Lewis,

Your Outlook folders are either in a mailbox on an Exchange Server or in
Personal Folders pst files on your system. You should also have a Personal
Address Book listed as a *.pab file.

There is no backup process built into Outlook. To back up, simply exit
Outlook, then copy the files you want to back up. Below is a chart of
Outlook 2000/2002 file locations, followed by notes on particular files and
where they might be found in earlier versions.

These files are also the ones that you'd want to copy back and forth
between machines if you need to use the same information at the office and
at home, for example. If you have Outlook profiles, name them the same on
both machines, so you can use the same .fav and .rwz files. Then use Tools
| Services to point the Personal Folders and Personal Address Book services
to the files that you've copied.

Where do you find these files?

You can always start by using your operating system's Search or Find
command to locate the particular file types. On Windows 2000 or XP, you may
need to use Tools | Folder Options | View in Windows Explorer and select
Show hidden files and folders.

Under Outlook 2000 and later versions, most files will be in a subfolder
under the Application Data folder on your system, though the exact location
of the Application Data folder can vary.

On a Windows 98 system without individual user logins, look for
\Windows\Application Data. On a Windows 98 system with individual user
logins, look for \Windows\Profiles\user name\Application Data and
\Windows\Profiles\user name\Local Settings\Application Data. On a Windows
NT system, look for \Winnt\Profiles\user name\Application Data and
\Winnt\Profiles\user name\Local Settings\Application Data. The Personal
Folders .pst file on an NT system or a Windows 98 system with user profiles
will be located by default in the second set of Application Data folders.

When using Windows 2000/XP, Outlook stores *.pst, *.ost, *.msnpst, *.pab,
*.oab, and extend.dat in C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local
Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook. Extend.dat, Hotmail, IMAP, and
MSN Connector message stores can not be moved.

All other Outlook configuration files are stored in C:\Documents and
Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook and cannot be moved.

Tip: Copy and paste these lines in Windows Explorer address bar to open the
folder:
To access the folder holding the toolbar, VBA, rules, and nickname files,
paste:
%USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
To see the message store files, paste:
%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

Note: Storing Personal Folders on an network file share is not recommended
and may cause corruption and data loss.

Type of File Name or Extension Outlook Profile Specific Subfolder under
\Application Data\Microsoft

Personal Folders .pst files Outlook (default, but .pst files can be
anywhere on system)
Personal Address Book .pab files Outlook (default, but .pab files can be
anywhere on system)
Offline folders used by Exchange server, MSN's Outlook connector, and MOOL.
.ost files Outlook (default, can be moved to anywhere on the system)
MSN's Outlook Connector folders (MSN accounts set up prior to 1/2005)
.msnpst Outlook
Outlook Bar shortcuts .fav files X Outlook
Rules Wizard rules (Outlook 2000 and earlier versions) .rwz files X Outlook
Nicknames for AutoResolution .nick files X Outlook
Nicknames for AutoComplete (Outlook 2002/2003) .nk2 files Outlook
Customized print settings OutlPrnt Outlook
Customized toolbar settings Outcmd.dat Outlook
Customized system folder views Views.dat Outlook
Macros and VBA programs VbaProject.otm Outlook
Navigation bar customizations (Outlook 2003) .xml files X Outlook
Send/Receive group settings (Outlook 2002 and later) .srs files X Outlook
Signatures .rtf, .htm, and .txt files X (only in Outlook 97) Signatures
Stationery .htm files Stationery
Templates .oft files Templates
Dictionary .dic files Proof
Junk and Adult Senders lists (Outlook 2000 and 2002) Junk Senders.txt
Outlook 2003 Safe and Blocked senders lists Stored in mailbox as a hidden
message
Installed Add-ins extend.dat Outlook-- This file does not need to be
backed up, Outlook will create a new copy.

Personal Folders Files If you are not connecting to Microsoft Exchange
Server, all your Microsoft Outlook data is stored in one or more Personal
Folders (.pst) files.

In Outlook 97 and Outlook 98 or Outlook 2000 in Corporate/Workgroup mode,
check the properties for Personal Folders in Tools | Services to determine
the exact location on your system.

In Outlook 98 or Outlook 2000 in Internet Mail Only mode, right-click on
Outlook Today or the top level of any other set of folders and then choose
Properties.

Some people like to export a folder, such as Contacts, to a separate backup
.pst file. That's fine for the data, but it does not back up any folder
customizations such as views and custom forms. If you want to back up
those, too, copy the entire folder to a new .pst file instead of using the
export feature.

Hope this helps in clearing up some of your questions.

Daran