I've serached this forum, but I believe all references to similar problems belong to older versions of Outlook than mine [v.14.3.7(130812)].  I did try rebuilding the database but ended up with the error "your database could not be rebuilt [-18000]".  I thought "Perfect! ... I have a recent backup of my identity folder!"  However, when I copied that identity folder back to the computer, I still ended up with lost local email folders ( ... and rules, signatures, ...), and a lot of emails as far back as last year came streaming back into my inbox.

Why in this day and age can I not backup everything in my user folder on a regular basis and expect something like my Outlook identity  and files to be reliably saved??  Of greatest importance are all the local folder that I used to save important correspondence that I hoped would be saved and backed up locally.  I suspect they still exist in the original database which I duplicated--how do I get these back?

TIA for your excellent support!
Michael Shaffer