Recovering Outlook 2007 emails

[Keegan]

I most likely know the answer already by I want to make sure. I have uninstalled and reinstalled Outlook 2007 on my computer (restored it to original settings). Is there any way to get the emails I had before back (are they stored on my computer), or are they gone for good (all of my other documents and programs I had: word, excel, downloads, etc. are still there)?

[Sam.D]

I most likely know the answer already by I want to make sure. I have uninstalled and reinstalled Outlook 2007 on my computer (restored it to original settings). Is there any way to get the emails I had before back (are they stored on my computer), or are they gone for good (all of my other documents and programs I had: word, excel, downloads, etc. are still there)?

Quick, non-Outlook specialist answer: as much as you are able, stop using that computer. The more you use it, the smaller your chances of a successful recovery should one need to be attempted.

How were you retrieving and storing your e-mails, do you know? I suspect the most likely set-up is that they were downloaded and deleted from the server, and stored in a PST file (eg Reuben.pst) in the folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

Have a look there to see what .PST file/s are there. It could be that Outlook is now using Reuben2.pst and that it's still got Reuben.pst with a date & time of just before you reinstalled it, so all you'd need to do is repoint Outlook. Also check for archive.pst & backup.pst with useful dates they might end up being the best you can do.

Otherwise, hunt down a free (or even non-free) file recovery utility to look for .pst files. If possible, slave the hard drive to another computer and work off of that one to help minimise the chances of overwriting these files.