This should be an easy one for anyone familiar with installing/uninstalling outlook. My WIN98SE computer came with outlook installed. My .pst file is currently over 1G. Somewhere, somehow, outlook became "uninstalled". I have system disks to re-install, but not sure if the "new" .pst file will "overwrite" the existing file. How do I make sure this doesn't happen? Also, how can I delete some emails that show up in my virus scans under "deleted items" for outlook emails. Thanks. EPL

By System Disks do you mean a Recovery CD? If so, you should backup your pst file. If Outlook has been uninstalled, then you shouldn't have to run a recovery of your machine. If you don't have Office CDs, you may be able to obtain them from Dell. Of course if you want to run a Recovery/Restore, keep in mind that the Dell Restoration CD is just that...it restores your system to its original state. So, make sure to backup all your data before you wipe your drive. You can't delete email from Outlook if you can't open your pst file. So, after reinstalling Outlook, just delete the offending emails. Soylent Green is PEOPLE!!!

HI Jennifer, Thx for info. To answer your question, no, they're not recovery CD's - it's OFFICE 2000 (word, xl, outlook, et all). Should I change my .pst file to something like outlook.tmp, re-install outlook, then change .tmp to outlook.pst? Thx for the input. EPL

Leave the pst where it is but make a copy of it to somewhere entirely different on you computer. Reinstall Outlook. If it picks up the old pst, great - delete the copy and move on. If not, copy the old pst over whatever new one the install created. Michael J

Hello Michael, I will try this, probably on the weeekend, and be back to you and Jennifer. Thanks for the advice. Note to Jennifer, those emails containing viruses, are already deleted? Why would they still be picked up by the virus scans? EPL

"Note to Jennifer, those emails containing viruses, are already deleted? Why would they still be picked up by the virus scans?" When you "delete" an email in Outlook, it is not really deleted. It goes into your deleted items folder (much like the recycle bin in Windows). You need to "empty" your deleted items folder in order to actually remove the emails from your Outlook pst. Michael J

Hello Michael and Jennifer, My Office 2000 software was pre-installed, and the "system disks" don't want to install/re-install, something about a "transform error". For the time being, I'm going to work on a couple of other "burning issues", hopefully, this will get outlook going again, and then can figure out the .pst stuff. Thanks for your input. EPL