Hi Steve,
You asked a very interesting question, so I spent a little more time than
usual on it.
It is possible to migrate your messages in their folders from Outlook
Express to your new Outlook account. This is going to be a little tricky, so
bear with me. I have tested all of these scenarios while writing this
solution. Outlook version should not matter.
You will first need to upload your entire mailbox to an IMAP server. If you
do not already have an IMAP server account, Gmail will work for that.
The functionality you are asking about where both Outlook and Outlook
Express see the same view of the account is achieved via IMAP. We usually go
a step further with Outlook and setup an Exchange account as that gives you
access to all your mail, including sent folders, your calendar(s), AND your
contacts anywhere and from any device that can access the web or Microsoft
Exchange.
If you wish to try the Microsoft solution free for 30 days, please use this
link:
http://bit.ly/free-exchange-trial (disclosure: this 30-day trial offer
from Microsoft Online Services is associated with my organization as your
supporting Microsoft Partner).
OK, so here is how this works.
First of all, backup your Outlook Express.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/270670 Don't even think about continuing
until you complete this!
Now for the actual migration:
You have two choices. Option 1 is to use Gmail. Option 2 is to use your own
IMAP server. While using your own local IMAP server is going to be much
faster, Gmail requires zero setup and you will not have firewall
configuration issues. The choice is yours.
The local IMAP server option is MUCH faster.
First, let's talk about the Gmail option.
1. Register a new Gmail account (it doesn't matter what you call it) and set
it up for IMAP. You may also elect to use an existing account if you have one
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=77695
2. Add a new Outlook Express account to the identity that contains your
desired folders and set it up as explained at
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=77659
3. Verify that you can access your Gmail account correctly.
4. Manually recreate folder names in Gmail. You are welcome to create a
hierarchy and it will transfer. Unfortunately, Outlook Express, unlike
Outlook, does not have the feature to upload an entire folder to an IMAP
server.
5. Click inside the folder from which you want to copy the data. Now, click
on Edit -> Select All, and then Edit -> Copy To. Choose the destination
folder in your Gmail account and then click OK.
6. Repeat for other folders until done.
*VERY IMPORTANT*: If you attempt to drag and drop, you will initiate a move
operation without any further warnings that may result in data loss if there
are failures.
Do not attempt to use keyboard shortcuts!
This may take a long time to complete if you have lots of mail. Please see
this caveat:
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=81312
7. Congratulations! All your old mail is now available from Gmail through
the web and via the IMAP interface.
You may skip the following section if Gmail is sufficient for your needs.
Now let's talk about the local IMAP server options.
1. Download Mercury/32 Mail Transport System for Win32 and NetWare Systems
from
http://www.pmail.com/downloads_s3_t.htm
2. Start to install it. Install answers: New installation, No NetWare
Support, C:\Mercury, No Pegasus Mail Integration, C:\MERCURY\MAIL
3. You are now looking at "Protocol Modules" screen. *VERY IMPORTANT*
uncheck the MercuryS - SMTP Server Module. Failure to do so installs the SMTP
components and increases the risk of your computer being used to spam people.
4. Still at "Protocol Modules", click the checkbox next to MercuryI -
IMAPrev1 server.
5. Ensure that only MercuryI is checked and continue with installation.
Ignore the warnings on the next screen related to the Pegasus product.
6. When you get to the "Install SMTP Client Module" screen, click the
"Install no SMTP client" button.
7. Machine Internet name is localhost
8. username is Admin
9. Queue is C:\Mercury\Queue
10. At "Ready to Install Mercury/32" click "Install Mercury/32"
11. We don't care about running it as a service, so on the "Mercury Service
Definition" screen click on "Continue"
12. On "Third Party Mercury Add-ins" click "Done" and then "Exit" at
"Installation Complete"
So now we have a local IMAP server. We are not done quite yet.
13. From your Start menu, navigate to Mercury for Win32, and then click on
Mercury for Win32
15. At Mercury/32 screen click on "Configuration" and then "Manage local
users"
16. Click on "Change" to assign a password to the Admin users. The
Mercury/32" window must remain open until you are done with the migration.
17. Create a new account in Outlook as outlined for GmailExpress. You can
call it anything you want and give it any e-mail address.
18. At "E-mail Server Names" screen select IMAP as server type.
19. Set both incoming and outgoing to localhost
20. At Internet Mail Logon, Account name is Admin, and the password is what
you set in step 16.
21. Click next and then finish to complete the wizard.
Mercury IMAP server does not support subfolders. Simply name the folders as
"Folder level 1 - subfolder level 2". You'll be able to re-create your
subfolder hierarchy later in Outlook.
Proceed with steps 4-6 outlined above for Gmail until none remain.
If you are unable to login to the IMAP server, you may have firewall
interence. Either turn off all firewalls including Windows Firewall and any
products from Symantec, McAfee etc (preferred), or add an exception for
localhost on port 143 (IMAP4).
22. Congratulations! All of your e-mail is now available via IMAP from your
local IMAP server.
OK, the hard stuff is done. Now we just need to pull that e-mail into Outlook.
We have multiple options.
1. Use a local PST mailbox store or an IMAP account
2. Use Microsoft Exchange
3. Use Microsoft Exchange Online mailbox importer
Steps for local PST mailbox store or an IMAP account.
1. Open Outlook. Create a new profile if prompted or use the existing one.
2. Create a new mailbox store file and call it "IMAP Intermediary"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/829971 Add a new folder under "IMAP
Intermediary" and call it "Migration"
3. Add a new e-mail account.
3a. Gmail -
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=77661
(Outlook 2003 or earlier)
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=77689 (Outlook 2007 or
later)
3b. Local IMAP server -
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/286197 For method 1,
use the following answers 8 - anything, 9 - your e-mail address, 10 - admin,
11 - password you set in step 16 of IMAP server setup process earlier, 12 -
localhost, 13 - localhost. For method 2, use the following answers 5 -
anything, 6 - your e-mail address, 7 - admin, 8 - password you set in step 16
of IMAP server setup process earlier, 9 - localhost, 10 - localhost.
At this point, you should see your IMAP account added to Outlook with
default name matching your e-mail address. We are almost done.
11. Right-click the IMAP mailbox account and choose "IMAP folders".
12. Clear the checkbox saying "When displaying hierarchy in Outlook, show
only subscribed folders"
13. All folders should now be visible. Right-click on any such folder and
choose "Copy FOLDERNAME".
Advanced users should know that dragging the folder with the LEFT mouse
button will immediately trigger a move with no further warnings, which is
annoying when working with IMAP as it will also affect the contents of data
stored on the IMAP server. If you drag with the RIGHT mouse button, you will
have the option to COPY instead of move as well as cancel.
14. Choose "Migration" under "IMAP Intermediary" as your destination for
this folder and then click OK. This will save us time later.
15. Continue until done with copying all folders to that "Migration" folder.
At this point, all data from Outlook Express is now in your Outlook.
16. Re-create subfolders hierarchy by dragging the folders and renaming them
as you see fit.
Now for the final steps. You are no longer limited by anything, so it's as
easy as right-clicking and dragging the Migration folder into your real mail
store. Again, choose Copy.
If your Outlook is already hooked up to a corporate Exchange server but you
want to use a different Exchange server, you will need to create a new
Outlook profile and attach the "IMAP Intermediary" mail store to that
profile. You will then need to add Exchange server credentials. An Outlook
profile can only be connected to one Exchange server at a time. It can,
however, access multiple mailboxes. Anyway...
If you use an IMAP server as your mail store or want to start using an IMAP
server like Gmail as your primary, add that account and then copy the data
from your "IMAP Intermediary" mail store. Gmail supports subfolders, so
that's a one-click process.
If you want to start using Exchange, you can choose to use a corporate
Exchange server, such as one that comes with Microsoft Small Business Server
or a hosted Exchange server such as one offered by Microsoft Online Services
or another hosted Exchange provider.
As a reminder:
If you wish to try the Microsoft solution free for 30 days, please use this
link:
http://bit.ly/free-exchange-trial (disclosure: this 30-day trial offer
from Microsoft Online Services is associated with my organization as your
supporting Microsoft Partner).
If you go ahead with that option, Microsoft will configure your Outlook for
you and it will work pretty much everywhere regardless of SMTP restrictions
by your ISP, but it will create a new Outlook profile, which will require you
to re-attach existing mail stores to that new profile.
Microsoft Online Services are required if you wish to use option 3. Option 3
will pull your data from Gmail across the Internet and automatically add all
the folders.
http://www.microsoft.com/online/hel...html/3f114276-9721-4be5-9372-33684b593a24.htm - follow this wizard
--
Leonid S. Knyshov
Crashproof Solutions
510-282-1008
Twitter: @wiseleo
http://crashproofsolutions.com
Microsoft Small Business Specialist
Please vote "helpful" if I helped you
