OT: Outlook 2003 vs Thunderbird?

[Char Jackson]

Yes, thanks. As I said, I saw his message after I wrote the above.
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP

Sorry, your follow-up only confirmed that he was talking about OL
rather than OE, so I thought this other question was still
outstanding. Looks like we're all set, thanks.

 

[Peter Foldes]

Here is what VanguardLH posted. As far as having something residing in the Registry
there is only a very minimal mention of OL and this line can be removed from there
without having anything happen to the working of OL

<snip>

Besides the .pst file, other files are:

outcmd.dat
nk2.dat
extend.dat
<mailprofile>.srs
<mailprofile>.xml

outcmd.dat has your toolbar customizations. nk2 is the auto-complete
cache of user-entered strings, like for the To field for recipient
e-mail addresses (discontinued in OL2007 and moved into the .pst file).
extend.dat is used to cache up Outlook extensions (add-ons).
frmcache.dat is the forms cache. The .srs file has the settings for the
send/receive groups. The .xml file has the nav pane settings. There's
no point in moving these other files since Outlook always looks for them
at:

%userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
%userprofile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
%userprofile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Signatures
%userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Forms

That means you can't get all your user data/config files moved to a
different drive. You can, however, move the .pst file and configure
Outlook to look in the new path for it. It also means if you do backups
and want to restore Outlook to its prior state that you not only include
the .pst file but all the other Outlook files (with the exception of
extend.dat which is rebuilt if missing when Outlook starts).

< end snip>
--
Peter
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[Peter Foldes]

Ken

Forgot to mention that the only thing that is stored in the Registry for Outlook
which needs to be there is the persons Mail set up verification file and even that
is miniscule , meaning that not the complete info on the profile that is in there.
Not the name nor the email ady only the verification that OL it is\was set up

--
Peter
Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[Char Jackson]

Here is what VanguardLH posted. As far as having something residing in the Registry
there is only a very minimal mention of OL and this line can be removed from there
without having anything happen to the working of OL

<snip>

Besides the .pst file, other files are:

outcmd.dat
nk2.dat
extend.dat
<mailprofile>.srs
<mailprofile>.xml

outcmd.dat has your toolbar customizations. nk2 is the auto-complete
cache of user-entered strings, like for the To field for recipient
e-mail addresses (discontinued in OL2007 and moved into the .pst file).
extend.dat is used to cache up Outlook extensions (add-ons).
frmcache.dat is the forms cache. The .srs file has the settings for the
send/receive groups. The .xml file has the nav pane settings. There's
no point in moving these other files since Outlook always looks for them
at:

%userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
%userprofile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
%userprofile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Signatures
%userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Forms

That means you can't get all your user data/config files moved to a
different drive. You can, however, move the .pst file and configure
Outlook to look in the new path for it. It also means if you do backups
and want to restore Outlook to its prior state that you not only include
the .pst file but all the other Outlook files (with the exception of
extend.dat which is rebuilt if missing when Outlook starts).

< end snip>

Actually, you missed the most important part, which is also the only
relevant part. Here you go, from that same post.

:None of the e-mail account info is stored in the .pst file (or other
:files). It is stored in the registry for the mail profile at:
:
:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows
:Messaging Subsystem\Profiles\<profilename>
:
:Values are crypto hashed so you cannot simply copy the registry keys and
:import them into another instance of Windows. You'll have to recreate
:your e-mail account definitions in Outlook in a fresh install of
:Outlook.

 

[Tim Slattery]

What does that mean? I use Pegasus Mail daily, and it certainly hasn't
stopped working - it works as well as it ever did. It certainly hasn't
stopped being developed - the latest version was released in January,
and a new major version is expected later this year.

Agreed, it's my email client of choice. Still being developed, active
user community with newsgroups, mailing list and web forums.

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Char Jackson:

Actually, you missed the most important part, which is also the only
relevant part. Here you go, from that same post.

:None of the e-mail account info is stored in the .pst file (or other
:files). It is stored in the registry for the mail profile at:
:
:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows
:Messaging Subsystem\Profiles\<profilename>
:
:Values are crypto hashed so you cannot simply copy the registry keys and
:import them into another instance of Windows. You'll have to recreate
:your e-mail account definitions in Outlook in a fresh install of
:Outlook.

That's the part that I zeroed in on.

Probably not a big deal to most, but I was looking for something
that minimized the hassle when I either had to re-image a PC or
move to a totally-new PC.

In that respect, ThunderBird seems to do the trick. One
installs it on a new PC, then edits a couple of .INI file lines
that point it to a Data drive or share and that's the end of it.

Worst-case scenario is a re-image where somebody moved it's
database and re-edited the .INI files since the image was taken.

 

[David H. Lipman]

Sorry, I was misinformed; I was under the impression that development _had_ stopped.
Glad to hear it's still alive: it was/is a good piece of software, with a good
philosophy.

21 years of availability and we are now waiting for David to release v5.0.