Outlook 2003 new .pst format

[Prilosec]

Is there any way to install Outlook 2003 and convert an existing PST file
into the new unicode format? Creating a new pst and importing the old one
into it does not yield an acceptable result (all journal entry links are
broken on import). I saw no choice on install for coverting an old pst, only
creating a new one. I consider this a pretty big oversight on Microsoft's
part.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

I agree. The only way I know of to convert an ANSI PST to UNICODE is to
import it, which means one must put up with all the known limitations of
importing.

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

don't import - let outlook create the new pst, open the old one using file,
open, outlook data store and MOVE the items over. right click on non-default
folders and choose move to move the entire folder and contents. For items in
the default folders, select all (ctrl+a) and right click, move... and when
you're done, your links won't be broken.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours


http://www.poremsky.com - http://www.cdolive.com
Expert Zone http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

Search for answers: http://groups.google.com
Most recent posts to the Outlook newsgroups:
http://groups.google.com/groups?as_ugroup=microsoft.public.outlook.*&num=30

 

[Prilosec]

Thanks! I'll try this. Hope I'm not up all night again doing this. I thought
I got into this mess because I used the Beta 2 version for several months,
and I read they recommended not converting my PST just in case I ever went
back to 2000 or XP. Now that I've committed to 2003, I would like to use the
new format.

don't import - let outlook create the new pst, open the old one using file,
open, outlook data store and MOVE the items over. right click on non-default
folders and choose move to move the entire folder and contents. For items in
the default folders, select all (ctrl+a) and right click, move... and when
you're done, your links won't be broken.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours


http://www.poremsky.com - http://www.cdolive.com
Expert Zone http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

Search for answers: http://groups.google.com
Most recent posts to the Outlook newsgroups:
http://groups.google.com/groups?as_ugroup=microsoft.public.outlook.*&num=30

Is there any way to install Outlook 2003 and convert an existing PST file
into the new unicode format? Creating a new pst and importing the old one
into it does not yield an acceptable result (all journal entry links are
broken on import). I saw no choice on install for coverting an old pst, only
creating a new one. I consider this a pretty big oversight on Microsoft's
part.

 

[Prilosec]

Did not work any better than import. The links in journal to email are still
lost. I am very discouraged with this product. Once again too much not
thought through by MS.

don't import - let outlook create the new pst, open the old one using file,
open, outlook data store and MOVE the items over. right click on non-default
folders and choose move to move the entire folder and contents. For items in
the default folders, select all (ctrl+a) and right click, move... and when
you're done, your links won't be broken.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours


http://www.poremsky.com - http://www.cdolive.com
Expert Zone http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

Search for answers: http://groups.google.com
Most recent posts to the Outlook newsgroups:
http://groups.google.com/groups?as_ugroup=microsoft.public.outlook.*&num=30

Is there any way to install Outlook 2003 and convert an existing PST file
into the new unicode format? Creating a new pst and importing the old one
into it does not yield an acceptable result (all journal entry links are
broken on import). I saw no choice on install for coverting an old pst, only
creating a new one. I consider this a pretty big oversight on Microsoft's
part.

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

Hmm... moving has always kept the links. There is a VBA script at
slipstick.com you can use to reconnect most of the journal links.

--

Did not work any better than import. The links in journal to email are still
lost. I am very discouraged with this product. Once again too much not
thought through by MS.

don't import - let outlook create the new pst, open the old one using file,
open, outlook data store and MOVE the items over. right click on non-default
folders and choose move to move the entire folder and contents. For

items

in
the default folders, select all (ctrl+a) and right click, move... and when
you're done, your links won't be broken.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours


http://www.poremsky.com - http://www.cdolive.com
Expert Zone http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

Search for answers: http://groups.google.com
Most recent posts to the Outlook newsgroups:

http://groups.google.com/groups?as_ugroup=microsoft.public.outlook.*&num=30

pst,
only

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP]]

My script reconnects Contacts links, but not journal links. Haven't they always broken on a move to a new store?

Hmm... moving has always kept the links. There is a VBA script at
slipstick.com you can use to reconnect most of the journal links.

--

Did not work any better than import. The links in journal to email are still
lost. I am very discouraged with this product. Once again too much not
thought through by MS.

don't import - let outlook create the new pst, open the old one using file,
open, outlook data store and MOVE the items over. right click on non-default
folders and choose move to move the entire folder and contents. For

items

in
the default folders, select all (ctrl+a) and right click, move... and when
you're done, your links won't be broken.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours


http://www.poremsky.com - http://www.cdolive.com
Expert Zone http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

Search for answers: http://groups.google.com
Most recent posts to the Outlook newsgroups:

http://groups.google.com/groups?as_ugroup=microsoft.public.outlook.*&num=30

Is there any way to install Outlook 2003 and convert an existing PST file
into the new unicode format? Creating a new pst and importing the old one
into it does not yield an acceptable result (all journal entry links are
broken on import). I saw no choice on install for coverting an old pst,
only
creating a new one. I consider this a pretty big oversight on Microsoft's
part.

 

[Tony Gravagno]

don't import - let outlook create the new pst, open the old one using file,
open, outlook data store and MOVE the items over. right click on non-default
folders and choose move to move the entire folder and contents. For items in
the default folders, select all (ctrl+a) and right click, move... and when
you're done, your links won't be broken.

This tip was helpful, though the process can be cumbersome.

I had a PST from Outlook 2003 Beta which I wanted to upgrade to the
production release. This might help someone else: I didn't find an
obvious way to Move calendar items, so I Exported my old calendar
folder to a new backup.pst, then immediately imported the folder data
back into the new calendar folder. I'm hoping that the Import
function adjusts internal item structures where required like the
Move.

For development and usage purposes I'm always concerned that MS has
upgraded the internal format of the PST's, less obvious changes than
ANSI/Unicode. You'd hope that something changed/improved between a
beta and production, so it seems logical that using an old PST may not
be a good idea.

Can someone verify that MS has special code to properly Move and
integrate PST data from prior releases into each updated release?

Are RWZ files just as portable, even O2k/XP to O2003? That is, are
the rules updated into the proper format when imported?

Food for thought, no answers requested unless they're quick:
Seems like a whole book chapter (or at least several web pages) could
be dedicated to the nuances of migrating data between any given
release. How do you migrate, for example, if you have access to a
hard drive that has an older Outlook release but that system can't be
booted (need registry for categories, etc)? Do you have to create
folders in a new PST if you import the RWZ from an old one?

I wonder if there'd be any market for one-stop 3rd party migration
tools, considering the obvious issues people are having...

Thanks for all your help MVP's!!!!!!
Tony

 

[Prilosec]

If your "Beta PST" was the 2003 Unicode format, I don't think you have to do
anything at all--just open it in the release version. The issue is
converting an 2003/XP/2000/98/97 ANSI .pst file into 2003 Unicode.
I had no coversion at all installing the release version over the Beta 2
(refresh) version of Office 2003, including Outlook. While the Beta was
unistalled automatically, my old .pst file remained and was opened by the
new version of Outlook. That part of the "upgrade" was great.
My issue with MS is that they seem to offer no file upgrade path for anyone
who has used Outlook before the 2003 version. I would guess that is a pretty
big number of users who can't convert an ANSI file to Unicode without
breaking links, etc.. This is why I earlier commmented the process was not
well thought-out by MS. There just might be a couple of us that would like a
FULL upgrade to 2003 features.

 

[Tony Gravagno]

Respectfully, you're missing the key points of my post which I'll
highlight below.

If your "Beta PST" was the 2003 Unicode format,

But I had already specified:
You said:

...I don't __think__ you have to do anything at all

And because we are never absolutely sure, I asked:

I agree with you here:

My issue with MS is that they seem to offer no file upgrade path for anyone
who has used Outlook before the 2003 version. I would guess that is a pretty
big number of users who can't convert an ANSI file to Unicode without
breaking links, etc.. This is why I earlier commmented the process was not
well thought-out by MS. There just might be a couple of us that would like a
FULL upgrade to 2003 features.

And that's why I wrote this:

 

[ruchit]

hey guys ...I have used outlook 2002 and recently installed outloo
2003. I just made a regular backup of my 2002 .pst file and when
formatted my hdd and installed outlook 2003 ... i just copied .pst fil
in c:\documents and settings\username\local settings\applicatio
data\microsoft\outlook .... now the problem I have is that instead o
one personal folder I have 2. They seem to be connected some ho
because wheneva i recieve mails i recieve in both the folders and if
delete a mail in one it will automatically get deleted in the othe
folder. I dunno what to do now. The option that says close the outloo
data file does not get highlighted and so i can't even close it. PLeas
help guys ...... i have tried every possible thing like creatin a ne
pst file and removin the backup file and placing the new1 there
renaming it to outlook.pst and restarting outlook .... but still i
shows like 2 personal folder ... but ofcourse blank cause that ps
doesnt have any data.
any suggestions welcome

thanks in advance
Ruchi

 

[Tony Gravagno]

Your 2002 and 2003 PST files are a different format and it's best to
move everything into the new one that is created for you. Be sure the
2002 PST that you've opened is a backup and you still have your good
data somewhere else. Use the tips presented in this thread and
elsewhere to migrate mail and calendar items from the old to the new.
I'm guessing everything else can be moved or copied as well, but
that's the point of some of my inquiries here. Note comments that
links may be broken - I'll be looking for fixes for that one. I
believe your e-mail accounts will need to be manually recreated, as
well as all custom options. When done, close your old PST file (if
you find out how), you shouldn't need it anymore. My guess on that is
to rename one or both PSTs from Personal Folders to something else,
close and re-open Outlook to see if the behavior changes.

HTH

 

[ruchit]

Thanks for the info buddy .... but the what i did was just copied m
2002 file to the outlook folder in local settings\application data ...
so i just have one single .pst file. so when it opens it directly take
the data from that pst file. I dont have 2 pst files and i trie
reinstalling outlook to get a new pst file and try this stuff but a
soon as i open after installing it says it cannot the pst file.
couldnt find a way to uninstall it completely.