Exporting OL Files

[Joe McGuire]

I am moving from my law firm to another. In the old firm we run OL 2002 on
a network. I have exported my Outlook Today (Inbox, Calendar, Contacts,
etc.) to a *.pst file to my hard drive in anticipatioin of copying it to a
flash drive. I also am in the process of exporting my archive (a 1GB+
folder) the same way (it takes quite a while!!!). Am I doing the right
thing? I read the Microsoft Article on transfering OL but there is no
reference there to Archive folders. I understand I have to import the
Outlook Today (I named it OLbackup.pst) in OL at my new firm. DO I do the
same for the archive file? Or do I just copy it to the folder OL uses for
archiving on the new system (a stand-alone application, at least for now)?

Second question. Due to some glitch a while back I have 2 OL archive
folders, one small (~160mb) and the other huge (1gb+). I don't recall how
it happened but it was a problem with archiving and MS Terminal Server and
multiple archive locations. Our IT people can't remember the details. Is
there a way to combine the two archive folders, eliminating duplications?
If not, I can live with the problem. But whenever I have to look in the
archive I usually have to look in two places, which is an annoyance.

 

[Gordon]

I am moving from my law firm to another. In the old firm we run OL 2002 on
a network. I have exported my Outlook Today (Inbox, Calendar, Contacts,
etc.) to a *.pst file to my hard drive in anticipatioin of copying it to a
flash drive.

First question - all email sent and received at your work belongs to your
current employer. Do you have permission to take a copy of all this email?
Second question - are you on Exchange server? if the answer is NO, and the
answer to question one is YES, then you do NOT need to "export" anything,
just take a copy of the already-existing pst file.

I also am in the process of exporting my archive (a 1GB+
folder) the same way (it takes quite a while!!!). Am I doing the right
thing?

No. If the Archive file is a pst file then just copy it - with the proviso
of question one above.

I read the Microsoft Article on transfering OL but there is no
reference there to Archive folders. I understand I have to import the
Outlook Today (I named it OLbackup.pst) in OL at my new firm.

No. As posted here more than once a day, do NOT use the import/export
function to move data from one Outlook to another.
Just copy the pst file to your new HDd and in Outlook do File-Open-Outlook
Data file

 

[Joe McGuire]

Thanks. Yes, I have permission--a fairly amicable partnership split-up.
And yes we are on Exchange Server. (I moved Outlook from one home computer
to another a few years ago, recall copying the pst files but can't remember
exactly what I did to get OL onto the new computer) Did I screw up by
"exporting" the folders to my HD and then to a flash drive? If so, I can do
it over again if I can find the files. I recall that the archive files are
on one of oour network drives (h:\). I suppose archives for other users
would be there, too.

 

[Brian Tillman]

I am moving from my law firm to another. In the old firm we run OL
2002 on a network. I have exported my Outlook Today (Inbox,
Calendar, Contacts, etc.) to a *.pst file to my hard drive in
anticipatioin of copying it to a flash drive.

And by doing so, you probably corupted something or lost some data. Never
export to a PST. There's no reason. Just copy the ORIGINAL PST.

Now, also keep in mind that the mail you received at the old firm belongs to
that firm. Unless you have it IN WRITING that you have permission to take
it with you, DO NOT. That's stealing of company property.

Second question. Due to some glitch a while back I have 2 OL archive
folders, one small (~160mb) and the other huge (1gb+). I don't
recall how it happened but it was a problem with archiving and MS
Terminal Server and multiple archive locations. Our IT people can't
remember the details. Is there a way to combine the two archive
folders, eliminating duplications?

Copy the contents of one set of folders into the other, then use a duplicate
remover to remove the duplicates.

 

[Joe McGuire]

The files/folders are still on the network or exchange server or wherever
that stuff is. It's just that I have to try to find where they are. I know
there are 2 archive files and, of course, Outlook Today, so there are 3 pst
files. Somewhere.

When I have good pst files ready to copy onto the HD of the new computer, do
I need to copy them to any particular location? Or does OL find them
wherever I put them (desktop?) and then take them over? Will OL then create
its own pst files that have no direct connection with what I had copied?
Once I have OL running (and maybe fun Autoarchive) are the files I had
copied onto the HD still used or do I just delete them?

 

[Gordon]

Thanks. Yes, I have permission--a fairly amicable partnership split-up.
And yes we are on Exchange Server. (I moved Outlook from one home
computer to another a few years ago, recall copying the pst files but
can't remember exactly what I did to get OL onto the new computer) Did I
screw up by "exporting" the folders to my HD and then to a flash drive?

Not AFAIK - that's the only way to get the contents of your Echange mailbox
into a format that you can move to another machine on a different network.

 

[Joe McGuire]

Thanks. Good point about ownership of the e-mail but not a problem here.
("Ownership" of such stuff is a little different in a law firm environment,
particularly since the communications are from or to my clients or to others
in furtherance of the clients' interests.) I can do this stuff all over
again tomorrow, this time searching for the various *.pst files. Are my
exchange files kept on the local PC? I know the archives are somewhere on a
network drive (H:\).

 

[Pat Willener]

Your PST file(s) should be on your local PC; you can check their
location(s) using the Mail applet in the Control Panel (Data Files).

 

[Brian Tillman]

Thanks. Good point about ownership of the e-mail but not a problem
here. ("Ownership" of such stuff is a little different in a law firm
environment, particularly since the communications are from or to my
clients or to others in furtherance of the clients' interests.) I
can do this stuff all over again tomorrow, this time searching for
the various *.pst files. Are my exchange files kept on the local PC?
I know the archives are somewhere on a network drive (H:\).

Since you are using an Exchange mailbox, I believe the correct approach is
to create a new PST (File>New>Outlook Data File), then, from within Outlook,
copy each of your Exchange-based folders to the PST. When done, you can
close the PST and take it with you on some medium like a flash drive or CD.
Make sure Outlook is closed when you copy the PST.

If you don't know where the archive folders are placed, in Outlook click
Tools>Options>Other>AutoArchive and see where Outlook is configured to place
them.