Import .pst and creates tons of duplicates...?!

[Guest]

Because i'm on a secured computer at work i bring my ".pst" file back home
so i can sync it to my home computer...therefore having access to my calendar
over the weekend....

problem is when i import the .pst i get tons of duplicates of
events/appointments (even on the first time) in my outlook and it's tooooo
numerous to go and delete every one of them.

I actually tried deleting all the duplicates but when i re-load the new .pst
the next week.... lo and behold.... the SAME DUPLICATES appear...

why does this happen and how come these duplicates are not shown on my work
computer? (and no, these are not typically "recurring" events)


THANKS A LOT, WHOEVER CAN ANSWER THIS!!!

 

[Brian Tillman]

Because i'm on a secured computer at work i bring my ".pst" file back
home so i can sync it to my home computer...therefore having access
to my calendar over the weekend....

problem is when i import the .pst i get tons of duplicates of
events/appointments (even on the first time) in my outlook and it's
tooooo numerous to go and delete every one of them.

Importing is never the way to transfer data between Outlook instances.

I actually tried deleting all the duplicates but when i re-load the
new .pst the next week.... lo and behold.... the SAME DUPLICATES
appear...

why does this happen and how come these duplicates are not shown on
my work computer? (and no, these are not typically "recurring"
events)

If yo open the PST and copy only those items whose modified dates are more
recent that what's already in the existing PST you won't have any
duplicates. See if any of the sync techniques here help:
http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/sync.htm

 

[Guest]

Brian,

Thanks for the response. I've been browsing thru the website you sent me:
slipstick.com... and I haven't really found any other method of transporting
calendar & contacts from one computer to the other... other than the .pst
method I've been doing (which isn't good either).

How do you "open the pst and copy only items modified" as you mentioned?

Once again, the catch is that I'm on a military secured network, therefore I
can't just plug in my PDA/smartphone and download or upload information...
BUT i can transfer .pst files to a thumb drive that I can take home... and
eventually synch to my home computer.


Hopefully someone out there has an answer to my issue...

 

[Brian Tillman]

Thanks for the response. I've been browsing thru the website you
sent me: slipstick.com... and I haven't really found any other method
of transporting calendar & contacts from one computer to the other...
other than the .pst method I've been doing (which isn't good either).

How do you "open the pst and copy only items modified" as you
mentioned?

Copy the PST to your hard drive. Start Outlook and click File>Open>Outlook
Data File. Browse to the PST, select it, and click OK. It will open as a
second set of folders. Open the calendar or contacts, display it in a table
view, add the Modified date column to the header line, sort by the modified
date, and copy anything that has changed since the last time to your default
folders.

 

[Guest]

Brian, when I try to do what you suggest, I get a "cannot access" message.
Actually, I am trying to open an Outlook data file containing emails from
another of my home computers whose system crashed. But it is implying that I
cannot access for security reasons I guess. When I go an look at the
security option of the file it tells me that I should be able to access it on
my current computer where I am the administrator.

Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[Brian Tillman]

Brian, when I try to do what you suggest, I get a "cannot access"
message. Actually, I am trying to open an Outlook data file
containing emails from another of my home computers whose system
crashed. But it is implying that I cannot access for security
reasons I guess. When I go an look at the security option of the
file it tells me that I should be able to access it on my current
computer where I am the administrator.

You can copy it, though? Make sure it's not read-only. Make a copy and
open the copy in, say, Wordpad. I know it won't make sense, but if you can
at east open it with another app, you should be able to open it in Outlook.

 

[Guest]

Okay,

Now... is this the "ONLY METHOD" of doing business?
Is there a way to select "tasks, notes, contacts, and calendar" in one shot
and copy that "one file" to a selected disk to import (back and forth from
home and work computer)?

I'd figure that Microsoft would have made a function like that by
now...rather than create a .pst for all 4 of those...

 

[Brian Tillman]

Now... is this the "ONLY METHOD" of doing business?
Is there a way to select "tasks, notes, contacts, and calendar" in
one shot and copy that "one file" to a selected disk to import (back
and forth from home and work computer)?

NEVER import a PST. You will lose data. ALl of your Outlook data (i.e.,
Tasks, Mail, Calendar, Journal, Notes, Contacts) are all in the same file.

I'd figure that Microsoft would have made a function like that by
now...rather than create a .pst for all 4 of those...

You don't understand how PSTs work.

 

[Guest]

Okay,

I didn't mean "import" i meant "export"... i guess that's what you meant.
Right?

 

[Brian Tillman]

I didn't mean "import" i meant "export"... i guess that's what you
meant. Right?

Never export from a PST, either. It's unnecessary and loses data.