Jim Pickering said:
On the old computer, Outlook offers an export to Outlook Express. Use that,
then import into windows mail from the Outlook Express message store.
This isn't true on the version of Outlook I have (I can't export to Outlook
Express 6 from Outlook, but rather vice versa). However, Jim's advice finally
set me on the right path, a mere 6 hours and 3 failed attempts later. Here's
how I did it, moving files from Outlook on my old XP computer to Windows Mail
on my new Vista machine (which does not have Outlook on it):
1) Open your old Outlook and look over what folders you want to copy over.
Note: any folders in the Archive Folder in Outlook will not appear on the
import folder list. You'll need to copy the archive folders you want over to
your Personal Folders area. Personally, I would do this after successfully
importing everything else, as copying over archives might make your .pst
files get unwieldy and large (and possibly unusable).
2) Open Outlook Express 6. This program comes with Internet Explorer 6 SP1,
free to download with it - you should have it on your machine, or can get it
by updating to IE6 SP1
(
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie6/downloads/critical/ie6sp1/default.mspx).
3) You can import from Outlook to Outlook Express 6. Go to "File | Import |
Messages..." and import from Outlook. Choose the folders you want to import
or just select Import All.
4) Once everything is in Outlook Express 6, go to "Tools | Options..." and
click on the Maintenance tab. Click on the "Store Folder..." button. A
directory will be shown in the dialog. Copy this directory location (however
you wish). Close down Outlook Express 6.
5) Open a file explorer and go to this directory. Copy all the files in here
over to your Vista computer, into some temporary directory. The method used
is your choice: network, CD, whatever. Experts: you might want to skip this
step and try using this directory when importing - see step 7 and my warning
there.
6) Start up Windows Mail on Vista (and set up the account, etc.). Go to
"File | Import | Messages...", then select "Outlook Express 6". Hit Next. The
bottom option, "Import mail from an OE6 store directory" should be the only
option available. Hit OK.
7) Here's the part that had me stuck for awhile, "Location of Messages". Hit
"Browse..." and go find your temporary directory from step 5. Select it. The
utterly confusing bit is "No files match your search" displayed on the right.
Just hit "Select Folder". You might also hit a snag with the browse path -
examine it at this point. If it has the temporary directory path but the last
folder name in the path is repeated (e.g.
"C:\Users\Cathy\Document\TempImport\TempImport", then Browse again. Also
note: I tried shortcutting early on, setting this directory to the Outlook
Express 6 directory in step 5 and import over the network, but this failed
for some reason.
8) Once you hit "Next", you should now be able to import All folders, etc.
Enjoy! You'll probably want to reorganize the folders once imported. Happily,
moving folders around in Windows Mail is pretty snappy.
I hope this works. I'm no expert, but after having spent way too much time
trying to do what should be simple (going from one Microsoft product to
another), I felt obligated to attempt to help others out.
