Great step by step.  Microsoft also has a great little free .PST backup utility here.

Jeff Meucci
www.jeffmeucci.com

Great stuff! Highly practical. Thanks for sharing!

I used to keep a little sign on my computer that read, "Save Early. Save Often." That was there to remind me that anything can happen in the middle of working on a document, so you better have a saved your most recent changes.

The same is true of backing up and archiving. This is a good reminder. With removable storage so cheap these days, there is no excuse for not doing it. Thanks for the reminder.

Perfect.  Thanks!

Amy, my techie, is always after me to clean out my .pst file before it all goes away. I like to save tons of correspondence and some newsletters. Is this a way to solve this? Is there some way I can save the files outside of Outlook so that it won't crash but still have them accessible?

Good, timely information.  I am very bad about backing up outlook.

kk

Hi Sharon
The other choice that you have is to archive  that way you can keep you e-mails for a long time in a separete file of the .pst

I usually archive at the end of  the year
Is a very simple process just go in to file-archive and select from what day you will like to do it
 is good to do this i will not recomend to any one to keep a pst file larger of 2 gb that can creach your outlook

Good luck and inf you have any question or you need more help please let me know

Thank you

 Ivan Warman
www.rightabouthomes.com

I have a "tricky" Director of Information.Yesterday I sent her a link to this blog asking her what she thought about the backup methods. She admitted that everything is already automaticaly backed up to our server so that she can recreate it, but she just wants me to reduce my files because it's a good pratice.

Great stuff this is important and very easy to follow you instructions.  Thank you this will help alot of people.

I have been just copying the .PST files to my backup drive.  Than you for better explaining how the export command works.

Thanks for the info I was never really sure how to backup outlook.

Finally, a post on how backing up data is so important...

THis is something i know alot about as i have an extremely strong background in
I.T. as a network administrators for one of the largest companies in the world.

The .pst (personal folders, this is where you store or "save" your email that is important) file is very fragile and has limitations (for all versions of ms office BELOW office 2003) The max limit is 2 gig. Dont let that get you...at 1.5gig your are in danger of corrupting your personal folders. Office 2003 has a MUCH higher limit.

Using .pst backup is a great tool, but if you have alot of email, it can take sometime to backup. I have found the best thing to do is buy a little memory stick, Best Buy had a 4 gig for $79 this weekend. What was the FIRST thing i did??? I COPIED my .pst file to that little magnificent stick of memory!

You can also "sync" your .pst file to the server...this is also a good option, but if there is alot of mail, it will take a while. You can set that up to sync only once a week, still if your in a rush...maybe that memry stick is a better idea.

My 2cents 

Thank you for the information! I wish I had found this particular blog a year ago. When my first laptop crashed I took it to the GS and specifically asked them to save all my outlook files. Guess what? I guess they didn't know how because I lost ALL my contacts and emails. So frustrating. I have a task every month to back up all my files onto my external harddrive. Now I am happy I know how to back up my outlook files too. Thanks again.

Debi
I'm glad this information can help you 

Is very important to backup your outlook as often as you can

Good luck

Ivan Warman
www.rightabouthomes.com

To all -

Remember to store a second copy of that data file off-site... Never know when a fire / theft / flood will pay a visit, and having a copy somewhere else will ease the pain...

Back ups are essential for everything. Another solution for outlook is to outsource your email services to a Microsoft Exchange hosting company. The beauty of this is that they back up your data, you can use Outlook, and you can use OWA or Outlook Web Access for an Outlook interface via Many browser anywhere in the world. http://www.usa.net is a great host for larger companies and runs about $15/mo. Inexpensive to let someone else worry about virus, uptime and backups.

Michael Polly, Vice President, Denny Grimes and Company, ASR, ePro, GRI, USCG Captain

Great Information ....

Great information thanks for that

Ivan,

Nice!  Thanks for the visual as well...

Ivan,

Thanks for the reminder. I learned the hard way. Someone walked off with my computer and I know that I ought to be backing up and saving far more than I do. Your post reminded me of my vulnerability. I would like to let everyone know that backing is important, but even more important is backing up to an off-site storage device. We never know what may happen.

Ivan,

Nice job with the screenshots!  I would also point out to post readers that you need to have your backups on removable media at least once a month. This backup needs to be stored at a different location  so that both backups aren't destroyed in case of an emergency. Also, there is a Firefox add on for Gmail users that allows you to store files online securely. i think this is a great way to backup your contacts online so they are central and secure. This is called Gspace and you can download it and firefox at the following sites;

• http://www.getgspace.com/   (Site to download the addon to use Gspace)
• http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/  (Site to download Firefox)
• http://www.xdrive.com/partners/?p=aolgen&promo=766618&gcid=segoogle  (Xdrive offer 5GB free!)

Thank you for the info. I myself am guilty of not backing up my Outlook. This info will be good!

Kudos!

Great Post Ivan.

I almost learned this lesson the hard way when I accidently deleted my entire contact file. I almost had a Heart Attack. In my case, a friend was able to walk me through a fix, but it was a very close call.

Best,

Sean Alvarez

I couldn't agree more with the importance of backups.  I just lost my hard drive in my laptop.  Luckily I have a PDA with all the contacts and all my information was already backed up.  Since we also have a desktop, we set up a profile for me and got me up and running on that.

Ivan, nice post!  You and Brett have provide a resource the viewers can get benefit out of if they will listen.  This information is critical, but where you back it up is as important as backing it up.  Just my two cents!

Thanks for the friendly reminder. It's been a while. I need to backup!

Back up everyting you that even smells important.  Data, pictures, income taxes, lots of stuff.  For me, I used a Hard drive in a stand alone case, USB connection, and some $40 or $50 software that backed up, then daily updated changed files.  Worked OK for several years, but the problem (as you grow) becomes how responsible are you for Everyone in the Companie's data.  I now have 2 solutions working together.  Redundant Hard drive is the first.  If my hard drive fails, the second one is fully up to snuff, can work without skipping a beat.  The second is a tape back up for offsite safeguard.  I wouldn't purchase a tape backup today, too easy to have online providers, but I got it for free, so why not?

Okay, love this post. Been searching around, and voila, here it is all spelled out. Bookmarked and rated, and thanks!!!

Hi
looking in to the comments that everyone has posted I can see that everyone understands the importance of backing up you programs and off course your database 

I use a external hard drive  but I also back up in my FTP Server, for does of you that don't have any off this tools I found some other solutions like http://www.xdrive.com that give you 5 GB for free and some other cool tools 

I think that no matter what is your strategy for a catastrophic incident the most important is to have one 

You local machine or hard drive can always crash or if you are in an area where floats or earthquakes are common is always good to have it in a remote location

 Good Luck

Ivan Warman
www.rightabouthomes.com

Good post.  You just never know too much.  I had never thought about backing up outlook.  Thanks

Thank you very much for sharing, that is great information that I definitely need to implement~

I have worked with computers a lot and I often don't or forget to back-up my data.  This is so important!  You posted a great how to...

Good post.  I am bookmarking this.

thank you! I have printed this out and am going to carry this out immediately!!!

I just backed up to a key chain drive and I am leaving it at work. We have an exchange server and I believe it all lives out their in that computer too but that is the limit of my tech knowledge

Jim Hoben

Cape Cod Mortgage

for those of you using OUTLOOK EXPRESS, there is no built in utility for backing up your database!  However there is a utility you can dowload!  visit: http://www.outlook-express-backup.com/ the program is NOT free, HOWEVER it does have a free trial, so INSTALL it when you are ready to backup your database!

I do however, recommend you upgrading to OUTLOOk for all its capabilities!  some of you guys have outlook and don't even know it!   (you can import your outlook express data into Outlook!)

Also for those on Outlook 2007  the steps above are pretty much the same!  wording may be slightly different, but it works out the same way, and the process is almost identical!

Great instructions and easy to follow. I really needed to figure how to back up Outlook!

Forget backing it up once and for all.

I've converted more realtors to the new google apps than i can count and they all love it.

You can bulk upload your email backup out of outlook and get it all online where you can get at it anytime, anywhere, regardless of if you have your computer.

Does this sound familiar?   Your assistant and you have to routinely update each others contact information and calendars so they are in sync?.  Your partner, buyers agent or office admin can't get access to an offer you've made because it's on your laptop, which is with you?

I highly recommend you check out http://google.com/a  (no affiliate link or anything, I don't get squat for you signing up... I really just believe it will change your life for the better and have many clients who would agree.)

Having a calendar you can easily share with your coworkers and clients, having a better email client you don't have to worry about backing up, working collaboratively on documents... it's all possible for FREE, even without the very cheap upgrade of $50/Year/Account (which ads more functionality and a lot more storage space).

Use the free edition for a while, then when you're sold, upgrade (I know you will).

Don't hesitate to contact me if you need some advise or help making the switch to Google hosted apps, I'm happy to help. 

oh yea, back up .. back up .... and back up some more!

Ivan, great tutorial here. I coincidentally just did this yesterday, though it had been a few months since my last one. Great reminder! Thank you.

Another great way to backup is on mozy.com  they offer 2GB of free, secure storage (Or go Unlimited for $4.95/month!) pick and choose the date you want to protect, it's easy!

I will take this advice one step further.  Hard disks are extremely cheap - go and buy an internal storage drive where you keep ALL your data.  Be sure you have to active programs stored here, just data.  If your computer ever crashes, gets infected, becomes problamatic in any way, you can simply wipe the OS and retain all of your data without fear of losing anything.  This includes backing up MS Outlook to this drive. 

A new Hard disk with 500GB of storage costs $100 at BestBuy.  A solid investment given the cost in time when you do have a problem.

Ok Adam.... that's a good strategy until the drive fails.

Take it one step farther.  With two identical drives you can set up a RAID array... and that WILL keep your data safe.

It will Mirror all your drive content on 2 drives so if one goes down the other still has the content.

This is a very sound strategy to ensure your data integrity (great for those photo's of the kids you don't want to loose either). 

Two types of hard drives... Those that have already crapped out, and those that...    ahh, you get the idea... THEY ALL DIE, usually at the worst moment. Keep the .pst backup utility set to 1 DAY, and then offload the file it creates. Mine is almost 500 megs, but I save copies, hoping I never need them. The extra bennie is that when you upgrade, you simply follow the sequence that Ivan outlined. OR, use the RAID array as Riel suggests. Just don't do nuthin!

Thanks Ivan, very useful. I have added an auxillary hard drive and back up software and back up everything on my hard drive.

Ivan,

Thanks for this tutorial, I need to do this!

Pat

Hi to all 

I'm glad that this tutorial has been so helpful to everyone

and I hope no one has to go through the pain of loosing you e-mails or contacts

Thank you

Ivan Warman
www.rightabouthomes.com

I back up my contact files every so often, but not on any type of a schedule. Maybe now, I'll make a more conscious effort to do so. Thanks for the reminder.

Forgive me in advance if I am repeating some information but I didnt have time to read all the responses but here is my 2 cents:

If you are just worried about your contacts, calendar, tasks, notes you can use Plaxo for free! http://www.plaxo.com/ It is a little outlook add-on which syncs all your information up to their server. If you are away from your computer you can log in using any computer to see your information.

If you have more than one computer, such as an additional one for an assistant, you can download Plaxo to both computers but just use the same login information, dont create an account for each computer. You can add, update or delete on either computer and the info will sync up to the server and other computer. Heck, you could have 10 computers on the same account and have them all sync'd up.

If you get the paid version of Plaxo, I think it's $20 a year, you can send unlimited ecards for birthdays, etc from one click on your Outlook toolbar. When you get that Outlook reminder that it's Susan's birthday today, click a button and send her a card. It also has a de-duper to help get rid of duplicate contacts.

The other option is is you want to protect all your contacts, calendar, tasks, notes AND emails, you can get an Exchange Server account with a company such as 1and1.com. I think it is $6 a month. They back up their servers constantly so you dont have to worry about losing anything. You could even add Plaxo on top of that for extra security.  Also, if you have the Windows version of the Treo, you can connect that to the exchange server account and have your full Outlook right on your phone! And one more thing, you can log into your exchange server account from any computer and access your info with a screen that looks just like  the Outlook on your home/office computer.

And it you are still scared about losing your information, you can still do the manual backup to your hard drive or cd/dvd.

There you have it, two easy and cheap ways of having peace of mind.

Jackson Hartsfield

www.HomesByJackson.com

Jeff Meucci, thanks for the MS link.  Looks like it's just what I was looking for.  W

I always thought they should make this easier!  Thanks