Outlook

well i always have problem when it comes to taking backup of from microsoft outlook so i rely on outlook express. it is very powerful yet it is very fast in operatin so i think it is a very nice option. the most important thing is, when you take microsoft outlook backup, it creates one file. where as if you take outloko express, it has a seperate file for seperate folder. so you have a lot of flexibility. i generally keep old mails in a folder and then make a backup of it in my cd and then delete the folder form the hdd. when i need a particular mail, if it is so important, i can always copy the folder and then i will get back all the mais and that is how i save a lot of space aslo.

What version of Outlook is it? There maybe something we are missing. Other than that, be sure to check other parts of your computer too, anti-virus, anti-spyware. Be sure your harddrive isn't stuffed and is defragmented properly. Also be sure to clear autoarchives, some saved messages and the like. Look at the temp files for outlook too since attachments open there. There have been cases where they stay in those folders without the user knowing it.

The folders containing emails, contacts and other data will always be internal, but you can reduce the amount of data stored in Outlook. You can simply create a folder and drag and drop mail items into it, then delete the corresponding mail from Outlook. As long as you have Outlook installed you can open the mail files from anywhere, including external media or Cds etcetera.

If you want to move the Outlook.pst file to another hard disk then it can be done through control panel. Microsoft has an article on it here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA011124801033.aspx Keep in mind that this might not solve your problem and firstly I would suggest using "Auto Archive" to move all your older email to the Archives. What this does is move older mail to Archive.pst which keeps your main file Outlook.pst smaller and faster to load. This assumes you are using Outlook with POP3 and not through a Microsoft Exchange server of course although you can still auto-archive in that situation.