Are you able to open the file in eg Excel?
Did you format your drive or what?

This is no help, but may be useful next time.
All OL all data - mail/contacts/calender etc - is stored in a pst file. This
is a hidden file, by default outlook.pst.
In order to backup you simply copy it, with OL *closed*.
There is also a free backup addin on MS OL site

"DRW" wrote in message
...
Thought I'd followed all the instructions I found here for backing up my
inbox and contacts. I exported both files to a backup folder using the
"import/export" function under the "File" menu. Exported them both as
"comma
separated files." When I restored my computer from a backup the contact
file
imported easily. Unfortunately, I'm getting an error message when I try to
import my inbox file that says "A file error has occurred in the Comma
Separated Values (Windows) translator while initializing a translator to
build a field map. Outlook was unable to retrieve the data from the file
"C:\Documents and Settings\DOUG\Desktop\backup\inbox_backup.CSV". Verify
that
you have the correct file, that you have permisiont to open it, and that
is
is not open in another program." Any suggestions?????? Thanks in
advance.