interface across multiple providers) but each has its own web-based interface, and I leave messages on the servers, so the worst case for me is reconnecting to all of the mail servers.

Are you hooking up to a private server? And if so, are you forced to delete mail from the server when Outlook runs?

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walter
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 4391
Location: metro-motown-area

11/25/13 8:53 PM

going forward

Setup outlook to auto-archive to a local PST as a backup. Rules can be setup to copy instead of move so its a true backup copy and can run automagically on a schedue you want . Easy peasy.

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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC

11/25/13 9:21 PM

What walter said.

Set the auto-archive to run daily in the middle of the night. The most you'll lose is today's mail (which you probably remember anyway)

I do that at work. Not as a back up but to free up mailbox capacity (I'm on a bunch of support mailing list and got gazzilion e-mail DAILY!)

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Jesus Saves
Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 1150
Location: South of Heaven

11/26/13 9:02 AM

some more options

Ditto what Walter writes.

Here are some more options....

Additionally, you can just copy the .pst file as a backup or have Windows do it for you automatically, say every day at a particular time. To do so use the Windows Task Scheduler. See here:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/schedule-a-task
You will need to have the Outlook program closed when the backup happens. Outlook puts a lock on the pst file when Outlook is open.

One more consideration is to have email messages left on the server after Outlook retrieves (downloads) them. That is a setting in your Outlook profile and it will provide another layer of backup/redundancy.


It is also advisable to run the compact & repair utility from time to time. That utility/command is found within the Outlook menus near the profile settings. It will keep your pst in good working order and reduce the file size, especially after performing a lot of deletes (like emptying your deleted items folder within Outlook).

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KerryIrons
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 3234
Location: Midland, MI

11/26/13 8:09 PM

Calendar?

Does auto-archive back up the calendar as well?

April said to set a time to run it but there is no time setting under AutoArchive Settings.

I run Outlook as a IMAP client to Gmail, so the Gmail server mirrors everything (that's why I only lost my calendar and certain emails). The reason I lost emails was because I had created a "saved items" folder in the Outlook Data File rather than in the "Gmail folder" and so not mirrored in Gmail. Likewise I lost a number of drafts I was working on because when you save a message as a draft it goes to the Outlook Data File Drafts folder rather than the Gmail Drafts folder.

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walter
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 4391
Location: metro-motown-area

11/26/13 9:16 PM

yup, you can select...

...specific auto-archive rules for each type of "stuff" separately.

I use:
Mail › 2 weeks gets archived (moved).
Calendar > 1 month gets archived (moved).
I have long-term archiving from that archive into another, all Mail/Contacts > 12 months get moved...I have stuff going back to 1996!
I also manually copy Notes and Contact to the archive as a backup.

If that doesn't work, you can always submit a FOIA request to the NSA for copies of all your old emails. ;-)

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Nick Payne
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 2625
Location: Canberra, Australia

11/27/13 12:14 AM

Microsoft's pfbackup for Outlook: http://www.microsoft.com/en-au/download/details.aspx?id=9003

I know from having used this with Outlook 2003 and 2007 that it works fine with those versions, and I have heard that it functions ok with Outlook 2010 as well with a bit of tweaking (eg see http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/office/en-US/7d4ef8c3-4eb3-4844-a4b2-6251bc6df6f4/pfbackup-for-outlook-2010?forum=outlook ).

Installing it adds a "Backup..." option to the File menu, which can be optionally setup to automatically remind you to backup every x number of days. It backs up the entire mail file, and I've used the backups it creates for complete mail restore on several occasions, either when installing a new PC or when wanting to get the latest version of a pst file from desktop to laptop or vice versa.

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Jesus Saves
Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 1150
Location: South of Heaven

11/27/13 7:35 AM

How to automatically back up your Outlook file

Microsoft also makes their own backup "add-in" available for free. You can find the download link here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/238782

One thing to keep in mind is by default Outlook stores all of your email messages, calendar, notes, task, and contact items in a single PST file.

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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC

11/27/13 9:07 AM


quote:
April said to set a time to run it but there is no time setting under AutoArchive Settings.

Sorry that was bad writing on my part (happens when typing from phone).

What I mean was to auto-archive it to another file as Walter suggested. If that file is located in a folder that normally gets daily back up in the middle of the night, it'll get picked up (and backed up).


quote:
If that doesn't work, you can always submit a FOIA request to the NSA for copies of all your old emails. ;-)

LOL

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