Upgrade or fresh install

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tim Scott Mathews
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Tim Scott Mathews

I tested the RC1 (I think--it was the last one from about a month ago)
version of Vista and liked what I saw EXCEPT for the total failure of the
mail program to work.

Perhaps it is because I was testing it using the "upgrade" or whatever the
prompt was--I didn't want to install over my current Windows XP but,
instead, to have a dual boot system so I could test things. Anyway, without
a prompt or any input from me, Windows Mail attempted to import my mail and
settings from Outlook (I'm assuming as Outlook is my primary mail program
under XP) but failed, as the prompts were pretty fast I'm not sure but I
thought it was during the contact import phase. At any rate, the program
wouldn't install/run as the import failed and I couldn't find any way to
simply open and/or run Windows Mail.

I'm one of those who, based on the pre release information was looking
forward to Windows mail for both the file system as well as some other minor
features. My concern is, when the final release is available, is it going
to look for previous mail programs on my system or, (since this will be a
complete install OVER the old OS rather than in addition to it) will those
files be destroyed during a reformat etc as Vista installs?

I hope that's clear and I'm posting correctly as I'm not sure whether this
is better in Vista general or Windows Mail.

Tim

PS My thinking is to simply save the Outlook PST file to my external hard
drive and then--hopefully--import at least the data and, hopefully, the
settings after Windows Mail is installed.
 
The best thing to do for the RTM release is to do a clean install. MS can
make no guarantees as to if the upgrade from RC2 to RTM.
 
Sorry, you misunderstood. I'm done with betas and just thinking ahead to
January or whenever the finished retail version is available. I'm hoping to
make the install go as smoothly as possible. The beta has been romoved from
my system and I did a reformat of my hard drive so my system is now back to
it's Windows XP life and I'm wondering if I might run into the same problem
again thus, I'd choose install over upgrade--assuming of course that this
option is given in the retail version.
 
Okay, first, OE does not use PST files. Those are from Outlook. To backup
OE data see www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#6

Their is a File | Import | Messages option that will allow for importing
from OE6. This may be done automatically if you upgrade (I don't know), or
you can do it manually.

Its a bit early to tell what problems will be encountered, since we don't
have the final yet.

steve
 
Tim Scott Mathews said:
I tested the RC1 (I think--it was the last one from about a month ago)
version of Vista and liked what I saw EXCEPT for the total failure of the
mail program to work.

Perhaps it is because I was testing it using the "upgrade" or whatever the
prompt was--I didn't want to install over my current Windows XP but,
instead, to have a dual boot system so I could test things. Anyway,
without a prompt or any input from me, Windows Mail attempted to import my
mail and settings from Outlook (I'm assuming as Outlook is my primary mail
program under XP) but failed, as the prompts were pretty fast I'm not sure
but I thought it was during the contact import phase. At any rate, the
program wouldn't install/run as the import failed and I couldn't find any
way to simply open and/or run Windows Mail.

I'm one of those who, based on the pre release information was looking
forward to Windows mail for both the file system as well as some other
minor features. My concern is, when the final release is available, is it
going to look for previous mail programs on my system or, (since this will
be a complete install OVER the old OS rather than in addition to it) will
those files be destroyed during a reformat etc as Vista installs?

I hope that's clear and I'm posting correctly as I'm not sure whether this
is better in Vista general or Windows Mail.

Tim

PS My thinking is to simply save the Outlook PST file to my external hard
drive and then--hopefully--import at least the data and, hopefully, the
settings after Windows Mail is installed.
Click to expand...

Assuming that you do mean Outlook and not Outlook Express, Windows Mail will
probably not import unless Outlook is installed and using that PST file as
its default.
 
I don't know why you're talking about Outlook Express. I clearly said I use
Outlook and, thus, I do have and use PST files.
 
Sorry, I must've missed that. The behavior in the past was that OE could
only import from Outlook if Outlook is installed. I think its the same with
WinMail, so you would need more than just the pst file.

steve
 
I was afraid of that. I guess the best/easiest thing for me would be to
import the Outlook goodies into Outlook Express and then take them from OE
into Windows Mail.
 
Yup.

steve

Tim Scott Mathews said:
I was afraid of that. I guess the best/easiest thing for me would be to
import the Outlook goodies into Outlook Express and then take them from OE
into Windows Mail.
Click to expand...
 
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