Not been a good couple of days on the pc front. :(

Now discovered that all my emails in Outlook between mid January and last week have disappeared along with their folders.

Searched here and on Vista but haven't come up with a solution. Only known change since last seen was the installation of Avast last night.

Anyone offer a simple explanation how I might recover the situation?

Thanks

Presume you've done a search for *.pst files ( - and noted the 'last modified date / time' ?)

Cannot see that Avast would have affected this BTW unless it detected trojans / virus as attachments etc - in which case it would have warned you before taking any action.

Presume you've done a search for *.pst files ( - and noted the 'last modified date / time' ?)

Yes, I entered that into 'Search' and nothing came up

Yes, I entered that into 'Search' and nothing came up

Did you have emails stored in a pst file that were created before January ? i.e. presumably you've been running Outlook for a year or two !?!

Yes, I entered that into 'Search' and nothing came up

Do advanced search and include hidden folders and system files, as the .pst files are hidden

Did you have emails stored in a pst file that were created before January ? i.e. presumably you've been running Outlook for a year or two !?!

Please excuse my ignorance :(

The emails were stored under Outlook's personal folders and I'm almost certain nothing has been auto archived. PC was new at Christmas and there are a couple of emails present from that time. The next ones left are from last week with nothing in between. Don't think there is a virus prob as I changed over from AVG to Avast last night and no prob showed.

Please excuse my ignorance :(

The emails were stored under Outlook's personal folders and I'm almost certain nothing has been auto archived. PC was new at Christmas and there are a couple of emails present from that time. The next ones left are from last week with nothing in between. Don't think there is a virus prob as I changed over from AVG to Avast last night and no prob showed.

Hey, no need to apologize - no one is an expert at every single thing.

If you are 'showing' some emails in Outlook then you must by definition have a PST file somewhere on your PC.

And, hopefully, possibly, there might be another one (with all the missing folders - strange this one).

In Outlook I have the windows arranged so that 'Mail' is to the left. The Mail window shows folders beneath. Are you sure you've just not got the correct views 'on' ?

And, hopefully, possibly, there might be another one (with all the missing folders - strange this one).

I'd say so. The only other possibility is if AVG has deleted the file.

Do advanced search and include hidden folders and system files, as the .pst files are hidden

Done that now - thanks. What am I looking for? The only ones with a 2008 modified date are PST8PDT and PSTATS.PY (whatever they are!)

I'd say so. The only other possibility is if AVG has deleted the file.

But for Outlook to be showing his emails there must be a pst file it is using.

Done that now - thanks. What am I looking for? The only ones with a 2008 modified date are PST8PDT and PSTATS.PY (whatever they are!)

Try again

As Fatty says search in hidden files and folders but in the search box type in

*.pst (the * is a wildcard - like a joker in a pack of cards) so you are asking Vista to find any file at all that ends with the extension PST. e.g. myposts.pst noddys.pst archive.pst temp.pst old.pst etc

In Outlook I have the windows arranged so that 'Mail' is to the left. The Mail window shows folders beneath. Are you sure you've just not got the correct views 'on' ?

[ATTACH]21879[/ATTACH]

Yes, that's how it looked before and that's how it looks now! I've also noticed that one folder 'Receipts' which had emaols stored in it is still there but has no content

Yes, that's how it looked before and that's how it looks now! I've also noticed that one folder 'Receipts' which had emaols stored in it is still there but has no content

Have you looked in the 'Deleted Items' ? (probably, I realise)

Or indeed if you have any folders visible it is possible you may have moved the data into those by mistake.

Is there a windows system restore point beyond yesterday ?

It's quite likely others will be along to suggest solutions.

If nothing else works though it might be worth checking your settings for retaining messages on your ISP server.

This was from Outlook help search for 'Messages on server' - go down page and expand on POP3 settings

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA011507931033.aspx?pid=CL100626971033

If you have set the time period for some months there is a chance you may be able to download them again - but unsure as to how to do this (yet).

Have you looked in the 'Deleted Items' ? (probably, I realise)

Or indeed if you have any folders visible it is possible you may have moved the data into those by mistake.

Most folders are there but the only content is pre january or emails received/send in the past week. I've gone through them all and there is nothing where it shouldn't be.

I also done another advanced search using *pst in the Name heading and ticked the box for hidden folders etc. There's nothing listed like fredbloggs.pst old.pst etc

Should look something like this

Note the location in the address bar

Are you Vista or XP

Most folders are there but the only content is pre january or emails received/send in the past week. I've gone through them all and there is nothing where it shouldn't be.

I also done another advanced search using *pst in the Name heading and ticked the box for hidden folders etc. There's nothing listed like fredbloggs.pst old.pst etc

Hiya and sorry

If there is a PST file it will probably be Outlook.pst (the others I mentioned were to just to give examples and why you use the wildcard).

By definition there must be a PST file - else you would not see any emails at all in Outlook.

Fatty has just 'pointed out' it may not show the pst extension (I have 'extensions shown') so may just appear as 'Outlook' and then 'Data file' to the right.

You could always try mluton's suggestion of using System Restore to 'rollback' your system to a previous date (but you will have to reinstall Avast again after).

Persoanlly I think this might not suceed - but if all else fails........

I do not use the Windows system Restore as have found it unreliable - I backup in other ways.

They'll have been archived somewhere on your PC.

As has been said look for *.PST files on your PC. Also right click the folders concerned and see whats set in the cleanup/archive options.

If it's a works PC and is an exchange server, then you'd need to talk to your firms IT support about checking backups or finding out what may have happened.

[ATTACH]21880[/ATTACH]

Should look something like this

Note the location in the address bar

Are you Vista or XP

I'm on Vista. Under 'Location' I've searched under 'Computer,' then 'C,D,K Hard Drives' followed by 'Microsoft Office Outlook'. Nothing! Do I have to put anythin g under 'tags' and 'author'. I'ver also made sure I've searched undser 'any date'.

Also tried the suggestion if they were still on my POP3 account server. Nothing!

Nothing appropriate appears to be appearing on my 'Back-up' drives either. Will try system restore just to see if that brings any luck!

I'm on Vista. Under 'Location' I've searched under 'Computer,' then 'C,D,K Hard Drives' followed by 'Microsoft Office Outlook'. Nothing! Do I have to put anythin g under 'tags' and 'author'. I'ver also made sure I've searched undser 'any date'.

Also tried the suggestion if they were still on my POP3 account server. Nothing!

Nothing appropriate appears to be appearing on my 'Back-up' drives either. Will try system restore just to see if that brings any luck!

'Tags' 'Author' - I wouldn't bother.

'Back-up' drives ? You've external drives you back up to ?

If so what files / folders etc do you back up.

If you look again at Fatty's screengrab you'll see Dave>AppData>Local>Microsoft>Outlook (this will be in his case probably in folder Documents and Settings)

See if you can find similar on yours and then navigate through.

Another way is to use Search again - on C - and type in Outlook in the box.

Bet your head's done in just about now :(

Guys, thanks for all your help. No joy at the moment so will try System Restore (I've plenty of dates before yesterday) and see what happens. If no joy, I'll abandon for tonight and work through all your suggestions again in the morning.

It's a home personal machine - unfortunately. Oh how I miss the days of old when I phoned up the organisation's IT desk and asked for the IT person to come along asap to fix things!

Thanks again

System restore will not bring back the data.

Been there before.

What was set in the clean up options for the folders concerned? And also in the main mailbox options, which will override local folders in some cases. Is it set to archive items older than * or delete items older than * ????

System restore will not bring back the data.

Been there before.

What was set in the clean up options for the folders concerned? And also in the main mailbox options, which will override local folders in some cases. Is it set to archive items older than * or delete items older than * ????

OK won't try System Restrore - at least tonight! Exhausted!

Under 'Properties' for each folder I fear it's listed as 'Do not Archive'.