Epicenter for March
Written by Jason Logan Wednesday, 04 March 2009 06:05
Recently I received a little Public Service Message from the friendly web experts at AJT Design & Marketing (my web hosting company) about the importance of backing up email files. They posed the following questions for my contemplation:
Do you backup your email frequently? (My answer: No )
Have you thought about what a nightmare it would be to lose every single email you ever sent and received? (My answer:Sort of...)
And then they went on to explain how POP email works. As some of you may well know, POP email is received to a server where it resides temporarily until you download it to your computer. If your email is configured this way (as mine is; it goes to Earthlink’s server and then into my Outlook) you must realize that once the email is downloaded the email exists only on your computer, and if your computer crashes you will lose it forever unless....
1.) you have backed up your email files to a separate drive or
2.) you have configured some type of “safety net”
An example of a safety net would be to have a copy of incoming emails remain on the server, which can be accomplished in a few ways. For example, my EarthLink account gives me the option to keep a copy of emails there, but I don’t because of the limited storage. Instead, I have set up a separate email address that catches a copy of all incoming mail on a separate server; while it does not catch my replies and outgoing email, it is nonetheless helpful and well worth the investment (less than a couple of dollars a month).
A far better option would be to shop for a hosting company or service provider that offers Exchange email. Exchange email, among other things, removes the need for you to do manual backups as all email that comes in (or is sent out) is synchronized with the server. That means, whatever your Outlook has (and looks like) is exactly as it sits on the remote server. So if your computer crashes, or you buy a new one, you simply setup your email account and the Exchange server does the rest. Within a few minutes (depending on how many months/years/decades of email you have) you will have a fully restored email box including all folders and subfolders. This is the ideal solution if you do not have the time or the inclination to backup your email.
Otherwise, it’s imperative that you backup your email files (to a remote source such as a thumb drive) on a frequent basis. The following link from Microsoft will assist you in backing up your email data files.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA011030811033.aspx <http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=44763698&msgid=570394&act=SIC9&c=318810&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Foffice.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Foutlook%2FHA011030811033.aspx>
Be sure to click on the little icon under the first two paragraphs, which is labeled “Back up messages to a .pst file”. Once you expand this link, it will give you a step by step instruction on how to backup your email data files.
For your convenience I have also posted information from sync - the tech and gadgets blog that explains a similar method for backing up Outlook in very straightforward terms.
<http://www.sync-blog.com>
How to back-up Outlook files <http://www.sync-blog.com/sync/2008/01/how-to-back-up.html>
Posted by Marc Saltzman
Marc, I’m running out of space on my hard drive and want to back-up old emails onto recordable DVDs. What's the best way to do it? – Tom P.
While there is software available designed to simplify the process, keep your cash as it's actually quite easy to back-up your Outlook email manually.
Here's how to do it:
1. Open Microsoft Outlook and click on an email folder you want to back up, such as Sent Items, Deleted Items, Inbox, Drafts, and so on. This will create smaller and segregated files instead of backing up all your folders into one file (which might not fit on one recordable DVD).
2. Once your selected folder is highlighted by clicking on it, such as Inbox, click the word File at the top of the screen and select "Import and Export" from your list of options. Select "Export to a File."
3. There are a few different ways you can save your old email folder but I'd recommend Personal Folder File (*.pst) as it does a good job with keeping attachments. Select a name for the file (such as Inbox.pst) and where on your computer you want it saved, such as your desktop.
4. That's it! Repeat the same process as above for other email folders, and if you like for your Notes, Tasks, Contacts and Calendar appointments. Now you're ready to burn a disc with these files and keep them in a safe place in case you ever need to retrieve them.