Converting old .pst to be compatible with Outlook 2003

[Guest]

My old laptop crashed and I had a backup of my Outlook contacts burned onto a
CD. Now that I have Outlook 2003, I am trying to import my old contacts list
from the CD into the new Outlook. When I do the Import/Export wizard, I
designate the file (Outlook.pst) that I saved to my desktop and at the last
step I get a message saying that the file is not a personal folders file.
What I want to do is import or export the backup of my contacts into the new
Outlook 2003 contacts folder.

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

Never import - copy.

Copy your .pst file to your hard drive, remove the read-only check mark and
use Outlook File->Open->outlook data file. Go to your contact folder,
expand it, select all, and drag and drop to you current contacts folder.


--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, Rob asked:

| My old laptop crashed and I had a backup of my Outlook contacts
| burned onto a CD. Now that I have Outlook 2003, I am trying to
| import my old contacts list from the CD into the new Outlook. When I
| do the Import/Export wizard, I designate the file (Outlook.pst) that
| I saved to my desktop and at the last step I get a message saying
| that the file is not a personal folders file. What I want to do is
| import or export the backup of my contacts into the new Outlook 2003
| contacts folder.

 

[Guest]

Ok. I tried that and it still did not work. I keep getting a message when I
try your solution that the file is not a personal folders file. I guess I
don't know the difference between and .pst file and how to make it so it can
be read as a personal folders file. I even tried opening the file on my
girlfriend's laptop with Outlook 2000 and it would not open it up either. I
am having a hard time believing that an Outlook 2000 .pst file cannot be
compatible with Outlook 2003. Can you please help me?

 

[Brian Tillman]

Ok. I tried that and it still did not work. I keep getting a
message when I try your solution that the file is not a personal
folders file.

Once you get this message for a PST chances are the PST is inrecoverable.
How did you create this PST?

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

If you tried copying this .pst file while Outlook was open, your .pst file
that you copied is toast.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, Rob asked:

| Ok. I tried that and it still did not work. I keep getting a
| message when I try your solution that the file is not a personal
| folders file. I guess I don't know the difference between and .pst
| file and how to make it so it can be read as a personal folders file.
| I even tried opening the file on my girlfriend's laptop with Outlook
| 2000 and it would not open it up either. I am having a hard time
| believing that an Outlook 2000 .pst file cannot be compatible with
| Outlook 2003. Can you please help me?
|
| "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]" wrote:
|
|| Never import - copy.
||
|| Copy your .pst file to your hard drive, remove the read-only check
|| mark and use Outlook File->Open->outlook data file. Go to your
|| contact folder, expand it, select all, and drag and drop to you
|| current contacts folder.
||
||
|| --Â
|| Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]
||
|| Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
|| unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
|| reading.
||
|| After furious head scratching, Rob asked:
||
||| My old laptop crashed and I had a backup of my Outlook contacts
||| burned onto a CD. Now that I have Outlook 2003, I am trying to
||| import my old contacts list from the CD into the new Outlook. When
||| I do the Import/Export wizard, I designate the file (Outlook.pst)
||| that I saved to my desktop and at the last step I get a message
||| saying that the file is not a personal folders file. What I want to
||| do is import or export the backup of my contacts into the new
||| Outlook 2003 contacts folder.

 

[Guest]

Well, when my laptop crashed, I took it down to the geeksquad at Best Buy.
They burned a backup copy of my hard drive which included making the .pst
file. A friend of mine said the same thing when he tried to copy it. He
said it may be toasted. Then, he had the idea of opening the file on my
dad's PC since he had Outlook 2000. He was able to and then copied what he
opened on my dad's machine and copied onto my new laptop. That cost me two
burritos at Taco Bell. Guess I will buy him two more burritos today. So, I
know it can be retrieved but it was a pain. I actually got a little further
in the wizard last night but was still unable to make it work. Going to the
GeekSquad today.

 

[Brian Tillman]

Well, when my laptop crashed, I took it down to the geeksquad at Best
Buy. They burned a backup copy of my hard drive which included making
the .pst file.

If your PST was open at the time of the crash, that could explain the
corruption. There's also anecdotal evidence that some CD burning software
does not handle PSTs well.

A friend of mine said the same thing when he tried to
copy it. He said it may be toasted. Then, he had the idea of
opening the file on my dad's PC since he had Outlook 2000. He was
able to and then copied what he opened on my dad's machine and copied
onto my new laptop. That cost me two burritos at Taco Bell. Guess I
will buy him two more burritos today. So, I know it can be retrieved
but it was a pain. I actually got a little further in the wizard
last night but was still unable to make it work. Going to the
GeekSquad today.

Good luck, then.