Converting a non-unicode data file to unicode

[cyndiwise notsowise]

My Outlook data file is nearly 1.5 GB, and is in the older non-unicode
format. I am using Outlook 2007 on Windows XP.

I want to convert my data file to the newer unicode format so I will have
more storage. I tried following the Help information in Outlook 2007 to
convert to the newer unicode format, but I get an error message when I select
the old .pst file to import from: "This Personal Folders File (.pst) is
already in use in the current profile".

I created a new data file that is empty but in the newer unicode format. I
opened it in my current profile that has the old data file. I tried to close
the old data file but that option is not available.

Do I need to create a new profile? It's so frustrating when the Help
documentation is incomplete.

 

[Brian Tillman]

My Outlook data file is nearly 1.5 GB, and is in the older non-unicode
format. I am using Outlook 2007 on Windows XP.

I want to convert my data file to the newer unicode format so I will
have more storage. I tried following the Help information in Outlook
2007 to convert to the newer unicode format, but I get an error
message when I select the old .pst file to import from: "This
Personal Folders File (.pst) is already in use in the current
profile".

I created a new data file that is empty but in the newer unicode
format. I opened it in my current profile that has the old data file.
I tried to close the old data file but that option is not available.

First, make the new data file your delivery location on Tool>Account
Settings. Then stop and restart Outlook. Then for each non-default folder
in your original PST, right-click the folder and choose Copy, specifying the
destination as the root of the new PST (your new Outlook Today). For each
default folder, open the folder in the old PST , select all the items in it
with CTRL-A, then click Edit>Copy and specify as the destination the
corresponding folder in the default PST. For the calendar you'll have to
display the folder in a table view before CTRL-A will select all items.

When you're finished copying the data, right-click the root of the old PST
and choose Close.

 

[cyndiwise notsowise]

The first problem I ran into was that the new data file only has two folders:
"Deleted Items" and "Search Folders". There is no Inbox and the Tools>Account
Settings>Change Folder dialog won't let me choose just the name of the new
file.

Did I do something wrong when I created the new data file? Why is there no
Inbox?

I have a huge amount of non-default folders created in the old data file and
had hoped that by importing I wouldn't have to create all new folders in the
new data file.

 

[Brian Tillman]

The first problem I ran into was that the new data file only has two
folders: "Deleted Items" and "Search Folders". There is no Inbox and
the Tools>Account Settings>Change Folder dialog won't let me choose
just the name of the new file.

Did I do something wrong when I created the new data file? Why is
there no Inbox?

A new data file won't contain any other folders but the ones you see until
you make it the delivery location or you create those folders. That's why I
said, "First, make the new data file your delivery location."

I have a huge amount of non-default folders created in the old data
file and had hoped that by importing I wouldn't have to create all
new folders in the new data file.

You can import if you wish, but you WILL lose data and could see some
"interesting" side-effects, as documented in these newsgroups daily.

 

[cyndiwise notsowise]

I tried to change the delivery location to the new data file, but Outlook
wouldn't let me. I went to Tools > Account Settings > Email and selected one
of my email accounts. Then I clicked on Change Folder and a dialog box
opened. I selected the new data file, but the OK button was inactive and the
New Folder button became active. This is why I said that Outlook wouldn't let
me change the delivery location.

Do I need to create a temporary new folder in the new data file? Or, am I
going about changing the delivery location all wrong? I looked in OL Help for
"change delivery location", but found nothing helpful.

Thanks for your help.

 

[cyndiwise notsowise]

Update: I created a temporary folder in the new data file and selected it as
the destination for new emails in one of my email accounts.

Then, I closed and restarted Outlook and sent a test message to the email
account for which I had changed the delivery location. When I received the
test message in the temporary folder, THEN Outlook created an Inbox in the
new data file.

Next, I had to go BACK to the email account and change the delivery location
again, this time to the correct Inbox. At least I realized this might happen
and waited before changing the delivery location for all of my other email
accounts.

Now, I have some other questions regarding the copying of the contents of
the default folders in the old data file to the new data file. Am I right in
assuming that the default Drafts folder won't be created until I create a new
draft?

Is this the case for ALL of the default folders, including Calendar,
Contacts, Tasks, Journal, RSS feeds, etc.? Those don't show up in the new
data file yet.

Also, many of my non-default folders have subfolders, and subfolders within
the subfolders. Can I just copy the "root" non-default folder to the new data
file, and all of the subfolders with subfolders will be copied to the new
data file? I sure hope so - that would save an enormous amount of time.

Another question: I have Business Contact Manager installed - will I have to
change, copy, or move anything associated with BCM?

Thanks so much for your help!

 

[cyndiwise notsowise]

Sorry, I had another question (wish I could just edit my earlier post):

I have a lot of rules set up in order to keep all my incoming emails
organized. Do I need to recreate the rules for the new data file, or can I
just edit the existing rules to send the emails to the corresponding folders
in the new data file?

Thanks so much!

 

[cyndiwise notsowise]

After puzzling about how to get the default folders to show up in my new data
file, I finally stumbled upon the answer in another post.

Here's how to change the delivery location for new emails to the new data
file (in OL 2007):

Go to File>Data File Management>Data Files tab. Select the new data file
name and then click on Set as Default. Outlook advises you to close Outlook
and restart for the changes to be effective.

This is also how the default folders for Inbox, Calendar, Notes, Journal,
etc. get created in your new data file. Wish I had been able to find out how
to do this before, but the OL Help documentation was no help at all. Just
thought anyone else trying to do this would like to know the way it's
accomplished.

The answer to my question below about copying non-default folders with
multiple subfolders is YES, you can copy the "root" non-default folder and
all subfolders will be copied along with all of the stored emails. In my
case, it took at least an hour if not more, but at least I wasn't stuck with
copying each folder separately.

Business Contact Manager - I'm still not sure if there's anything that I
need to do or change since I started using a new data file. If anyone can
help me with this, I'd be grateful. Otherwise, I may post that question in
the BCM discussion group.

 

[Brian Tillman]

After puzzling about how to get the default folders to show up in my
new data file, I finally stumbled upon the answer in another post.

Here's how to change the delivery location for new emails to the new
data file (in OL 2007):

Go to File>Data File Management>Data Files tab. Select the new data
file name and then click on Set as Default. Outlook advises you to
close Outlook and restart for the changes to be effective.

I'm glad you discovered the answer. I know how to change the default
delivery location in OL 2003 and earlier, but hadn't yet had a chance to
check my copy of OL 2007. I'm glad you were able to work it out.