Access files and pst data in outlook

  • Thread starter Thread starter Charles Stapleton
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Charles Stapleton

My company is looking for a solution to allow us to open disk drive
folders at the same time as we have our mail folders open so that we
may copy mail messages seamlessly between the exchange data folder and
the disk drive folder. We did find the option to add a disk drive
folder to the Outlook shortcut bar, but, when used it closes the mail
system files and opens the disk drive system files.

Does anyone know a way to have both open at the same time for a
transparent copy process between the data file and the drive folder?

Chas
 
Various ideas:

-- Use two separate windows.
-- Put shortcuts on the Outlook Bar to the folders you plan to copy to

What's the purpose of this exercise anyway? Sounds like another way to make
people spend more time fiddling with their email than getting the real work
of the business done.
 
Charles Stapleton said:
My company is looking for a solution to allow us to open disk drive
folders at the same time as we have our mail folders open so that we
may copy mail messages seamlessly between the exchange data folder and
the disk drive folder.
Click to expand...

Gee, that's the way Outlook Works for me. My main mailbox is on Exchange
and I have a PST. Both sets of folders are listed in the Folder View and I
can drag-and-drop between the folders with no difference where the folder
is. Seems to me that is is default Outlook behavior.
 
That is not a solution. Let me clarify what we are
attempting to do.

We are a construction company with numerous projects
going on at the same time. Our goal is to store all of
the data involved in a given project in the same location
and keep it simple for the users.

Storing all of the data includes: The quote, contract
documents, estimate files, project files, weekly updates,
progress pictures, and all of the written communications
involved in the project... including e-mail.

Storing all but the e-mail is an easy task. However, the
e-mail appears to be a harder component to resolve. I
can drag an e-mail from the Outlook folders to a drive on
my computer where the rest of the information is stored,
and it saves the file as a .msg file. This file can be
stored the way I want very easily.

This solution accomplishes our goal and gest all of the
communications centrally located and easily managable.
From this point, I can archive all of the data and
communications as a single package and store it
indefilitely to protect the company in case of issues
which may arise in the future requiring us to go retrieve
the information.

The problem with that solution is it is clumsy and time
consuming and requires multiple applications open and
operational at the same time. Whereas in Outlook, I can
drop between mail folders very simply. What I would like
to do is have the mapped drive on the server (where the
project files are stored) open in the same panel as the
outlook folders. This would allow me to drag and drop
from the inbox directly to the project folder seamlessly.

I am sure it can be done with all the impetus on document
management from Microsoft in the last few years but I
cannot figure out how to di it. I am even willing to
purchase an add-in to act as an Outlook helper applett to
accomplish this task.

Does this make more sense. I could really use some
assistance in finding this solution.
 
I understand exactly what you mean, but that doesn't change the fact that
what you want can be done in Outlook only by the means I already suggested.
(Did you try them?) There are, of course, utilities to facilitate archiving
mail messages to Access, to .msg, and to other formats. I suggest you look
at those since you don't like the native Outlook solutions -- see
http://www.slipstick.com/addins/housekeeping.htm . You may be able find
something that will also cut down on the time that users are spending
manually saving these messages around.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
 
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