how to search recoverd/b-up .pst files

For the past year or so I have been experimenting with building my own pc's and just generally tinkering around. I have been pretty diligent in backing up my data before component/OS changes and reinstalls. This has left me with numerous backup files that I have concentrated to a single drive. (I keep an extra copy of most of the files on a separate drive)

My problem is that I need to find a few emails that exist only in my back-up files. My strategy has been to expand the back-up file to a single folder using the restore wizard in XP. I then open the .pst file with Outlook and search from within Outlook.

I'm not having a lot of luck, I have ended up with numerous redundant b-up files, and having to open each one with Outlook and then searching is driving me nuts.

Is there an easier way to search these files? I know that I probably can't get around expanding the back up files but searching some other way would be a big help.

 

You should be able to use Windows Desktop Search. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/desktopsearch/search/default.mspx

Steve