kdh9910 wrote:
i am not able to understand how .pst backup files work.

i am not able to see what data is kept in my .pst files.

i have no idea how to restore data from my .pst files from an ms full backup
on an external hard drive to a new hard drive.

i do not want to code anything to do the above, and i did not underestand
what OL and OI were anyway.\

how to i get my address book back from my external hard drive in order to
put it into the same office 2003 program, i.e., outlook.

thanks a lot for layman's terminology

You might try just opening the .pst file from Outlook, i.e. File Open
Outlook Data File (if in Outlook 2003).

Diana