Understanding Archiving and Backup

I've found that Outlook users typically fall into several categories:

• Clean Inbox Users These users either delete or file any message that comes into their inbox. They have a great organizational system and are always on top of their email.

• Keep Everything Users These users keep every email message they've ever received just in case they ever need it again.

• Hybrid Users These users keep all but the most trivial email messages and file the rest in user-created folders.

No matter what user type you fall into, it's likely that at some point, you'll need to archive your Outlook items. Your Personal Folders file will grow to the extent that you notice a significant performance hit in Outlook, or you'll run up against a storage limit set by your systems administrator, or you'll simply want to reduce email clutter by paring down your mailbox. This chapter shows you how to archive your older items and compact your Personal Folders file to reclaim unused space. You also learn some backup tips and tricks for preserving your Outlook data in case of a hard drive crash.

Types of Information Stored in Outlook

Two main types of information are stored in Outlook: Outlook items such as emails, meetings, contacts, and tasks, and Outlook settings, rules, views, and email settings. If you're using Exchange Server, many of these items will be stored on the server. Your network administrator probably backs up the server on a regular basis. If you're storing your Outlook items in a Personal Folders file, you need to perform regular maintenance on that Personal Folders file to keep it healthy and functioning properly. If you're using Outlook 2003 in cached Exchange mode, you're utilizing an Offline Folders file. That Offline Folders file still needs occasional maintenance to ensure that problems do not occur.

Why Archive Outlook Items?

There are three main reasons to archive items in Outlook:

• Removing Outlook items you seldom access to assist in avoiding email glut

• Moving related items (such as all items related to a past project) to a central, backed-up location

• Removing items to keep the size of your Outlook data store small

To accomplish these goals, you can drag and drop items into Personal Folders files, delete items, or use Outlook's AutoArchive feature to automate this process.

When Should You Archive Outlook Items?

When you decide to archive your Outlook items depends on why you've decided to archive:

• Reducing Email Glut If you're archiving items to reduce email glut, you'll want to archive on a set schedule. The frequency of archiving depends on how many emails you receive a week and how uncluttered you want to keep your mailbox.

• Moving Related Items If you archive all items for a particular project, you can archive at the end of each project or at the end of each calendar year.

• Keeping Data Store Small If you archive to keep your Personal Folders file or Exchange mailbox small, you'll have to determine an archiving schedule depending on the size you want to keep your data store and how many messages you receive a week.

Regardless of the archiving schedule you choose, archiving can be a helpful way to keep yourself organized.