Data and Outlook Backup

A Backup Article Contributed by Melissa Larose

Data and Outlook Backup

Outlook holds plenty of data and thus requires backup on regular basis. Outlook integrates email with a calendar system and management of an address book. As an organizational tool it is a great addition to anyone's software arsenal. It assists the user in communicating and sharing information effectively.

Through filtering and organizing email and multiple email accounts, group calendars, and task organizing Outlook holds so much information and plays such an important role in an employee's work day is it any wonder that many people are taking serious the possible risks and threats to the data it holds? Backup of Outlook data can be a vital link in the security of critical company data.

What Files Does Outlook Backup?

Outlook is compose of a handful of file extensions that will be part of your backup. The most used and therefore important of these are the .pst files. These files are the personal folder files that hold all or your emails. Not only do they hold the emails they also contain your calendar, sent items, your outbox, your deleted items and anything located in a user created folder. When the Outlook program is running it usually partially locks the .pst folders.

Some Outlook backup software knows this and is able to run a backup. Most Outlook backup software programs cannot deal with locked or partially locked files so it is always best to make sure Outlook is not opened when running a backup against it.

Outlook also runs file extensions .ost, .pab, and .rwz which are the offline storage files, the personal address files, and the rules files respectively. Outlook backup software will also backup all nickname files, so if you have more than one user name those files will begin with .nick, .nk2.

Additional Outlook Backup Files

Outlook also supplies some additional settings files that in some instances could be considered critical. The most important of these files are the auto signature files. These files have the extensions .htm, .rtf or .txt and hold the information that you sign your emails with. If these involve a signature it is best to make sure these are well protected.

Outlook also has toolbar and menu settings files, .dat, your Internet favorites files, .fav, and the templates files, .oft.

The Importance of Outlook Backup

The first and most important rule of computer use is save and backup your data. The data in Outlook has the same requirements. You should be aware by now that computers can fail and they often do fail through no fault of the user. It's one of those situations that is entirely out of the control of the user and in the hands of the computer gods.

There rarely is a warning that it is beginning to happen and if there is a warning with the demise of the computer it usually does not give you time to even consider doing something about it. Extreme cases of the backup dilemma can cause companies to go under very quickly. Because computers are becoming more and more reliable it is deceiving to think that they will not fail because of their new-found reliability.