Question: I recently lost my hard drive and had to rebuild a lot of files. The one thing I couldn’t rebuild was my e-mail messages. I use Microsoft Outlook. I now have a backup program but don’t know where to find the files that contain e-mail messages and e-mail addresses. Can you help?

NOCC: Unlike Outlook Express, which uses real hard disk folders for each of its Mail boxes, Outlook uses a single file with a PST extension for all of its data. Whether it is a mailbox, address list, to do list, etc., it is all inside that one file. Within that single file are as many chapters as needed for each of the subsection of Outlook.

To find the location of that file, open Outlook. Click on the Tools menu and choose “Options.” Select the “Mail Setup” tab and click on the “Data Files” button. In the box on the left, click on “Personal Folders,” which will highlight that entry, and move your cursor to the right to click the “Open Folder” button. (CLICK HERE for a larger version of the image on the right.)

This will open Windows Explorer. I always change to the Folder View by clicking on the “Folders” icon in the Standard Buttons toolbar. At this point, you can use Windows Explorer to manipulate files as needed. If you are not very familiar with Windows Explorer it is worth your time and effort to find out what this program does because it is the heart of manipulating files in Windows.

~ Elise Edgell, Past president, NOCCC

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