Even in places where people have accounts on Microsoft Exchange Servers, they use Personal Folders file or PST file for the sheer convenience of being able to archive them easily and also to keep data out of the mailboxes. In fact, if you do not have a Microsoft Exchange Server mailbox then almost all your Outlook data such as mail messages, contacts, calendar folders, tasks, journal entries and so on will be residing in this main PST file. It is important to know how to take a back up of the Outlook PST data stored in this file or how to move the file to another location so that you can easily take back ups and use them in pst recovery.
The first step would be to locate the main PST file - simply select the Outlook Today folder, right-click and then choose Properties. From the Advanced option, you should be able to see the location and the filename of the main PST file. (It may so happen that the PST file you want to take a back up of is not the main data store. In such a case, instead of Outlook Today, you should go all the way to the top level of the hierarchy to find the PST file). You cannot make any changes in the location at this point but knowing the location will help you move or copy the PST file manually. To take an effective back up, you must close Outlook and wait till it has shut down completely. Now using Windows Explorer, you can go to the location that your PST file resides in - you can either move the PST file to a new location or copy it directly to a back up storage device. During pst recovery, you can simply use the back up copy stored on the external device.
One point to note is that if you have been archiving all the data into the same PST file for some time now, the file may have grown fairly large in size. If a PST file goes beyond 2 GB, Outlook is unable to open the file then. You could try using the pst2gb.exe tool provided by Microsoft to reduce the size of the PST file but chances are that you are going to suffer some data loss. Some steps you should take on a regular basis along with backing up the Outlook data in the PST file are as follows - go through the items in the Deleted Items folder and empty it, remove all the items that you do not need any more from other folders and compact the PST file so that it stays within reasonable size limits. This will reduce the chances of the PST file getting corrupted or damaged and of requiring any pst recovery.
When the main PST file gets corrupted or damaged, you can restore most of the Outlook PST data from the back up copy that you made on the external storage device or in another location of the hard drive. If the recovery is not successful, try using Advanced Outlook Repair, a powerful tool from DataNumen that not only restores mail messages, folders and other object but also deleted Outlook items.
The first step would be to locate the main PST file - simply select the Outlook Today folder, right-click and then choose Properties. From the Advanced option, you should be able to see the location and the filename of the main PST file. (It may so happen that the PST file you want to take a back up of is not the main data store. In such a case, instead of Outlook Today, you should go all the way to the top level of the hierarchy to find the PST file). You cannot make any changes in the location at this point but knowing the location will help you move or copy the PST file manually. To take an effective back up, you must close Outlook and wait till it has shut down completely. Now using Windows Explorer, you can go to the location that your PST file resides in - you can either move the PST file to a new location or copy it directly to a back up storage device. During pst recovery, you can simply use the back up copy stored on the external device.
One point to note is that if you have been archiving all the data into the same PST file for some time now, the file may have grown fairly large in size. If a PST file goes beyond 2 GB, Outlook is unable to open the file then. You could try using the pst2gb.exe tool provided by Microsoft to reduce the size of the PST file but chances are that you are going to suffer some data loss. Some steps you should take on a regular basis along with backing up the Outlook data in the PST file are as follows - go through the items in the Deleted Items folder and empty it, remove all the items that you do not need any more from other folders and compact the PST file so that it stays within reasonable size limits. This will reduce the chances of the PST file getting corrupted or damaged and of requiring any pst recovery.
When the main PST file gets corrupted or damaged, you can restore most of the Outlook PST data from the back up copy that you made on the external storage device or in another location of the hard drive. If the recovery is not successful, try using Advanced Outlook Repair, a powerful tool from DataNumen that not only restores mail messages, folders and other object but also deleted Outlook items.