Moving Outlook to a New Computer

[M C Hamster]

I use Outlook as my email software, and have a large number of message
rules set up to move messages to the correct folders, etc.

I am getting a new laptop tomorrow, and want to use it now as the
computer I do all my emailing from.

I've found info on how to reconnect my old PST file onto the new
machine
(http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA010771141033.aspx). My
question is whether this will move all of my message rules to the new
machine, and what I need to do to create the various folders on the
new machine. Can I copy over the old file structure of these folders
to the new machine too? Is that part of the PST file info? Or do I
have to create all these folders by hand?

Please point me to any relevant articles etc.

Oh, what about copying my contacts / address book to the new computer?

The new computer is Vista, the old one is XP... i hope that doesn't
cause grief.

Dave Olson

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

Your answers depend on the version of Outlook you are using, which you decided was not important enough to cite. So, the answer is a qualified yes, and perhaps no.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.

After furious head scratching, M C Hamster asked:

| I use Outlook as my email software, and have a large number of message
| rules set up to move messages to the correct folders, etc.
|
| I am getting a new laptop tomorrow, and want to use it now as the
| computer I do all my emailing from.
|
| I've found info on how to reconnect my old PST file onto the new
| machine
| (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA010771141033.aspx). My
| question is whether this will move all of my message rules to the new
| machine, and what I need to do to create the various folders on the
| new machine. Can I copy over the old file structure of these folders
| to the new machine too? Is that part of the PST file info? Or do I
| have to create all these folders by hand?
|
| Please point me to any relevant articles etc.
|
| Oh, what about copying my contacts / address book to the new computer?
|
| The new computer is Vista, the old one is XP... i hope that doesn't
| cause grief.
|
| Dave Olson

 

[M C Hamster]

Your answers depend on the version of Outlook you are using, which you decided was not important enough to cite. So, the answer is a qualified yes, and perhaps no.

Sorry, it's MS Outlook 2003, with SP2, for PCs, part of Microsoft
Office 2003 Standard Edition. As I said, my current computer is XP
Professional, the new one is Vista. Need more info to help? I
appreciate it, thanks.

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

Rules are carried with the .pst file but may need to be activated "on this machine" to work properly. Open the Rules and Alerts to see if your rules are checked. If not, check each one.

The .pst file has all of your Outlook data including all of your mail folders and folder structure. The only thing you may have to do is to add the Outlook Address Book service to your new laptop installation. Control Panel->Mail Icon->Accounts->Directories->View or change. If you OAB service does not show, back up one step and add it.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.

After furious head scratching, M C Hamster asked:

| On Sun, 18 Feb 2007 15:38:22 -0800, "Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]"
|
|| Your answers depend on the version of Outlook you are using, which
|| you decided was not important enough to cite. So, the answer is a
|| qualified yes, and perhaps no.
|
| Sorry, it's MS Outlook 2003, with SP2, for PCs, part of Microsoft
| Office 2003 Standard Edition. As I said, my current computer is XP
| Professional, the new one is Vista. Need more info to help? I
| appreciate it, thanks.

 

[M C Hamster]

Rules are carried with the .pst file but may need to be activated "on this machine" to work properly. Open the Rules and Alerts to see if your rules are checked. If not, check each one.

The .pst file has all of your Outlook data including all of your mail folders and folder structure. The only thing you may have to do is to add the Outlook Address Book service to your new laptop installation. Control Panel->Mail Icon->Accounts->Directories->View or change. If you OAB service does not show, back up one step and add it.

Thanks. I got my new computer, and Vista has some new thing called
Windows Easy Transfer which, if it works, sounds wonderful... it
supposedly copies over all your old settings, Outlook folders etc. as
well as lots of other stuff on the old computer to the new one. I
have to get a transfer cable but I hope this works as well as they
promise.

M C Hamster

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Be prepared to be disappointed. Rarely does WET work well for Outlook. Make
sure you keep a safe copy of your Outlook PST file and be prepared to create
a new Outlook profile and use that file when WET doesn't work. Your accounts
and data may transfer, but you will likely still have some services that
will not work, such as the address book.

 

[M C Hamster]

Be prepared to be disappointed. Rarely does WET work well for Outlook. Make
sure you keep a safe copy of your Outlook PST file and be prepared to create
a new Outlook profile and use that file when WET doesn't work. Your accounts
and data may transfer, but you will likely still have some services that
will not work, such as the address book.

Thanks, I will definitely backup and copy the PST file.

My immediate irritation is that my new Vista machine won't let me
install Office / Outlook 2003 at all! It says that the machine needs
Windows 97, 2000, Me, or XP, and of course it doesn't have any of
those. So it aborts the install.

GRRRRR.

It has a preview install of Office 2007, natch. I didn't know if I
needed to uninstall that for the 2003 install to work but was afraid
to do this without knowing more. So far I've not located any good
info on this, so I'm posting this here hoping someone knows something
about this new problem.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

You would definitely need to uninstall Office 2007 before installing an
older version. I have no idea what a "preview install" is. If you have
further issues they are with your OEM. Office 2003 will install on Vista
just fine.

 

[M C Hamster]

You would definitely need to uninstall Office 2007 before installing an
older version. I have no idea what a "preview install" is. If you have
further issues they are with your OEM. Office 2003 will install on Vista
just fine

It's the software itself, but it isn't activated... the "preview
install' means just that. It might give access to the "What's New in
Office 2007" part of the software or some such. I'll uninstall that
and see if that solves the problem.

 

[M C Hamster]

It's the software itself, but it isn't activated... the "preview
install' means just that. It might give access to the "What's New in
Office 2007" part of the software or some such. I'll uninstall that
and see if that solves the problem.

I did have success installing office 2003 on the new computer.
Tomorrow i'll try WET.

Thanks to all for the help.

 

[M C Hamster]

I did have success installing office 2003 on the new computer.
Tomorrow i'll try WET.

Thanks to all for the help

As an fyi, WET worked great, brought over all my folders and address
book. I'm not sure the message rules worked though.

mc hamster

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Check your Outlook Address Book (not your Contacts). Most users are
reporting it will not survive WET and cannot be recovered.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

On Mon, 19 Feb 2007 16:16:47 -0500, "Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]"

You would definitely need to uninstall Office 2007 before installing an
older version. I have no idea what a "preview install" is. If you have
further issues they are with your OEM. Office 2003 will install on Vista
just fine

It's the software itself, but it isn't activated... the "preview
install' means just that. It might give access to the "What's New in
Office 2007" part of the software or some such. I'll uninstall that
and see if that solves the problem.

I did have success installing office 2003 on the new computer.
Tomorrow i'll try WET.

Thanks to all for the help

As an fyi, WET worked great, brought over all my folders and address
book. I'm not sure the message rules worked though.

mc hamster