subject: Recovering .pst Files Deleted By Virus [print this page] The enhanced features in Microsoft Outlook offer more than a safe and reliable way to send and receive e-mail messages. It allows you to manage data, group accounts, appointments, schedule tasks, and to organize work. Contacts, messages, notes, journals, schedule or appointment you create in Outlook is stored as .pst (personal storage) file. Losing a .pst file can lead to loss of vital information that you have stored in Outlook. Data loss due to deletion of .pst files can happen mainly due to
accidental deletion
virus attack and
malfunction of the software
Data loss due to any of the above cause can have serious implications especially when you use Outlook for business communications. It becomes a necessity to retrieve the lost .pst files to recover information that is vital to your business. However, recovering a deleted .pst file is not possible with any of the inbuilt system tools. You need to use a specialized undelete recovery software to retrieve deleted .pst files.
How to retrieve deleted.pst files with undelete recovery software
1.First you need to identify an undelete recovery software that can recover lost .pst files. Some of the easy ways to take an informed decision about undelete recovery software is by
a.Researching the internet and through your networks- peers at work especially system administrators and friends. Read reviews about the various undelete recovery software on the internet. Make sure to read authentic reviews (PC World, CNet etc)
b.Evaluating the demo version to check the capability of the product. This will give you an idea about the efficiency of the product in recovering data
c.Checking out the authenticity of the software publisher in terms of customer care and confidentiality in handling financial information.
2.Install the selected undelete recovery software to a healthy drive. Attach the drive from which you have lost data as a secondary drive to this machine.
3.Follow the instructions to recover deleted .pst file
4.Store the recovered .pst file to the healthy drive or to another removable storage device.
Though this process will help you recover the lost .pst files, if the file is corrupted due to virus or software malfunction, you cannot access the data. To access the data, you need to repair the corrupt .pst files. This can be done with the help of Outlook email recovery software. Though the inbox repair tool scanpst.exe is helpful in repairing corrupt .pst files, the results are not assured. If the corrupt .pst has critical information it is best to opt for Outlook email recovery software. This software will help repair .pst files and to recover information.
Tips for recovering and repairing .pst files
Use undelete recovery software to recover deleted .pst files. To repair corrupt .pst files use Outlook email recovery software. This will ensure recovery of lost data from .pst files that are deleted and or corrupt
Do not compress the .pst files after you notice data loss. Further compression could lead to permanent loss of data
Never install or run any program from the affected drive
Always store recovered data to a healthy drive or to a removable storage device.
