Cut & Paste Failed - PST file gone

[Mighty]

Hi Folks,

I was "stupidly" moving an Outlook archive file from a laptop to a server network drive using cut & paste. The move failed halfway through due to a lack of space on the server and now the PST file has disappeared.

Obviously this is an issue. Am I going to have to restore the mailbox in question from an Exchange prior exchange backup to create a new archive file somehow or is there a way I can restore this file.

Mighty

 

[58sniper]

You're probably going to have to restore.

There is a reason why .pst files are not supported on network shares. This is merely one of them.

Pat Richard
Microsoft Exchange MVP
Contributing author Microsoft Exchange Server 2007: The Complete Reference

 

[Mighty]

Thanks for the good news Pat.

In your opinion am I better off to set up Exchange on another server or is a Recovery Storage group an easy thing to set up. I have never had to recover a mailbox before.

I tried using a file recovery program on the laptop - should that not recover the file for me. The one I downloaded didn't work but would it be worth trying a different one.

Mighty

 

[Davetoo]

If the email was being stored in a PST file, then you have to use your regular backup software to recover that PST file, not the Exchange backup since the emails weren't in the Exchange store that were lost.

If the PST file was on a hard drive that was not backed up, then your pretty much SOL.

Lesson learned the hard way.

I'm Certifiable, not cert-ified.
It just means my answers are from experience, not a book.

 

[Mighty]

PST file was an archive file which was just created last week and was store on local user hard drive. If PST file cannot be recovered using some kind of file recovery software then I assume that I will have to restore the actual Exchange Mailbox and create a new archive file from it - without affecting the current exchange mailbox

Mighty

 

[Davetoo]

Yes, you'll have to restore your store from a date prior to the PST being created.

I'm Certifiable, not cert-ified.
It just means my answers are from experience, not a book.

 

[Mighty]

That what I was afraid of.

Mighty