Outlook 2003 questions.

[John S. Sapyta.]

I have a couple of questions for people who use Outlook 2003. My father gets
a lot of e-mail either on e-mail list he's on or other e-mails, and it
accumulates over time where Outlook is not usable.

1) What can you do when the .pst (inbox) gets filled up after a while, Can
you re-create a another .pst so that you can d/l e-mails?

2) Also is there a way to save e-mails offline. either in folders or what
ever.

Also I'm thinking of creating a Gmail account for him, then transferring
outlook e-mail to Gmail. is there a simple way of doing it, other than
selecting a few then forwarding them over?

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

I have a couple of questions for people who use Outlook 2003. My father
gets a lot of e-mail either on e-mail list he's on or other e-mails, and it
accumulates over time where Outlook is not usable.

1) What can you do when the .pst (inbox) gets filled up after a while, Can
you re-create a another .pst so that you can d/l e-mails?

2) Also is there a way to save e-mails offline. either in folders or what
ever.

Outlook 2003's PSTs can hold 20 GB at a minimum, so the size of the PST
shouldn't be an issue except for the ability to keep track of that
information. Rules are good ways to help that process. He should create
rules that will sort messages from certain mailing lists into list-specific
folders, if he wishes. You can have multiple PSTs, so there's no physical
limit to how much data Outlook can hold, except for the capacity of the hard
drive. AutoArchiving can also help keep data manageable.

Also I'm thinking of creating a Gmail account for him, then transferring
outlook e-mail to Gmail. is there a simple way of doing it, other than
selecting a few then forwarding them over?

No need to forward them Gmail allows IMAP accounts, so you can simply
create an IMAP account on gmail and then drag/drop the messages from the
existing PST(s) to the gmail folders.

 

[John S. Sapyta.]

Hi Brian. Thanks very much replying to me

Here's the problem in a nutshell, my father uses outlook '03 and he collects
a lot of mail, via an e-mail group he's on or other e-mails. Now, Outlook
has become un-useable so that he can not receive any more e-mails. And I'm
trying to get it sorted out for him but I have no knowledge of Outlook and
so I'm at a loss on what to do.

He had in the past this exact same problem with outlook 2000, then he
upgraded to '03 thinking that it would help but it hasn't. So that's the
problem in a nutshell.

Can you help?

John

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

Here's the problem in a nutshell, my father uses outlook '03 and he
collects
a lot of mail, via an e-mail group he's on or other e-mails. Now, Outlook
has become un-useable so that he can not receive any more e-mails. And I'm
trying to get it sorted out for him but I have no knowledge of Outlook and
so I'm at a loss on what to do.

He had in the past this exact same problem with outlook 2000, then he
upgraded to '03 thinking that it would help but it hasn't. So that's the
problem in a nutshell.

Sounds likely, then, thay he's still using the old Outlook 2000 PST. If
this is an IMAP account (AOL or grmail, for example), then there's nothing
you can do about it except to move messages off the server to another PST
kept locally, since Outlook 2003 always uses the old ANSI format for its
IMAP PSTs, and it's the PST format that has the limit. If, however, it's a
POP account, then you should migrate the data to a Unicode PST (the new
format that Outlook 2003 introduced), which can hold 100 times more data (at
a minimum) than the old format can. See if this helps:
http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ansi-to-unicode.asp

 

[John S. Sapyta.]

Hey Brian,

I hope you got my other message, but here is another follow up. I tried to
do archiving but I'm getting this error message when I do.

http://www.sapyta.com/pictures/error.jpg

Also how can I tell what .pst type I'm using either 2000 or 03?

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

I hope you got my other message, but here is another follow up. I tried to
do archiving but I'm getting this error message when I do.

http://www.sapyta.com/pictures/error.jpg

Also how can I tell what .pst type I'm using either 2000 or 03?

Let's take the second question first. Does the Archive folder tree show in
your Folder List view? If so, right-click its root and choose Properties,
then click Advanced. The "Format" field will contain "97-2002" in it if
it's an older format PST. If it doesn't contain that string, it's a newer
format PST.

If it's an older format PST, remove it from your profile (right-click the
root and choose Close) and close Outlook. Then in Windows Explorer, rename
it so it's no longer called "Archive.pst". "Archiveold.pst" or "Archive
2008-10-09.pst" are examples. This will allow Outlook to create a brand new
archive.pst the next time autoarchive runs.

Now the question is whether your old archive PST is usable. What does
Windows say its size is? You should probably use the Inbox Repair Tool
(scanpst.exe) on that file, as the error rmessage advises. However, if the
file is an old format PST and has exceeded the 2GB limit, then scanpst.exe
won't handle it, most likely. In that case, you'll have to trunbcate it
some in order to recover any of the data it contains. See this:
http://www.slipstick.com/problems/repair2gbpst.asp

 

[John S. Sapyta.]

Hey Brian. I have some answers and updates for you.

Answers to questions from the previous reply:

I don't see any archive folder listed in Mail Folders pane on the left. All
I see is Outlook and recovered outlook with all its sub-directories i.e.
inbox, sent items, deleted items..etc..

The way you told me to look for type of .pst its using is didn't match the
way I found it. I first selected the inbox, then went to File -> Data
Management -> Settings, then on the format line it says Personal Folders
file (97-2002). It looks like its using 2000 format still eh?

Updates:

I'm able to remove old messages from the Inboxes, which was the original
problem all along, then
able permanently delete them.

Here's some more questions for you.

After I have removed messages from the oversize inbox, shouldn't .pst file
size shrink too?

Also you said, if outlook was using the 2000 .pst file size, I should change
over to '03 since its much larger, right? Well how do I do that? Does that
affect the messages and contacts that's already in there?

 

[John S. Sapyta.]

bmp, so Brian can see this.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

bmp, so Brian can see this.

This isn't a chat room. No need to bump.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

The way you told me to look for type of .pst its using is didn't match the
way I found it. I first selected the inbox, then went to File -> Data
Management -> Settings, then on the format line it says Personal Folders
file (97-2002). It looks like its using 2000 format still eh?

There are multiple ways to see a PST's properties. Yes it's an old format
PST and I'd recommend you fix that by following the process outlined on the
Slipstick link I cited.

Updates:

I'm able to remove old messages from the Inboxes, which was the original
problem all along, then
able permanently delete them.

Here's some more questions for you.

After I have removed messages from the oversize inbox, shouldn't .pst file
size shrink too?

No. If you get enough "white space" (space occupied by deleted items), then
Outlook should cpomact the PST and reduce its size on disk. You can also
right-click the root of the folder set, choose Properties, click Advanced,
then Compact Now to reduce its size.

Also you said, if outlook was using the 2000 .pst file size, I should
change over to '03 since its much larger, right? Well how do I do that?
Does that affect the messages and contacts that's already in there?

I already gave you the link describing this back on October 8. You'll be
moving the existing messages, contacts, calendar events, and so on to a new
PST with the newer format. Perform the move carefully and you won't have
any issues. Prior to that, it would be a good idea to make a backup of you
r Outlook data by making a copy of the PST(s) while Outlook is closed.

 

[John S. Sapyta.]

Brian,

I've started doing compacting on .pst that is being used for the inbox, but
by looking at the size of the file, it only reduced it a tick under the 2 MB
file limit. I'm courious, shouldn't the file be reduced a lot more than that
since I've deleted a ton of old e-mail. Do you think I should keep
compacting it more or not?

Also when I do a search for the on the HD it doesn't come up in the search
results, but when I go to the specific location where outlook says it is (in
properties) I can see the file. Kinda werid eh? It's under the usernames
application data folder/outlook.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

I've started doing compacting on .pst that is being used for the inbox,
but by looking at the size of the file, it only reduced it a tick under
the 2 MB file limit. I'm courious, shouldn't the file be reduced a lot
more than that since I've deleted a ton of old e-mail. Do you think I
should keep compacting it more or not?

It may reduce with multiple compactions. I've seen that advice from others
whom I trust to know Outlook answers. It sure can't hurt. Try compacting
threee or four times. If this is an ANSI (Outlook 97-2002) PST, I'd be
replacing it with a Unicode PST without delay.

Also when I do a search for the on the HD it doesn't come up in the search
results, but when I go to the specific location where outlook says it is
(in properties) I can see the file. Kinda werid eh? It's under the
usernames application data folder/outlook.

It's not wierd. Specific folders in a Windows profile are hidden folders
and you must enable viewing hidden files and folders in order to browse for
or search within them. A PST's default location is within one of those
hidden folders.