Outlook 2003/2007 backing up email to a pst file

Since you never know when a piece of hardware will fail, and whether that failure is going to result in lost data, the safe thing to do is to make frequent backups of your Outlook data.  Another excellent use of a .pst backup is the ability to transport data from one machine to another, such as from a laptop to your network workstation.  The following procedure will guide you through the necessary steps of crating a .pst file backup.

1. Exit any messaging programs such as Outlook or Microsoft Exchange.
2. Click Start >> Settings.
3. Click Control Panel.
4. Double-click the Mail icon.
5. Click “Show Profiles”.
6. Click the profile, then click “Properties”.
7. Click”Data Files”.
8. Click the Personal Folders Service to be backed up.
9. Click Settings, and make a note of the path and file name listed.
10. Close the Properties window(s).
11. Copy the file that you noted in step 5 using Windows Explorer.

Note You may have more than one Personal Folders service in your profile. If this is true, you must back up each set of .pst files separately.  Simply repeat steps 5 through 11 for each file to create a backup copy of.

Article written by MyComputerAid.com