Outlook Address Book Redundancy (MSO 2003)

[Guest]

I’m trying to eliminate some redundancy with my system Outlook’s file
definitions. The screen shows that there are two Personal Folders while
occasionally I’m not able to bring up my Contacts Address Book unless I
select a redundant file name. To my knowledge, there is only one location
where the appropriate files are (under //...Local Settings/Application
Data/Microsoft/Outlook/ *.PST or *.PAB).

I had hoped to insert a screen shot here in JPEG format, but this system
does not allow for that and I'm hesitant to provide my server's URL where
such can be downloadeda by someone. Yet the screen shot that I’ve captured
and wanted to insert here would have provided some clues about what’s going
on. = = >

Essentially from launching Outlook and the Outlook Today default screen that
I configured, the "All Mail Folders" group in the left-screen navigation bar
appears as:

+Personal Folders
+Archive Folders
+Personal Folers

PLEASE NOTE that I see and can bring up a CONTACTS folder on the lower left
hand side of Outlook Today, but there is no contact folder within any of the
above referenced links with + signs.

Please help in resolving this issue toward eliminating occasional
“workarounds" and the possibility that somehow my install is referencing
other *.pst or *.pab files on my system. I JUST NEED to know how to tell
Outlook to look only one (1) place, and then remove redundant file
definitions without fear of losing all of my contacts.

I hope I've done my best when trying to describe these issues.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Outlook had not used a PAB file for years. A PAB file is not in play.
The first thing you need to do is examine your folder hierarchy correctly.
Use Folder List view for that, not "All Mail." Of course you won't see
Contacts Folders in the All Mail view. Contacts is not a mail folder.
Examine the contents of these separate Personal Folders. Are they identical?
Can you R click and close either of them?

 

[Guest]

Russ V... thank you kindly... I'll begin to work through your questions so
that I may have an appropriate response.
--
Many thanks... JMS

Outlook had not used a PAB file for years. A PAB file is not in play.
The first thing you need to do is examine your folder hierarchy correctly.
Use Folder List view for that, not "All Mail." Of course you won't see
Contacts Folders in the All Mail view. Contacts is not a mail folder.
Examine the contents of these separate Personal Folders. Are they identical?
Can you R click and close either of them?

 

[Guest]

Russ, thank you for getting back to me. I’ve followed your instructions and
notice the following per your questions?

Yes, the contents of two “Personal Folders†on my system are identical,
referencing the same location on my hard drive.

No, I can R-click either of them, BUT cannot “close†one or the other.

I also see an archive folder on the system that I have used manually from
time to time. That is also located in the same directory as the *.pst file.
Of course I'd like to keep my archive file and am only concerned about two
(2) occurences of the the Personal Folder files.

Any suggestions at this point?

Thanks,

JMS

--
Many thanks... JMS

Outlook had not used a PAB file for years. A PAB file is not in play.
The first thing you need to do is examine your folder hierarchy correctly.
Use Folder List view for that, not "All Mail." Of course you won't see
Contacts Folders in the All Mail view. Contacts is not a mail folder.
Examine the contents of these separate Personal Folders. Are they identical?
Can you R click and close either of them?

 

[Guest]

Russ, et. al.:

Just now able to follow through with your inquiries Russ. I'll address them
since sending a previous message just today (about 30 minutes ago). Please
forgive me repeating myself:

With regard to PAB files not being used by Outlook "for years," why does my
current version access those files with the date and timestamp the system
assigns to them (specficially "mailbox.pab." My Personal File Folder(s) also
reflect the same time as last accessed when I launch Outlook (bundled w/MSO
Professional 2003).

With regard to your other questions,
1. YES, when using Folder View, I'm able to see two (2) personal folders and
one (1) archive file. YES, the personal folders are identical in content, but
NO, I'm not able to close either of them when R-Clicking one or the other. Of
course, I don't want to close them both, but the option to "close" is grayed
out with either.
2. Interestingly, I do see a Contacts icon when expanding the MAIL folder
from the navigation bar on the left, but that's because I had to force
Outlook to reference the one I was trying to use, rather than the redundant
options showing up per my original message to the community.

Again, my purpose is to eliminate these redundancies system wide within
Outlook. I have a means to back-up my *.pst, *.pab files, and have done so
already. However everytime I access Outlook and retrieve or send emails, the
files change.

Can you or anyone help at this point?

--
Many thanks... JMS

Outlook had not used a PAB file for years. A PAB file is not in play.
The first thing you need to do is examine your folder hierarchy correctly.
Use Folder List view for that, not "All Mail." Of course you won't see
Contacts Folders in the All Mail view. Contacts is not a mail folder.
Examine the contents of these separate Personal Folders. Are they identical?
Can you R click and close either of them?

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

You have done something to corrupt your Outlook profile. We don't know what.
You are the only one who could. Why you have a PAB file in your profile,
again only you can answer. Outlook stopped using a PAB file as a data store
years ago and it is no longer supported.
You should create a new profile from scratch and configure it to use your
PST file.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Russ, et. al.:

Just now able to follow through with your inquiries Russ. I'll address
them
since sending a previous message just today (about 30 minutes ago). Please
forgive me repeating myself:

With regard to PAB files not being used by Outlook "for years," why does
my
current version access those files with the date and timestamp the system
assigns to them (specficially "mailbox.pab." My Personal File Folder(s)
also
reflect the same time as last accessed when I launch Outlook (bundled
w/MSO
Professional 2003).

With regard to your other questions,
1. YES, when using Folder View, I'm able to see two (2) personal folders
and
one (1) archive file. YES, the personal folders are identical in content,
but
NO, I'm not able to close either of them when R-Clicking one or the other.
Of
course, I don't want to close them both, but the option to "close" is
grayed
out with either.
2. Interestingly, I do see a Contacts icon when expanding the MAIL folder
from the navigation bar on the left, but that's because I had to force
Outlook to reference the one I was trying to use, rather than the
redundant
options showing up per my original message to the community.

Again, my purpose is to eliminate these redundancies system wide within
Outlook. I have a means to back-up my *.pst, *.pab files, and have done so
already. However everytime I access Outlook and retrieve or send emails,
the
files change.

Can you or anyone help at this point?

--
Many thanks... JMS

Outlook had not used a PAB file for years. A PAB file is not in play.
The first thing you need to do is examine your folder hierarchy
correctly.
Use Folder List view for that, not "All Mail." Of course you won't see
Contacts Folders in the All Mail view. Contacts is not a mail folder.
Examine the contents of these separate Personal Folders. Are they
identical?
Can you R click and close either of them?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I'm trying to eliminate some redundancy with my system Outlook's file
definitions. The screen shows that there are two Personal Folders while
occasionally I'm not able to bring up my Contacts Address Book unless I
select a redundant file name. To my knowledge, there is only one
location
where the appropriate files are (under //...Local Settings/Application
Data/Microsoft/Outlook/ *.PST or *.PAB).

I had hoped to insert a screen shot here in JPEG format, but this
system
does not allow for that and I'm hesitant to provide my server's URL
where
such can be downloadeda by someone. Yet the screen shot that I've
captured
and wanted to insert here would have provided some clues about what's
going
on. = = >

Essentially from launching Outlook and the Outlook Today default screen
that
I configured, the "All Mail Folders" group in the left-screen
navigation
bar
appears as:

+Personal Folders
+Archive Folders
+Personal Folers

PLEASE NOTE that I see and can bring up a CONTACTS folder on the lower
left
hand side of Outlook Today, but there is no contact folder within any
of
the
above referenced links with + signs.

Please help in resolving this issue toward eliminating occasional
"workarounds" and the possibility that somehow my install is
referencing
other *.pst or *.pab files on my system. I JUST NEED to know how to
tell
Outlook to look only one (1) place, and then remove redundant file
definitions without fear of losing all of my contacts.

I hope I've done my best when trying to describe these issues.

 

[Guest]

OK Russ... thanks for your help thus far. I will say that I've done nothing
to corrupt the data files... one day I woke up and my system failed to
reference what was already configured. The *.PAB file was on my system
through a number of upgrades with Microsoft Office. This is an intergration
issue as well as a backward compatible issue.

1. The only way I know to do this by scratch is to scrap my old address book
by deleting all references to it on my system and deleting those files (while
keepin a backup)... AND THEN to key in every contact all over again.
2. I do NOT want to lose references to emails that I have in my archive file
since 1998. If I start over and delete all file references, those emails will
be lost unless I provide another path to them via the OS and Outlook.

Are these considerations of mine correct?

Thanks,
--
Many thanks... JMS

You have done something to corrupt your Outlook profile. We don't know what.
You are the only one who could. Why you have a PAB file in your profile,
again only you can answer. Outlook stopped using a PAB file as a data store
years ago and it is no longer supported.
You should create a new profile from scratch and configure it to use your
PST file.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Russ, et. al.:

Just now able to follow through with your inquiries Russ. I'll address
them
since sending a previous message just today (about 30 minutes ago). Please
forgive me repeating myself:

With regard to PAB files not being used by Outlook "for years," why does
my
current version access those files with the date and timestamp the system
assigns to them (specficially "mailbox.pab." My Personal File Folder(s)
also
reflect the same time as last accessed when I launch Outlook (bundled
w/MSO
Professional 2003).

With regard to your other questions,
1. YES, when using Folder View, I'm able to see two (2) personal folders
and
one (1) archive file. YES, the personal folders are identical in content,
but
NO, I'm not able to close either of them when R-Clicking one or the other.
Of
course, I don't want to close them both, but the option to "close" is
grayed
out with either.
2. Interestingly, I do see a Contacts icon when expanding the MAIL folder
from the navigation bar on the left, but that's because I had to force
Outlook to reference the one I was trying to use, rather than the
redundant
options showing up per my original message to the community.

Again, my purpose is to eliminate these redundancies system wide within
Outlook. I have a means to back-up my *.pst, *.pab files, and have done so
already. However everytime I access Outlook and retrieve or send emails,
the
files change.

Can you or anyone help at this point?

--
Many thanks... JMS

Outlook had not used a PAB file for years. A PAB file is not in play.
The first thing you need to do is examine your folder hierarchy
correctly.
Use Folder List view for that, not "All Mail." Of course you won't see
Contacts Folders in the All Mail view. Contacts is not a mail folder.
Examine the contents of these separate Personal Folders. Are they
identical?
Can you R click and close either of them?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I'm trying to eliminate some redundancy with my system Outlook's file
definitions. The screen shows that there are two Personal Folders while
occasionally I'm not able to bring up my Contacts Address Book unless I
select a redundant file name. To my knowledge, there is only one
location
where the appropriate files are (under //...Local Settings/Application
Data/Microsoft/Outlook/ *.PST or *.PAB).

I had hoped to insert a screen shot here in JPEG format, but this
system
does not allow for that and I'm hesitant to provide my server's URL
where
such can be downloadeda by someone. Yet the screen shot that I've
captured
and wanted to insert here would have provided some clues about what's
going
on. = = >

Essentially from launching Outlook and the Outlook Today default screen
that
I configured, the "All Mail Folders" group in the left-screen
navigation
bar
appears as:

+Personal Folders
+Archive Folders
+Personal Folers

PLEASE NOTE that I see and can bring up a CONTACTS folder on the lower
left
hand side of Outlook Today, but there is no contact folder within any
of
the
above referenced links with + signs.

Please help in resolving this issue toward eliminating occasional
"workarounds" and the possibility that somehow my install is
referencing
other *.pst or *.pab files on my system. I JUST NEED to know how to
tell
Outlook to look only one (1) place, and then remove redundant file
definitions without fear of losing all of my contacts.

I hope I've done my best when trying to describe these issues.