Changing My Outlook 2003 PST from 97-2002 to Unicode Format?

[Jim McGowan]

What is the best way to get the data from my PST - presently in the
older Outlook 97-2002 format - into a new PST in the newer Outlook
2003 Unicose format? (I am using Outlook 2003)

I've had Outlook installed as part of MS Office for a few years,
starting with, I believe, OL 97.

Each time I upgraded to a new version, I just ran the installer and
allowed it to use the default. When it sensed, or asked and I
responded, the previous version's data it just "took over" the
existing PST. Always seemed OK to me.

But now that I have had Office/Outlook 2003 installed for over a year,
I get a lot of errors that I did not understand, but I was always able
to keep using everything so I didn't worry much about them. But the
errors are getting more frequent and are beginning to affect me more
and more. Like when I click on To: while composing an email message
to add recipients and some contacts just do not show in there, yet
they are there in my default contacts folder and that is set as the
address book. Also at times, when I am opening, editing, and saving
contacts, after I edit a few Outlook cannot open anymore. I get
memory errors but the memory is actually in good shape.

Now, however, I realize that these errors appear to be, at least in
part, due to using a PST file with an Outlook 97-2002 format.
Scanpst.exe, Inbox Repair Tool, and even reinstalling Office does not
fix the errors. I've read what I can find out about this and it seems
that all of the above-mentioned tools do not touch the user files,
even though they appear to be the problem. That would explain why the
errors persist. However from what I've read, the PST I use cannot be
converted from the OL 97-2002 format to the newer Unicode OL 2003
format. Likewise, all articles claim that importing the existing PST
data into a new Unicode PST is nothing but trouble. Yet apparently
there are ways to somehow get the old PST's data into a new OL 2003
format.

I appreciate any help with this!

 

[SgtRich]

What is the best way to get the data from my PST - presently in the
older Outlook 97-2002 format - into a new PST in the newer Outlook
2003 Unicose format? (I am using Outlook 2003)

Verify that your current .pst file in Outlook 2003 is using the
Unicode format. If it is not, create a new .pst file using the new
format. Then, open the older .pst file in Outlook 2003 (make sure not
to overwrite a .pst file with the same name!) and copy everything that
you want to transfer from the older .pst file folders into the newer
format .pst file's folders.

 

[Jim McGowan]

Verify that your current .pst file in Outlook 2003 is using the
Unicode format. If it is not, create a new .pst file using the new
format. Then, open the older .pst file in Outlook 2003 (make sure not
to overwrite a .pst file with the same name!) and copy everything that
you want to transfer from the older .pst file folders into the newer
format .pst file's folders.

SgtRich,

Current PST is definitely not Unicode. So I will create a new PST
within 2003 and that should then be Unicode.

As for the "...copy everything..." direction, You mean via the regular
copy/paste commands? How much can be copied at a time? Eg, within
the email folders can I grab the contents entire folders and Ctrl+C /
Ctrl+V? And how do I copy/paste calendar events? Copy the whole
folder named Calendar?

Thanks.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

The most reliable way is simply to copy the contents of one folder to
another (Select All > Copy to Folder...). Copying the folder itself will
create a second folder which cannot be set as default. Many users are
tempted to use Outlook's import routine to transfer data. Avoid it. It is
flawed. It will lose data and have other unintended consequences such as
creating a duplicate PST file.
For folders such as calendar, you'll need to create a list view (e.g., "By
category") so you can select all appointments at once. --
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

 

[Jim McGowan]

The most reliable way is simply to copy the contents of one folder to
another (Select All > Copy to Folder...). Copying the folder itself will
create a second folder which cannot be set as default. Many users are
tempted to use Outlook's import routine to transfer data. Avoid it. It is
flawed. It will lose data and have other unintended consequences such as
creating a duplicate PST file.
For folders such as calendar, you'll need to create a list view (e.g., "By
category") so you can select all appointments at once. --
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Thanks Russ. This is what I needed.

Much appreciated!

 

[Brian Tillman]

As for the "...copy everything..." direction, You mean via the regular
copy/paste commands? How much can be copied at a time? Eg, within
the email folders can I grab the contents entire folders and Ctrl+C /
Ctrl+V? And how do I copy/paste calendar events? Copy the whole
folder named Calendar?

Posted many times by me and others. Google Groups is your friend.
<http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.outlook/msg/6c494918872e06fc>

 

[Jim McGowan]

Posted many times by me and others. Google Groups is your friend.
<http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.outlook/msg/6c494918872e06fc>

Thanks Brian - I always try searching directly here on Usenet here,
with Agent Forte.

Senseless, I guess...

 

[Jim McGowan]

The most reliable way is simply to copy the contents of one folder to
another (Select All > Copy to Folder...). Copying the folder itself will
create a second folder which cannot be set as default. Many users are
tempted to use Outlook's import routine to transfer data. Avoid it. It is
flawed. It will lose data and have other unintended consequences such as
creating a duplicate PST file.
For folders such as calendar, you'll need to create a list view (e.g., "By
category") so you can select all appointments at once. --
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Well, all has been moved to the new PST. Good and bad
Good - it all went relatively painlessly. A heck of a lot of copying,
dragging, etc. Re-creating rules, search folders, etc. But
eventually I finished.

Bad Outlook 2003 is acting up now that I am using the
2003-format PST. Rules keep failing. I have rules set up to move
messages to certain folders for certain email accounts. I set them all
up, run them as a test - all is well. They all work when I test them.
Then I get a message that matches a rule and I get a rules error
saying that the target folder doesn't exist. I fix it - it breaks.
Continually.

Next, after setting up three or four search folders, before I finsh
the third or fourth, Outlook terminates. No warning at all, no error
message, no audible alert. It just quietly closes. And when I open it
again there are no search folders.

Plus, it is definitely slower than it was before the switch.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

2 suggestions:
1. Reset your rules by stepping through them and directing them to the
proper Folders. I do not understand why rules would be affected if all you
did was copy data from another PST file. There must be more to this story.
Did you change the default delivery location for this profile?
2. Reset your Outlook Address Book by removing it from the profile,
restarting Outlook, and re-adding it. I do not understand why search
functions would be affected if all you did was copy data from another PST
file. There must be more to this story. Did you change the default delivery
location for this profile?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

The most reliable way is simply to copy the contents of one folder to
another (Select All > Copy to Folder...). Copying the folder itself will
create a second folder which cannot be set as default. Many users are
tempted to use Outlook's import routine to transfer data. Avoid it. It is
flawed. It will lose data and have other unintended consequences such as
creating a duplicate PST file.
For folders such as calendar, you'll need to create a list view (e.g., "By
category") so you can select all appointments at once. --
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Well, all has been moved to the new PST. Good and bad
Good - it all went relatively painlessly. A heck of a lot of copying,
dragging, etc. Re-creating rules, search folders, etc. But
eventually I finished.

Bad Outlook 2003 is acting up now that I am using the
2003-format PST. Rules keep failing. I have rules set up to move
messages to certain folders for certain email accounts. I set them all
up, run them as a test - all is well. They all work when I test them.
Then I get a message that matches a rule and I get a rules error
saying that the target folder doesn't exist. I fix it - it breaks.
Continually.

Next, after setting up three or four search folders, before I finsh
the third or fourth, Outlook terminates. No warning at all, no error
message, no audible alert. It just quietly closes. And when I open it
again there are no search folders.

Plus, it is definitely slower than it was before the switch.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[Jim McGowan]

2 suggestions:
1. Reset your rules by stepping through them and directing them to the
proper Folders. I do not understand why rules would be affected if all you
did was copy data from another PST file. There must be more to this story.
Did you change the default delivery location for this profile?
2. Reset your Outlook Address Book by removing it from the profile,
restarting Outlook, and re-adding it. I do not understand why search
functions would be affected if all you did was copy data from another PST
file. There must be more to this story. Did you change the default delivery
location for this profile?

Russ,

1. I do keep stepping through the rules and creating them from
scratch. It's like the rules are OK and the target folders recognized
when I first create them and click on "Apply" right then, but then do
not recognize them when trying to process an actual incoming message.

And yes, after creating the new PST and new folders, and then copying
all messages from the old PST, I went into "Accounts" and reset the
mail delivery location to this newly created PST. Wasn't I supposed to
do that? It was the only way I could find to have an Inbox, etc.,
created for this PST and to have new messages go to these folders.

It does seem that this would be the likely place for something to go
wrong, as essages nowl being directed to this PST and the rules not
recognizing the target folders would seem to indicate that something
is failing in the mail direction/location.

I'll try walking through it once again - checking the default PST and
re-creating all rules once more.

I'll also reset the address book as you suggested.

Thanks.

 

[Jim McGowan]

2 suggestions:
1. Reset your rules by stepping through them and directing them to the
proper Folders. I do not understand why rules would be affected if all you
did was copy data from another PST file. There must be more to this story.
Did you change the default delivery location for this profile?
2. Reset your Outlook Address Book by removing it from the profile,
restarting Outlook, and re-adding it. I do not understand why search
functions would be affected if all you did was copy data from another PST
file. There must be more to this story. Did you change the default delivery
location for this profile?

More information.

I noticed that upon opening Outlook right after my last post here,
only three messages showed in the folder visible when Outlook starts.
Yet I could see that my Inbox had several more unread messages than
that according to the Unread indicator next to the Inbox folder. I
also notices that no folder in the left pane was highlighted.

When I clicked on Inbox, all of the messages there were shown. So I
then clicked File>Open and opened the Outlook.pst file that I moved
all the messages from to this new PST, and sure enough the Inbox there
had those three messages that showed in the message pane when Outlook
is first opened.

So when Outlook starts, even though that old Outlook.pst file is
supposedly not open, and does not show at all in the folder pane, the
messages in the Inbox of that old PST are showing?!?!

Double checking the defaultg mail delivery location shows ONLY the new
PST, and the same for the address book. I cannot even see the old PST
unless I click File>Open first and manually open it.

What could be wrong here? I'm confused!

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Wait a minute. Are you saying you set your new PST file as the default
_after_ you transferred the data into it?
You should have created your new PST file in a new profile, made sure it is
the default, then opened your old PST file and transferred the data from it.
Your rules will not transfer. You must export them separately as an RWZ
file.

 

[Jim McGowan]

Russ,

Wait a minute. Are you saying you set your new PST file as the default
_after_ you transferred the data into it?

Yep, sure did. Didn't realize that I needed a new "Profile".
Everything here appeared to be geared toward creating the new PST -
I've never used Profiles for email. I'm the one and only user on my
PC's, thus I have never had to be concerned with user profiles of any
sort.

You should have created your new PST file in a new profile, made sure it is
the default, then opened your old PST file and transferred the data from it.
Your rules will not transfer. You must export them separately as an RWZ
file.

So now I guess I have to look into creating a Profile. This will be an
entirely new task. Oddly enough, doing the same thing on my desktop PC
as I did on my notebook (the problem child I've been posting about)
seems to be working fine. None of the same issues as those afflicting
my notebook PC are present.

Well, off to research and read up on Outlook profiles.

Thanks.

 

[Brian Tillman]

I noticed that upon opening Outlook right after my last post here,
only three messages showed in the folder visible when Outlook starts.
Yet I could see that my Inbox had several more unread messages than
that according to the Unread indicator next to the Inbox folder. I
also notices that no folder in the left pane was highlighted.

When I clicked on Inbox, all of the messages there were shown. So I
then clicked File>Open and opened the Outlook.pst file that I moved
all the messages from to this new PST, and sure enough the Inbox there
had those three messages that showed in the message pane when Outlook
is first opened.

After you switched the delivery location, I'm assuming your stopped and
restarted Outlook. However, the behavior you describe seems to indicate
that Outlook still believes the old PST is the delivery location. That
tells me that perhaps Outlook DIDN'T close and restart. Stop Outlook again
and use Task Manager to make sure OUTLOOK.EXE is no longer in the process
list or just reboot your PC. See if that makes a difference.

 

[Brian Tillman]

Yep, sure did. Didn't realize that I needed a new "Profile".

You shouldn't need a new profile, but it can't hurt.

So now I guess I have to look into creating a Profile.

http://www.howto-outlook.com/faq/newprofile.htm

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Initially, you would not have needed a new profile. You could have created a
new PST file in the new format, but you needed to set it immediately to be
the default and then restart Outlook before you started transferring
information. The only reason you need a new profile now is that your current
profile is corrupt beyond repair and you will never get either one of these
files to be your default exclusively.
Creating new profiles is easy and a useful technique to learn. Profiles
easily get corrupted and creating new ones solve a host of common problems.
Brian has posted links to the methods.

 

[Jim McGowan]

Initially, you would not have needed a new profile. You could have created a
new PST file in the new format, but you needed to set it immediately to be
the default and then restart Outlook before you started transferring
information. The only reason you need a new profile now is that your current
profile is corrupt beyond repair and you will never get either one of these
files to be your default exclusively.
Creating new profiles is easy and a useful technique to learn. Profiles
easily get corrupted and creating new ones solve a host of common problems.
Brian has posted links to the methods.

Russ, Brian:

All sounds reasonable. Not fun, mind you... But I guess I'll have to
work with it. I knew there were reasons I stopped using this blasted
application a few years ago!

Anyway, for now the new PST is working OK. This morning I got rid of
the old PST altogether, as it seemed that the Inbox in there was for
some reason still the first that the new PST file was looking at. I
didn't delete it altogether, but simply moved it to another location,
in effect hiding it from Outlook.

BTW, Russ, I still have copies of the original PST before it became
corrupted. Both backup copies made with the pfbackup.exe application
(from Microsoft), and also the PST file on my desktop PC. I try to
keep the PST files as close as possible on both PC's, as I need access
to my email on either machine. So if I needed to, I could copy that
one over to the notebook.

Wish there was a good way to actually keep them synchronized but I
can't find any that work very well. So every once in a while I copy
one PST to the other PC and, while I do not set it as the default
delivery location, I can always open it in Outlook to view messages.

If either of you hear about a working synchronization method for
Outlook, please post about it! (Other than Plaxo, please}.

Thanks for all the assistance guys. You've been a lot of help! I
appreciate your time.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Not quite sure what you're asking now. There is no good way to synchronize
Outlook between 2 PST files. Is that what you really want to do? Migrating
to a single UNICODE PST file seems to be what you needed. That's well within
reach with what we've posted.