Backing Up is hard to do ...
... no, not really. It's just not "automatic".
There is a very simple tutorial at
http://www.sitedeveloper.ws/tutorials/outlook.htm
For my purposes, since I have a desktop and a laptop, I just have both echoing the same mail boxes. For contacts, I use Plaxo which automatically syncs the Outlook contacts folder with a free webbased store. This has the added value of you being able to access the information from Plaxo's web site which shows you your's but no one elses.
I think there is also a tool on Microsoft's web site, which I don't have handy, that puts a backup entry on the file menu. It then backs up your data into an alternative spot. My gripe with it is I want it to back it up in two different places for maximum effect.
In any event, I urge you to get started backing up asap. Havign suffered hard disk failure during my career, there is nothing more fustrating than starting from a brand new hard disk.
The first time it happened, I was really caught flat footed. After that, I have had better and better times of it. I have even deliberately taken my backup to a trash amchine and restored what I had to see what exactly I would be left with should disaster befall me.
Hope this helps,
John
reinke@att.net