Importing IMAP data files after new profile creation

[Mike H]

After creating a profile from scratch which included POP3, IMAP, and
Hotmail account (the connector added it to the profile) I used
Import/Export to import data from the old PST file containing my personal
folders.

Was I correct in assuming that I didn't need to repeat that step for the
IMAP accounts? I have always assumed that those folders are nothing more
than a cache, or to provide access to old messages if necessary to work
offline.

 

[Gordon]

After creating a profile from scratch which included POP3, IMAP, and
Hotmail account (the connector added it to the profile) I used
Import/Export to import data from the old PST file containing my personal
folders.

Why did you do that? All advice given on all the Outlook groups is "do NOT
use the import/export function to transfer data from one Outlook to
another".
All you needed to do was to copy the pst file from one machine to the other,
then open it in Outlook.

(Courtesy of Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook])

Importing an entire PST may well corrupt your profile and may create a ghost
PST that you can't close. Importing PST's will lose:
1. Custom Forms
2. Custom Views
3. Connections between contacts and activities
4. Received dates on mail
5. Birthdays and anniversaries in calendar
6. Journal connections
7. Distribution Lists
8. It may also corrupt your Outlook Mail profile as well.

Opening a PST file will preserve all of these. That is why we do not advise
people to import a native file into Outlook.

Was I correct in assuming that I didn't need to repeat that step for the
IMAP accounts? I have always assumed that those folders are nothing more
than a cache, or to provide access to old messages if necessary to work
offline.

Yes - when you connect to the IMAP accounts Outlook will re-build the local
cache.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

After creating a profile from scratch which included POP3, IMAP, and
Hotmail account (the connector added it to the profile) I used
Import/Export to import data from the old PST file containing my personal
folders.

Was I correct in assuming that I didn't need to repeat that step for the
IMAP accounts? I have always assumed that those folders are nothing more
than a cache, or to provide access to old messages if necessary to work
offline.

You are correct that you do not need to worry about the IMAP and Hotmail
accounts. The PSTs associated with those accounts get recreated. they are
caches, as you presume.

 

[Mike H]

After creating a profile from scratch which included POP3, IMAP, and
Hotmail account (the connector added it to the profile) I used
Import/Export to import data from the old PST file containing my personal
folders.

Why did you do that? All advice given on all the Outlook groups is "do NOT
use the import/export function to transfer data from one Outlook to
another".
All you needed to do was to copy the pst file from one machine to the other,
then open it in Outlook.

(Courtesy of Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook])

Importing an entire PST may well corrupt your profile and may create a ghost
PST that you can't close. Importing PST's will lose:
1. Custom Forms
2. Custom Views
3. Connections between contacts and activities
4. Received dates on mail
5. Birthdays and anniversaries in calendar
6. Journal connections
7. Distribution Lists
8. It may also corrupt your Outlook Mail profile as well.

Opening a PST file will preserve all of these. That is why we do not advise
people to import a native file into Outlook.

Was I correct in assuming that I didn't need to repeat that step for the
IMAP accounts? I have always assumed that those folders are nothing more
than a cache, or to provide access to old messages if necessary to work
offline.

Yes - when you connect to the IMAP accounts Outlook will re-build the local
cache.

I wasn't trying to move between machines. The PST file containing my
personal folders has been corrupting about twice a day ever since I
installed the Hotmail Connector. Yes, I know, I'm hard pressed to see the
connection.


Given that the file will not stay intact I built a new profile from
scratch. The only way to populate the resulting empty PST file is to either
drag and drop, or import. Given that most of my accounts are either IMAP or
Windows Live, what I needed from the old file was my calendar and contacts.
The few messages received via POP3 from my ISP account were
inconsequential. Everything imported correctly, except for views. All I had
were defaults.

 

[Mike H]

After creating a profile from scratch which included POP3, IMAP, and
Hotmail account (the connector added it to the profile) I used
Import/Export to import data from the old PST file containing my personal
folders.

Was I correct in assuming that I didn't need to repeat that step for the
IMAP accounts? I have always assumed that those folders are nothing more
than a cache, or to provide access to old messages if necessary to work
offline.

Thanks, Gordon and Brian.

Alls good with my Outlook installation (Outlook 2003). Thought I'd give you
some background.

Ever since installing the Outlook Hotmail Connector several versions ago
I've had persistent corruption in the PST file containing my personal
folders. This usually manifested itself with hung send/receives. Exiting
Outlook and running scanpst would resolve the problem for a period of time.
This happened anywhere from once every few days to four or more times per
day. I don't see now, and I've never seen, how the Connector could have
influence on that PST file, and perhaps it doesn't. The Hotmail account I
use it for, however, is listed in my Profile (though not editable there).
So, maybe there was some profile corruption during my first use of the
Connector.

I finally gave up my own troubleshooting and contacted Microsoft Support
for Outlook Hotmail Connector. He recommended:
(1) Start Outlook using "Outlook.exe /ResetNavPane"
(2) Repair the PST file.
(3) Create a new profile.
(4) Import (using data import/export) the old and just-repaired PST file.

I didn't argue the point and followed his suggestions to the letter. The
result is that after five days I've not had a repeat of PST file corruption
and I consider the problem resolved. It's true that I lost all of my custom
views, but I retained my Calendar and Contacts intact. Another adverse side
effect was that the Hotmail Contacts all lost their "this is the mailing
address" selection. The data's still there, though.

FWIW

 

[Gordon]

Thanks, Gordon and Brian.

Alls good with my Outlook installation (Outlook 2003). Thought I'd give
you
some background.

Ever since installing the Outlook Hotmail Connector several versions ago
I've had persistent corruption in the PST file containing my personal
folders. This usually manifested itself with hung send/receives. Exiting
Outlook and running scanpst would resolve the problem for a period of
time.
This happened anywhere from once every few days to four or more times per
day. I don't see now, and I've never seen, how the Connector could have
influence on that PST file, and perhaps it doesn't. The Hotmail account I
use it for, however, is listed in my Profile (though not editable there).
So, maybe there was some profile corruption during my first use of the
Connector.

I finally gave up my own troubleshooting and contacted Microsoft Support
for Outlook Hotmail Connector. He recommended:
(1) Start Outlook using "Outlook.exe /ResetNavPane"
(2) Repair the PST file.
(3) Create a new profile.
(4) Import (using data import/export) the old and just-repaired PST file.

I didn't argue the point and followed his suggestions to the letter. The
result is that after five days I've not had a repeat of PST file
corruption
and I consider the problem resolved. It's true that I lost all of my
custom
views, but I retained my Calendar and Contacts intact. Another adverse
side
effect was that the Hotmail Contacts all lost their "this is the mailing
address" selection. The data's still there, though.

FWIW

Glad it's eventually sorted!