Lost Outlook 2010 account settings, email and contacts?

[mike2rc]

I added a new account to Outlook 2010 on my laptop with my existing email account. On my laptop I used the same email settings on my desktop with Outlook 2010. Both were getting sending and receiving the same emails. I didn’t think this was possible but it worked.

I tried a “save as” with my desktop contacts “trying” to add my contacts to my laptop faster. Other than that I didn’t change any settings.

After shutting down my laptop, Outlook on my desktop wouldn’t open. It showed missing .pst file. I tried a system restore with no luck.

I did manage to open Outlook through open calendar and all my desk top email/contacts are missing as well as my account settings for email. My default email fonts are still the same.

Does it sound like I lost all my opened email and contacts? I can find a My Data Resources files in My Docs which opens in Excel and then prompts to connect to a server.

Is there a way of recovering my lost data and restoring it to Outlook? I can get my desktop email running again by reentering my account settings which disappeared. I may find out the hard way if what I'm trying to do isn't possible.

Thanks,
Mike

[jdc2000]

Search your hard drive for files named "*.pst" (without the quotes). Make sure to change the default search options to include hidden and system files anf folders.

[mike2rc]

Thanks...I'll do that. My email support went thru my desktop settings. From what I could see I messed up the administration settings. I now know how I should have backed up my contacts with the correct file name for easy restore.