Missing calendar entry & backup (Outlook 2003)

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I had two doctors appointments in May ’05 that appeared when I viewed the categories list, but did not appear in the monthly calendar. A few minutes later, i couldn’t find them anywhere. Other than those missing two, my Medical Category appears to be complete, but there could be others missing. I did a back up two weeks ago and considered importing that backup file to correct the problem, and also thought I should first backup the current files. I went to Export files, chose Personal Files, which includes email folders and calendar, and exported to my backup folder. The newly exported pst file is 256 kb in size where the one from two weeks ago is 21000 kb.
Three questions
1. Would running detect and repair restore the lost files?
2. Should I import my backup files of two weeks ago to get the missing files?
2. Am I using Import and Export correctly to backup?

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(Edited by JohnBF on 31-Aug-05 08:30. Active Appointments is a more useful view than Events.)

Are you on Exchange Server or is this a standalone machine? What Calendar View are you using where the appointments are gone? Do the appointments appear in a table view, such as View | Arrange By | Current | Active Appointments? Any chance you are using a Filtered View of your Calendar?

About your questions:

1. No, but running SCANPST.EXE against your PST might help.
2. If your backup is a PST, open it as a separate information store via File | Open | Outlook Data File, etc, and then drag the items from the backup Calendar version to the new one. If your backup is something else …
3. What type of file are you exporting to?

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Thanks. John. This is a stand alone machine. Those appointments are missing from all views now, but were in a table view yesterday and were not in the day/week/month calendar view. I have not set any filters.
I need more education. –
Where do I find my current pst file to run against scanpst.exe?
My backup file is a pst which I put in a folder on C drive, but how do I open it as you suggest. I get the “open with” choice which is beyond my skill level:)
I am exporting to a pst file

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To find your PST file(s), use Windows Explorer Search (from the C:/ root unless you have other drives) with “Search Hidden Folders and Files” checked. Then browse to that location from within the SCANPST dialog. (There is a default location,
C:Documents and SettingsApplication DataMicrosoftOutlook
but you may have changed it. I always do.)

Rather than opening the backup PST from Windows Explorer, in Outlook make sure you are in a Folder Pane View (rather than a Mail or other Pane View) and open it from the File … menu within Outlook as I explained above. It will open as a separate information store under either its file name or perhaps as “Archive PST”.

Then copy items from one Folder to another via Control-Dragging between the Information Store Folders, or select Edit | Copy, navigate to the other Information Store Folder and select Edit | Paste, or use the equivalent keyboard shortcuts. You can select multiple items and Copy them by any of the foregoing methods. Warning: dragging items between Folders without pressing the Control key Moves them instead of Copying them.

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Thanks again, John. I was able to run the scanpst.exe and to open my backup file in Outlook per your instructions. What I thought was a missing file was not in the backup. Now I’m not sure it ever was there- that I deleted it a while back when I was cleaning (?) up my files.

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Do you use any software that might archive appointments? Once I made the mistake of running Chapura PocketMirror, which moved old appointments into an archive folder. Not sure if there are any other processes that archive old appointments.

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No, don’t have or use any archiving software. I’m now thinking the problem was self inflicted, but don’t have the evidence or memory (personal) to verify that. If nothing else, I’ve learned a bit from John’s advice.

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