Outlook .pst file not backing up Sent emails

Amalgam

I am using Office 2000 on XP Home. Updated and legal. I've never had a problem before, it just suddenly started.

Basically, from mid August, backing up and restoring a .pst file would get everything restored except the sent items from August onwards.

I don't think I've passed any limitations of the .pst format, it currently exports at 191MB and has about 3500 items in the inbox and roughly 2800 in the outbox.

I ran:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Mapi\1033\NT\SCANPST.exe and the .pst file came out clean.

Any suggestions about how to diagnose the health of the .pst file or any permissions/settings that might lead to the current situation?

Zirconia

I suspect that this PST you have been backing up and restoring is no longer the PST that outlook is using as it's mail store!

I can only guess that if you can see all your current email, and email from August and earlier (can you?) in Outlook now, then the file you are trying to back up is a copy somehow made in August, and not the main PST, it's the only thing that would make sense.

Try doing a search for .pst files (make sure you select to search for hidden files in the options too), and check the resulting files modification dates and paths. Then check the PST file and path in Outlook.

Amalgam

Zirconia, I'm in denial, but I reckon that something along those lines has happened, I remember the PC botched up a .pst restore by freezing mid way through the process, as a result, I couldn't shake off a second Personal Folder in Outlook. Office can be a stickler with something like that..

Can I just start over with a back up open under a new Personal Folder in Outlook, then 'close' the one I've been copying and pasting from?

This is a nightmare for me, I need to ferret about in the archive, the inability to have the mail operating 'properly' is upsetting.

Capt'n Midnight

Microsoft at no extra charge give you features that almost certainly guarantee data loss.

Even though hard drive space hadn't been an issue with windows pc's since 100MB drives went out of fashion microsoft still insist on defaulting almost all their apps to NOT make backup copies of documents. :mad:

At a guess you are the victim of auto archive, a feature whose only use is to punish people who put their trust in .PST files on a server. It take removes sent items and puts them in a hidden folder on your C: so if/when your pc dies or gets replaced you can't get your emails restored from the server since they are no longer there.

do a search for *.pst

Into tools options autoarchive and have a look there

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/830119 - 2007 / 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/239652 - 2000 and links to other version

By default, several Outlook folders are set up with the AutoArchive feature turned on. The following is a list of the folders that have the AutoArchive feature turned on and of each folder's default aging period:
• The Calendar folder (6 months)
• The Tasks folder (6 months)
• The Journal folder (6 months)
• The Sent Items folder (2 months)
• The Deleted Items folder (2 months)