exporting pst files

[news.microsoft.com]

Is there any difference between exporting pst files and simply copying them
to another drive while Outlook is closed? I had assumed that there had to be
SOME reason for the export function which takes an age while the copy
function takes a few seconds? Is the exported pst file more compressed than
the copied one or does the exported one export the contents of the file
attachments like the normal pst file does?

For some reason, both in safe mode and normal, the export function wont work
on my archive folder; it starts, exhibits an hourglass or goes on to export
but always crashes the program before it finishes. I am just wondering when
the scanpst function which detects that it wasn't closed last time stops
working and my user pst files start being irretrievably corrupted by all
this crashing?

(BTW, is there some way of doing this in outlook express? Is everything in
OE carried in one big file somewhere?)

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

The exported file won't contain rules, custom views, custom forms, etc., only individual data items. Copying the entire file is always better than exporting all your folders.

You might want to alternate ScanPST with Scandisk or another disk repair tool 3-4 times.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[news.microsoft.com]

Then I wonder why anyone bothers to export or why they include this
feature!! I will follow your instructions although I cant see the point of
exporting when copying is so easy.

Did you ever have any ideas about how I might repair my pst file which was
copied while outlook was open before I discovered (the hard way) that you
cant do this? As I still cant find anywhere easy in the instructions which
tell you not to do this, I thought that so many people must have got
corrupted backup files by now that SOMEONE must have written a program which
repairs precisely this corruption?

The exported file won't contain rules, custom views, custom forms, etc.,
only individual data items. Copying the entire file is always better than
exporting all your folders.

You might want to alternate ScanPST with Scandisk or another disk repair
tool 3-4 times.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Exporting to a .pst file can be a quick way to make a copy of just one or two folders, although Ctrl+drag/drop is probably just as fast.

See my earlier response for repair suggestions.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Exporting is for transferring Outlook data to another format. If you don't
need to change format, just copy the PST.
There is nothing unique to this type of data file corruption. If alternating
the Inbox Repair Tool with a scandisk utility fails to repair the PST file,
you can use the following tool to find out what can be fixed:
http://officerecovery.com/outlook/index.htm