Normally, they...How to back-up Outlook files
Marc, I’m running out of space on my hard drive and want to back-up old emails onto recordable DVDs. What’s the best way to do it? – Tom P., Newmarket, Ont.
Marc, I’m running out of space on my hard drive and want to back-up old emails onto recordable DVDs. What’s the best way to do it? – Tom P., Newmarket, Ont.
Hey Tom, great question.
While there is software available designed to simplify the process, keep your cash as it’s actually quite easy to back-up your Outlook email manually.
Here’s how to do it:
1. Open Microsoft Outlook and click on an email folder you want to back up, such as Sent Items, Deleted Items, Inbox, Drafts, and so on. This will create smaller and segregated files instead of backing up all your folders into one file (which might not fit on one recordable DVD).
2. Once your selected folder is highlighted by clicking on it, such as Inbox, click the word File at the top of the screen and select "Import and Export" from your list of options. Select "Export to a File."
3. There are a few different ways you can save your old email folder but I’d recommend Personal Folder File (*.pst) as it does a good job with keeping attachments. Select a name for the file (such as Inbox.pst) and where on your computer you want it saved, such as your desktop.
4. That’s it! Repeat the same process as above for other email folders, and if you like for your Notes, Tasks, Contacts and Calendar appointments. Now you’re ready to burn a disc with these files and keep them in a safe place in case you ever need to retrieve them.
Filed Under: Computers & Software
Doe's this process also apply to express
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Marc, you forgot "archive.pst", that's another important file to backup.
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This works well for Outlook email files. What about for Hotmail? How does one make a DVD backup of all of their Hotmail?
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Hey James and Peter, great questions — I will be writing a blog entry by tomorrow that explains how to back-up email from Outlook Express. Looking into how to do it with Hotmail, too, if it's possible.
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I believe you can backup Hotmail if you use Outlook Connector and MS Outlook 2003/2007 to view your email.
You can d/l Outlook Connector from the MS Download site or click here
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=7aad7e6a-931e-438a-950c-5e9ea66322d4&DisplayLang=en
PS. Not sure if you need to pay for Hotmail Premium or not to get this functionnality.
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Does the Xbox 360 play hd dvd's out of the box? I thought that you need an add on box to play them so Microsoft knew they wouldn't win.
I'd rather have a 25GB disc than 15GB but with the price of blanks I will be sticking to DVD-R for my backups.
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Why go to all this trouble – simply close Outlook (exit). Do a search to find your PST file(s) and burn it to CD. All your folders, contacts, calendar entries, etc. are all in ONE PST file. That is unless you have created separate PST files.
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Backing up Outlook Express is different. Each folder in Outlook Express has it's own file with the extension DBX.
EXIT Outlook Express and search for *.DBX and back them up.
The address book needs to be backed up separately – look for a file with the extension of WAB and back it up as well.
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i followed all the steps to back up mails from outlook. all went well.
but if i want to open them at a leter date ie how do i open them. oonce its on desk top what programe do i use to open the folder?
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Asha – if you are talking about Outlook it is fairly straight forward.
Firstly you can't open a PST file on it's own – you need Outlook.
If you system crashed you would need to reinstall Outlook and setup your profile again and simply copy the PST file in the default folder. When you setup your profile you tell Outlook where your PST file is.
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Marc, If you backup your outlook folders can you access them if you require a message that has been deleted from your active folders. I want to back everything up to an attached harddrive and remove all but the most active items in my outlook folders. I have an older laptop with only 18G on it so I'm trying to clean it it while I look for a new Laptop.
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Hi Robert,
Yes, all you need to do if you need to retrieve something is to create a new folder in your Outlook (such as "Back-Up Mail") and then go to File, Import and point to the file on your DVD (such as Deleted Items.pst).
It's easier in Outlook Express becase you can manually rename the .dbx files to .doc, and then do a search for a keyword in the word document.
Best,
Marc Saltzman
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I use a University server for my emails and am just learning to use Outlook. I am especially drawn to its ability to search old emails within their text and appended files. Is there a way to backup my emails onto my hard drive (in order to keep under the minimum storage space we're allowed on the server) and still be able to search the backed up emails on my hard drive. I use Outlook's search capabilities to search old emails all the time and it would be great if there's some way to retain the ability to search backed-up-onto-harddrive files via Outlook.
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I tried your trick, but I can't save the imported file to anywhere but inside Outlook, so desktop or anywhere else is not an option. Any other tricks for backing up Outlook emails outside of Outlook? Where exactly are these files located anyway? I can't find any pst files on my computer.
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i backed up my e mails from hotmail onto a passport hard drive when i try to open them is says it wont open go online
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For this business advise try this tool-.dbx extract,as far as i know it is free,utility can repair mailboxes in Outlook Express format and extract emails, when it is possible,repair messages from all folders and extract .dbx files, even from Deleted Items,moves to the preview mode, where our customers can take a look at the emails, that will be retrieved during the next stage,works with all Windows operating systems, starting from Windows 98 to Windows Vista (Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows 2003).
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