Boss Unhappy: Please help with mailbox migration

[TexasMirty]

Our company used to be on Exchange 5.5. The conversion to Exchange 2003
occurred before I came on board. We now have users who are using
Outlook 2003 but their mailboxes -- migrated from the Exchange 5.5
server to the Exchange 2003 server -- are still in the old ANSI PST
format, not UNICODE. That means my boss has hit the 2 GB limit. He
wants a Unicode mailbox that is free of the 2 GB limit on size -- a
feature of Exchange 2003.

How can I preserve all his emails and make sure they migrate into a new
Unicode mailbox?

This is what I'm thinking --

1. Export all his email to a PST file.
2. Delete his existing mailbox.
3. Create a new mailbox for him on the Exchange 2003 server.
4. Import the data from the PST file into the new mailbox.

Will the data import into the new PST and be in Unicode format? Or will
it force a downgrade of his mailbox to non-Unicode? Will it work at
all?

Has anyone tried this?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Hal Hostetler [MVP P/I]]

No version of Exchange Server has a hard limit of 2Gb for mailbox size, that
limit applies to ANSI format .PST and .OST files ONLY. His "Mailbox" on the
server can be any size he wants, subject to any limits placed in ADUC or on
the Mailbox Store in Exchange System Manager. If he stores his mail LOCALLY
in an ANSI .PST, move all his mail back to the Exchange Server, create a
Unicode .PST and copy it all back. If he uses an .OST, delete the current
..OST and recreate it. We also upgraded from Exchange 5.5 and my GM's
mailbox was on the order of 4.5 Gb at the time.

Hal
--
Hal Hostetler, CPBE -- (e-mail address removed)
Senior Engineer/MIS -- MS MVP-Print/Imaging -- WA7BGX
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