Personal folders or PST files on Outlook, allow users to store information they share and receive on the platform. It also lets them store configuration settings and other personal information such as contact list and calender entries. Let us see how to manage and recover such files.
Personal storage tables (PST) or personal folder files form a significant part of the Outlook platform. The Outlook email client from Microsoft, allows users to manage their email accounts and create calenders and contact lists, apart from allowing them to maintain a journal and access the internet via web browser. The Outlook application is designed to automatically store messages, calender entries, journal entries, tasks and notes, on the personal folder file or PST file and the mailbox of the user. In case the Outlook client is being hosted on a server such as the Microsoft Exchange Server, the files are stored on the server. Users are allowed to create back-ups of the PST file on the server for a scenario which forces them to perform PST recovery. A back-up of the PST file lets users restore or transfer their data when the program crashes unexpectedly or the system suffers from hardware issues. The PST file also comes in handy when users are moving from one computer system to another. If you using Microsoft Outlook as a stand alone client, not hosted on a server, the data on Outlook is stored on a PST file. You should be aware how to make a back-up of the PST file if the original one gets damaged or corrupted. Remember that the back-up is created in order to assist in PST recovery. In order to back up the file, first close all applications including Microsoft Outlook and Messenger. Go to the Run function located on the Start menu and type Control Panel. When the control panel opens, access the User Accounts page and double-click on the Mail icon. Click on the Show Profiles option and select the required profile and access its Properties. Under the Data Files option, click on the Personal Folder Service that you want to back-up under the Names option. After selecting the PST file, click on Settings and copy the location of the file on the computer. After, this, close all windows and locate the PST file on the computer using Windows Explorer or My Computer. Copy paste the file on another hard drive or store it on a removable media device such as USB drives or CDs. Now, a back up of the PST can be used to restore Outlook if it experiences problem due to software or hardware issues or if the original PST files get damaged. Every data that has been saved on the PST will be restored from the back-up file if you choose to do so. Now, you have to keep in mind that if the back up of the PST is stored on an external hard disk or a CD, you would first have to copy it on the hard drive of the computer on which your Outlook program is running. If you copy the file with the ‘Read Only’ attribute selected, then the file might show an error message when you try to restore it. Now, PST recovery can also performed using the DataNumen Outlook Repair tool offered by DataNumen.