Copying pst file - move to other 'puter

[Ken]

OL 2003

I have OL 2K3 on both my desktop and my laptop. I work off of my desktop
during the day, and at day's end I want to move a copy of my pst file over
to my laptop. (Someone in this group - an MVP - told me it's better to copy
and to export/import. Something about not everything being exported/copied
in an export/import.)

What I did was locate my pst file on my laptop, rename it to "Old
Outlook.pst," and then copy "Outlook.pst" from my desktop to the location on
my notebook.

But now, when I open Outlook on my notebook, I have two "Personal File"
trees in my navigation pane. One tree has the familiar icon (the little
house with the clock next to it), and the other has an icon showing a group
of folders. Each tree appears to have the exact same folder in it. If I
delete an email from one tree, it's deleted from the other.

How can I easily copy the pst from one computer to the other, without this?

Thanks.
Ken

 

[neo [mvp outlook]]

With Outlook closed on the laptop, open the control panel and double click
on the Mail applet. Select the data files button and see if you have 2 pst
files listed. (should only be the one you want to use.)

 

[Ken]

Checked, and there *is* only one.

With Outlook closed on the laptop, open the control panel and double click
on the Mail applet. Select the data files button and see if you have 2
pst files listed. (should only be the one you want to use.)

 

[neo [mvp outlook]]

That means there is something funky with a section of the registry that will
force you to create a new mail profile (don't copy the existing one) and
delete the old one.

 

[Douglas Baumgarten via OfficeKB.com]

I'm just a regular user, not an expert. But what I do is put the file on
disc, and insert into laptop. Then in laptop Oulook, I open import/export,
and ask it to import a .pst file. The key seems to be the screen that asks
what folder you want to import -- it also has a radio button asking which
folder to import INTO: select the "import into current folder" button,
otherwise it will create a new set of folders. It seems to work well,
especially importing one folder (schedule, contacts, etc.) at a time. It's
the only way I've found to import the data without creating new files.

 

[Ken]

And what happens to all the existing Contacts, Calendar, and Mail entries?

 

[neo [mvp outlook]]

creating a new mail profile via the mail applet in the control panel doesn't
do anything to user data.

 

[Ken]

OK. Made new profile, which works fine, but all of my info is in the other
profile. How do I move it over.

(Sorry for all the questions....)

Thanks for your help.
Ken

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Not a good idea. This is how people end up with missing data and 2 PST files
that they can't close.
It's far safer simply to open the other PST file in Outlook and copy what
you want from it. Then you can close the second.

 

[neo [mvp outlook]]

Not a problem, use the data files button to add the pst you want. Use the
e-mail accounts button and set the new (or should that be old with the data
you want) PST file as the default. Now back to the data files button to
remove the empty pst file. from there, just add your imap/pop/smtp accounts
to the new profile.

 

[Ken]

Worked like a charm.... Thanks so much

Not a problem, use the data files button to add the pst you want. Use the
e-mail accounts button and set the new (or should that be old with the
data you want) PST file as the default. Now back to the data files button
to remove the empty pst file. from there, just add your imap/pop/smtp
accounts to the new profile.