How to Transport Outlook.PST between Machines?

[JCW]

Simply copying my Outlook.PST file from a "primary" machine to a "secondary"
machine no longer fully updates the latter. Details follow:

I have a home machine (which is my main computer) and a traveling machine
(which I use only occasionally). When I go on a trip, I copy the current "My
Documents" folder over the LAN from my home to my traveling machine, so that
I have up-to-date information in the field. This includes especially my
current e-mails and contacts. (I keep the home machine current by having my
traveling machine leave all messages on the ISP server and by copying any
outgoing messages to myself while I'm away, so I never have to reverse the
process. When I get home, I just download all e-mails from the ISP to my
home machine and re-file them.)

This used to be a simple, straightforward process. Under Windows 2000 SP4 I
could successfully transport Outlook data from a home machine running Outlook
2000 SP3 to a traveling machine running Outlook 2003 SP3 (or maybe it was SP2
back then), simply by copying the Outlook.PST file across. This no longer
works completely with both computers upgraded to Windows XP SP3 and the home
computer now running Outlook 2007 SP2. The main symptom is that, after the
copy, my address book (which is set to Contacts), is no longer available on
the traveling machine, nor can I find a way to make it point to the Contacts
in the copied PST file.

The obvious work-around of deleting everthing from the traveling version of
Outlook (but NOT replacing the PST file) and then Importing everything from
the home PST file is tedious and extremely slow. Is there a better way to
accomplish what used to be a simple file replacement?

Thanks in advance for any help! -- JCW

 

[Peter Foldes]

http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/backupandrestore.htm

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

Simply copying my Outlook.PST file from a "primary" machine to a "secondary"
machine no longer fully updates the latter. Details follow:

If in this process you overwrite a PST that is currently part of a mail
profile, you run a significant risk of corrupting the mail profile. At best,
Outlook will lose track of some of the data. At worst, you can totally
confuse it and destory some of the data.

Your Contacts symptoms indicate that you have a corrupted Outlook Address Book
service. One way to address that is a new mail profile. After adding the
copied PST, right-click its Contacts folder, choose Properties, select the
Outlook Address Book tab, and check the box labeled "Show this folder as an
e-mail Address Book". Stop and restart Outlook. If that doesn't work or if
the check box is not selectable, you'll need a new mail profile.

 

[JCW]

Peter -- I studied the Web page you recommended, but I don't see how it helps
me. Under the heading, "Resotre pst-file," it seems to be telling me to do
essentially what I said I AM doing -- copy the saved Outlook.PST (in my case,
the one from my Outlook 2007 machine) over top of the old Outlook.PST (in my
case, on the Outlook 2003 machine). There would be no issue of pointing
Outlook to the new file, since it's in the same place the old one was. (Nor
should there be any permissions issues, since the user accounts in which all
of this is happening on the two machines have the same username and
password.) As I said, this procedure used to work perfectly when I was
copying a PST from Outlook 2000 to Outlook 2003, but it causes address-book
problems copying from Outlook 2007 to 2003...

Further, Brian Tillman is now telling me that this whole PST-replacement
approach is a bad idea, for reasons that I haven't yet fully digested...

So I apologize if I am misunderstanding, but what, exactly, are you
recommending that I do?

Best Regards -- JCW

 

[JCW]

Brian -- Thanks for the warning: I read loud and clear that I should NOT
over-write one Outlook.pst file with another. However, that wasn't really
the question that I intended to ask.

I seem to have recovered from my mistake by restoring the original
Outlook.pst file (of which I fortunately retained a copy, and which restored
the Address Book/Contacts functionality), then deleting contacts and filed
mail from it (including the contents of Inbox, Sent Items, and finally,
Deleted Items), and then Importing the updated versions of these folders from
the new Outlook.pst file -- presumably a completely safe procedure, since it
uses only Outlook's own functions.

The problem is that the above is a tedious and time-consuming process
(especially the file "Compact Now" that seems to be required after everything
has been deleted, for no apparent reason). I was trying to ask if there was
a simpler, more efficient way to transfer/update all e-mail and contacts from
one working version of Outlook to another. (Perhaps it's obvious, but I
didn't state, that I'm working with E-Mail-Only implementations -- no
Exchange Server.) What is the approved approach to what must be a fairly
common task?

Thanks again -- JCW

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

Peter -- I studied the Web page you recommended, but I don't see how it
helps
me. Under the heading, "Resotre pst-file," it seems to be telling me to do
essentially what I said I AM doing -- copy the saved Outlook.PST (in my
case,
the one from my Outlook 2007 machine) over top of the old Outlook.PST (in my
case, on the Outlook 2003 machine).

The suggected web page does NOT say you should do this. It WILL corrupt your
mail profile, despite PaulD's claim of using that method for years. Frankly,
I don't believe him.

Further, Brian Tillman is now telling me that this whole PST-replacement
approach is a bad idea, for reasons that I haven't yet fully digested...

I'm not alone.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

Brian -- Thanks for the warning: I read loud and clear that I should NOT
over-write one Outlook.pst file with another. However, that wasn't really
the question that I intended to ask.

I seem to have recovered from my mistake by restoring the original
Outlook.pst file (of which I fortunately retained a copy, and which restored
the Address Book/Contacts functionality), then deleting contacts and filed
mail from it (including the contents of Inbox, Sent Items, and finally,
Deleted Items), and then Importing the updated versions of these folders
from
the new Outlook.pst file -- presumably a completely safe procedure, since it
uses only Outlook's own functions.

Importing is also not advised when working with a PST. Certainly you don't
import a Word document into Word, do you? No, you open it. The same is true
for Outlook and PSTs. Just open the PST in Outlook and you'll have access to
all the data in it. Use move or copy to rearrange the data into the folders
you want.

The problem is that the above is a tedious and time-consuming process
(especially the file "Compact Now" that seems to be required after
everything
has been deleted, for no apparent reason).

There usually is no particular reason to use Compact Now. In fact, it's
counterproductive to compact the PST frequently. The PST is a database and
any database works more efficiently if there is white space (allocated by
unused space) in it. It is "expensive" in terms of performance to ask the
file system for additional allocation. By having white space in the file,
Outlook can simply change a few pointers and reuse the space rather than
having to ask the file system for additional allocation and then adding the
data to the PST.

I was trying to ask if there was
a simpler, more efficient way to transfer/update all e-mail and contacts
from
one working version of Outlook to another. (Perhaps it's obvious, but I
didn't state, that I'm working with E-Mail-Only implementations -- no
Exchange Server.) What is the approved approach to what must be a fairly
common task?

I use a handheld device to keep my work and home Outlooks in sync. There are
other tools here: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/sync.asp

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Fact remains that it is a bad idea and an unsupported method that is far
more likely to corrupt a profile than transfer data correctly. No one should
ever use it.

 

[JCW]

Brian -- I'm really not trying to be argumentative, but only to understand
how to do this data transfer successfully. Quoting from the Web page
referrenced by Peter,

"...Backup pst-file
Backing up the pst-file is quite easy; you just copy the pst-file to your
safe location when Outlook is closed...

Restore pst-file
....In the case of a real disaster, the original pst-file would be missing or
be beyond repair. When the pst-file is missing, Outlook would have prompted
you for the pst-file location. You then need to close Outlook and restore the
file from backup to D:\My Documents\My Outlook as described above. Then start
Outlook again and if prompted browse to the location of the pst-file..."

What part of these instructions am I misunderstanding? After deleting the
original PST (with Outlook closed, of course), do I have to open Outlook and
let it complain about the missing file before closing it again and copying
the new file into place? Or is the problem that the new file will have been
produced by a different version (or different user) of Outlook? Surely a
backup, such as the author describes, will not normally be identical to the
lost original...

Anyhow, I will go read your latest reference and see what other options it
offers to satisfy my needs...

Thanks again -- JCW

 

[JCW]

Brian,

Now you've really got me worried (your remark below): Do you mean that the
built-in Outlook command, File/Import and Export.../Import from another
program or file/Perosnal Folder File (.pst), which allows you to choose a PST
file and then presents a folder structure of its contents for selection of
the folder (including subfolders, if desired) to import, does not properly
perform its apparently intended purpose? What exactly can go wrong with
importing the contents of, e.g., Contacts, or of a folder hierarchy of filed
mail?

Of course your approach will also work, but it seems cumbersome in my case,
since I actually want to get rid of (delete) the old mail structure on the
traveling machine and replace it with (import) the new structure from the
home machine. In other words, there doesn't seem to be any good reason to
have two personal folders open at once when one will suffice. Could you
please explain why open/copy is a better approach? When IS it safe to use
Import?

And, going back to an earlier comment that I might need to create a new mail
profile, I don't even know how to begin. Is that as painful as it sounds
(i.e., reconstructing from scratch all of the e-mail accounts and myriad
other options I've chosen over the years)? After all of that, how do you
recommend that I then ingest the contacts and e-mail structure that was my
original objective? Comes to that, is it possible to back up an entire mail
profile (from Outlook 2007) and then restore it (to Outlook 2003) as a way to
achieve my objective of transporting my data? Obviously, I'm now more
confused than when we began...

Regards -- JCW

 

[JCW]

Dear Brian -- I don't use a PDA, but I've now read your suggested Web
reference (below). The most attractive of the native options there (My
Backpack) seems obsolete, as it appears not to be omitted from Windows XP.
(The XP replacement for Backpack -- synchronization using Offline Folders --
MIGHT work but appears quite complicated.) Based on this anachronism, I
don't have much hope that any of the third-party solutions mentioned are
still current, especially since I'm working between Outlook 2007 and Outlook
2003. Am I really stuck with the manual, open-and-copy procedure that you
recommended, or can somebody offer a simpler alternative? -- JCW

 

[Wilfried]

The suggected web page does NOT say you should do this. It WILL corrupt your
mail profile, despite PaulD's claim of using that method for years. Frankly,
I don't believe him.


I'm not alone.

Well, this may be so.
But why then does Microsoft recommend copying a pst file? see
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287070/
and
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291627/

Regards

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

I haven't done it since I upgraded both machines from ver. 2003 to
ver. 2007 because I've not used the laptop in that time.

When I did do it, I copied both archive.pst and Outlook.pst - both
ways, many times.

But I'll bet you didn't overwrite a PST already connected to a mail profile.
Doing so, at minimum, will screw over the Outlook Address Book service.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

Brian -- I'm really not trying to be argumentative, but only to understand
how to do this data transfer successfully. Quoting from the Web page
referrenced by Peter,

"...Backup pst-file
Backing up the pst-file is quite easy; you just copy the pst-file to your
safe location when Outlook is closed...

"Safe location" doesn't mean "default location".

Restore pst-file
...In the case of a real disaster, the original pst-file would be missing or
be beyond repair. When the pst-file is missing, Outlook would have prompted
you for the pst-file location. You then need to close Outlook and restore
the
file from backup to D:\My Documents\My Outlook as described above. Then
start
Outlook again and if prompted browse to the location of the pst-file..."

This is NOT overwriting an existing PST with another of the same name. How
could you think it is? No where does it say to _overwrite_ a PST.

What part of these instructions am I misunderstanding? After deleting the
original PST (with Outlook closed, of course), do I have to open Outlook and
let it complain about the missing file before closing it again and copying
the new file into place? Or is the problem that the new file will have been
produced by a different version (or different user) of Outlook? Surely a
backup, such as the author describes, will not normally be identical to the
lost original...

This isn't what you said you did - that you overwrote the existing PST. The
above description is a perfectly acceptable way to replacing the PST currently
in the mail profile with another that's in a different folder or that's named
differently.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

Well, this may be so.
But why then does Microsoft recommend copying a pst file? see
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287070/
and
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291627/

You and others are missing the point. Neither of these articles tell you to
OVERWRITE one PST with another of the same name. THAT'S what will damage a
mail profile, not the act of copying a PST, and that's what I've been saying
from the beginning.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

Now you've really got me worried (your remark below): Do you mean that the
built-in Outlook command, File/Import and Export.../Import from another
program or file/Perosnal Folder File (.pst), which allows you to choose a
PST
file and then presents a folder structure of its contents for selection of
the folder (including subfolders, if desired) to import, does not properly
perform its apparently intended purpose? What exactly can go wrong with
importing the contents of, e.g., Contacts, or of a folder hierarchy of filed
mail?

Importing always loses data. Importing does not handle derived fields It can
change the dates on imported items. It fails to maintain connections between
contacts and calendar items. It can't import Distribution Lists. There are
other data that won't survive an import as well. There are legitimate uses
for importing from a PST but not when the goal is to move data from one
Outlook to another when the data must be a replication of the original data.

Of course your approach will also work, but it seems cumbersome in my case,
since I actually want to get rid of (delete) the old mail structure on the
traveling machine and replace it with (import) the new structure from the
home machine. In other words, there doesn't seem to be any good reason to
have two personal folders open at once when one will suffice. Could you
please explain why open/copy is a better approach? When IS it safe to use
Import?

Mostly when you are augmenting the information in an existing PST and the
information that will get lost is not information you need.

And, going back to an earlier comment that I might need to create a new mail
profile, I don't even know how to begin.

The Mail applet in Control Panel is the tool you use for a new profile. See
this:
http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/newprofile.htm

Is that as painful as it sounds
(i.e., reconstructing from scratch all of the e-mail accounts and myriad
other options I've chosen over the years)? After all of that, how do you
recommend that I then ingest the contacts and e-mail structure that was my
original objective? Comes to that, is it possible to back up an entire mail
profile (from Outlook 2007) and then restore it (to Outlook 2003) as a way
to
achieve my objective of transporting my data? Obviously, I'm now more
confused than when we began...

It's not painful, in my opinion. I've done it numersous times and it rarely
takes more than about five minutes.

There's no good way to move a mail profile, particularly when changing
verisons of Outlook because the substructure is different for different
versions of Outlook.

 

[JCW]

Thanks, Brian. That was very clear and helpful. -- JCW

 

[JCW]

Dear Brian,

Having now had a chance to study the two Microsoft documents mentioned here,
I'm still left in somewhat of a quandry. One (287070) recomends using Import
to restore "Everything that is saved in the .pst file" (in apparent
disagreement with you). The other (291627) says, "You can use a .pst file,
and copy it from one computer to another" to effectively keep data
syncronized between computers. The latter is cryptic about exactly how to
execute this "copy," but it appears to imply the use of a single PST file
which is repeatedly moved from one machine to another (also in apparent
disagreement with you).

The best I can come up with, trying to synthesize your own recommendations,
is the following: The only completely safe way to share e-mail and contact
information (I don't particularly care about Calendar, Journal, etc.) between
two computers that are running different versions of Outlook (at least in my
case) is the following:

1) Copy and transport the PST file, by any means available, from machine one
to machine two.

2) On machine two, OPEN the copied PST from WITHIN Outlook and then delete,
copy or cut, and/or paste mail folders and/or contacts between copied and
native PSTs to bring the one native to machine two up to date. (Note that
this operation apparently requires several steps, as there are several
distinct permanent folders (e.g., Inbox, Contacts) that must be transcribed.
Or can you simply select the entire "Outlook Today" parent folder and
delete/copy/paste-over it all at once?)

3) Still on machine two, CLOSE the copied PST (or what's left of it) and
resume working with the updated native PST.

Are the above steps what you had in mind? If not, PLEASE list clearly and
completely your sequence of steps so that we can all understand your
reommendations.

Best Regards -- JCW

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

Having now had a chance to study the two Microsoft documents mentioned here,
I'm still left in somewhat of a quandry. One (287070) recomends using
Import
to restore "Everything that is saved in the .pst file" (in apparent
disagreement with you). The other (291627) says, "You can use a .pst file,
and copy it from one computer to another" to effectively keep data
syncronized between computers. The latter is cryptic about exactly how to
execute this "copy," but it appears to imply the use of a single PST file
which is repeatedly moved from one machine to another (also in apparent
disagreement with you).

The best I can come up with, trying to synthesize your own recommendations,
is the following: The only completely safe way to share e-mail and contact
information (I don't particularly care about Calendar, Journal, etc.)
between
two computers that are running different versions of Outlook (at least in my
case) is the following:

1) Copy and transport the PST file, by any means available, from machine one
to machine two.

2) On machine two, OPEN the copied PST from WITHIN Outlook and then delete,
copy or cut, and/or paste mail folders and/or contacts between copied and
native PSTs to bring the one native to machine two up to date. (Note that
this operation apparently requires several steps, as there are several
distinct permanent folders (e.g., Inbox, Contacts) that must be transcribed.
Or can you simply select the entire "Outlook Today" parent folder and
delete/copy/paste-over it all at once?)

The default folders thenselves can't be copied or you'll get copies of them
(i.e., Calendar1, Contacts1). You must open each of the default folders in
the copied PST, select all the items with Ctrl-A, then copy (or move) the
selection to the matching default folder in the main folder list. For folders
you created yourself, copying the folder is fine, however.

3) Still on machine two, CLOSE the copied PST (or what's left of it) and
resume working with the updated native PST.

Alternatively, you can simply have both PSTs open and not move anything
between them; just use them as they are.

Are the above steps what you had in mind? If not, PLEASE list clearly and
completely your sequence of steps so that we can all understand your
reommendations.

Your method sounds good to me.