Outlook 2000 PSTs Cannot Be Opened in Outlook 2002 or 2003

[Guest]

My organization is in the middle of a lengthy upgrade.

User has a PST created in Outlook 2000, her Outlook is upgraded to 2003.
When she tries opening it, Outlook sees it, but says she has no rights to
access it.

I have 2000, and when I try to open it in 2000, I can do it. So it is not a
rights issue.

is there a workaround? Or can the PST be converted then reimported?

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

You'll need to look elsewhere for an answer.
PST files from earlier version are perfectly compatible with Outlook 2003.
There is no conversion needed. Why are you so sure it is not a rights issue?

 

[Guest]

Russ:

I am the LAN Admin for a large governmental agency on the east coast.

After we got new PCs for a bunch of users, I was called to the site. Before
we FDISKed the drives, I had to remove a whole lot of data that resides on a
users hard drive, Word documents and her Outlook 2000 PST. They were in her
My Documents folder on the C drive.

I got the old PC on the network, moved her documents and her PST to her
network drive. The Word documents opened, no problem, the PST file is seen
by Outlook but cannot be opened. Just for the hell of it, I put it on her C
drive and it still could not be opened.

I copied the file onto a Flash drive to work with it.

Friday, j ust before I left for home, I could open the file on my 2000Pro Pc
with Outlook 2000 SR-1.

I also had another call about this.

One final test, I will sit at 2 identical 2000Pro Pcs, one with Outlook
2003, one with 2000. I will plug in my Flash drive into each and if I can
read the PST in the 2000 and not the 2003, I would say it is the PST, not the
rights.

Any better way of troubleshooting this?

You'll need to look elsewhere for an answer.
PST files from earlier version are perfectly compatible with Outlook 2003.
There is no conversion needed. Why are you so sure it is not a rights issue?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

My organization is in the middle of a lengthy upgrade.

User has a PST created in Outlook 2000, her Outlook is upgraded to 2003.
When she tries opening it, Outlook sees it, but says she has no rights to
access it.

I have 2000, and when I try to open it in 2000, I can do it. So it is not a
rights issue.

is there a workaround? Or can the PST be converted then reimported?

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Not that I know of. I can only tell you that there is no incompatibility
between Outlook 2003 and PST's created in earlier versions, so that is not
the problem. I have never seen what you are describing reported. I'm sure
you already know that PST files should reside on a local hard drive and must
have complete read/write access. It is well known that moving PST's to
network drives can have unintended consequences and is not supported.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Russ:

I am the LAN Admin for a large governmental agency on the east coast.

After we got new PCs for a bunch of users, I was called to the site.
Before
we FDISKed the drives, I had to remove a whole lot of data that resides on
a
users hard drive, Word documents and her Outlook 2000 PST. They were in
her
My Documents folder on the C drive.

I got the old PC on the network, moved her documents and her PST to her
network drive. The Word documents opened, no problem, the PST file is
seen
by Outlook but cannot be opened. Just for the hell of it, I put it on her
C
drive and it still could not be opened.

I copied the file onto a Flash drive to work with it.

Friday, j ust before I left for home, I could open the file on my 2000Pro
Pc
with Outlook 2000 SR-1.

I also had another call about this.

One final test, I will sit at 2 identical 2000Pro Pcs, one with Outlook
2003, one with 2000. I will plug in my Flash drive into each and if I can
read the PST in the 2000 and not the 2003, I would say it is the PST, not
the
rights.

Any better way of troubleshooting this?

You'll need to look elsewhere for an answer.
PST files from earlier version are perfectly compatible with Outlook
2003.
There is no conversion needed. Why are you so sure it is not a rights
issue?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

My organization is in the middle of a lengthy upgrade.

User has a PST created in Outlook 2000, her Outlook is upgraded to
2003.
When she tries opening it, Outlook sees it, but says she has no rights
to
access it.

I have 2000, and when I try to open it in 2000, I can do it. So it is
not a
rights issue.

is there a workaround? Or can the PST be converted then reimported?

 

[Guest]

I was not aware of the problem of moving PSTs to network drives. I have been
with this organization for 5 years and have never seen a problem in practice.
This issue is the first I have ever seen of it. And my practice has always
been to create a PST on a network drive. This problem only happened with
Outlook 2000 PSTs being opened in Outlook 2003.

However, that whole line of thinking seems bizarre to me in theory as well.
E-mail is inherently a network resource and just as Microsoft has procedures
for backups of Exchange servers with user mailboxes, it seems incredibly
disingenuous that PSTs are not considered a network resource.

From a practical standpoint, workstation hard drives have been known to
crash once or twice. Networks are designed to prevent data loss by having
data files being put on a central server which is backed up daily.

But for you to tell me that one should put a PST on a local workstation that
is never backed up sounds quite strange.

I'll get back to you tomorrow with results of my tests. Like I said, I will
put the PST locally, then on a network drive. If I can see it in 2000 but
not in 2003, then perhaps we have a new problem that I am the first person to
report .

BTW, can you point me to Microsoft documentation that advises against
placement of PST files on network drives?

Not that I know of. I can only tell you that there is no incompatibility
between Outlook 2003 and PST's created in earlier versions, so that is not
the problem. I have never seen what you are describing reported. I'm sure
you already know that PST files should reside on a local hard drive and must
have complete read/write access. It is well known that moving PST's to
network drives can have unintended consequences and is not supported.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Russ:

I am the LAN Admin for a large governmental agency on the east coast.

After we got new PCs for a bunch of users, I was called to the site.
Before
we FDISKed the drives, I had to remove a whole lot of data that resides on
a
users hard drive, Word documents and her Outlook 2000 PST. They were in
her
My Documents folder on the C drive.

I got the old PC on the network, moved her documents and her PST to her
network drive. The Word documents opened, no problem, the PST file is
seen
by Outlook but cannot be opened. Just for the hell of it, I put it on her
C
drive and it still could not be opened.

I copied the file onto a Flash drive to work with it.

Friday, j ust before I left for home, I could open the file on my 2000Pro
Pc
with Outlook 2000 SR-1.

I also had another call about this.

One final test, I will sit at 2 identical 2000Pro Pcs, one with Outlook
2003, one with 2000. I will plug in my Flash drive into each and if I can
read the PST in the 2000 and not the 2003, I would say it is the PST, not
the
rights.

Any better way of troubleshooting this?

You'll need to look elsewhere for an answer.
PST files from earlier version are perfectly compatible with Outlook
2003.
There is no conversion needed. Why are you so sure it is not a rights
issue?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
My organization is in the middle of a lengthy upgrade.

User has a PST created in Outlook 2000, her Outlook is upgraded to
2003.
When she tries opening it, Outlook sees it, but says she has no rights
to
access it.

I have 2000, and when I try to open it in 2000, I can do it. So it is
not
a
rights issue.

is there a workaround? Or can the PST be converted then reimported?

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

I'll let you find the documentation for yourself. I'm not a research
librarian and I'm sure you know how to search the KB.

PST files are designed for standalone end users of Outlook. They are not
designed for use with Exchange and most certainly are not designed for
sharing or use on network drives.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I was not aware of the problem of moving PSTs to network drives. I have
been
with this organization for 5 years and have never seen a problem in
practice.
This issue is the first I have ever seen of it. And my practice has
always
been to create a PST on a network drive. This problem only happened with
Outlook 2000 PSTs being opened in Outlook 2003.

However, that whole line of thinking seems bizarre to me in theory as
well.
E-mail is inherently a network resource and just as Microsoft has
procedures
for backups of Exchange servers with user mailboxes, it seems incredibly
disingenuous that PSTs are not considered a network resource.

From a practical standpoint, workstation hard drives have been known to
crash once or twice. Networks are designed to prevent data loss by having
data files being put on a central server which is backed up daily.

But for you to tell me that one should put a PST on a local workstation
that
is never backed up sounds quite strange.

I'll get back to you tomorrow with results of my tests. Like I said, I
will
put the PST locally, then on a network drive. If I can see it in 2000 but
not in 2003, then perhaps we have a new problem that I am the first person
to
report .

BTW, can you point me to Microsoft documentation that advises against
placement of PST files on network drives?

Not that I know of. I can only tell you that there is no incompatibility
between Outlook 2003 and PST's created in earlier versions, so that is
not
the problem. I have never seen what you are describing reported. I'm sure
you already know that PST files should reside on a local hard drive and
must
have complete read/write access. It is well known that moving PST's to
network drives can have unintended consequences and is not supported.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Russ:

I am the LAN Admin for a large governmental agency on the east coast.

After we got new PCs for a bunch of users, I was called to the site.
Before
we FDISKed the drives, I had to remove a whole lot of data that resides
on
a
users hard drive, Word documents and her Outlook 2000 PST. They were
in
her
My Documents folder on the C drive.

I got the old PC on the network, moved her documents and her PST to her
network drive. The Word documents opened, no problem, the PST file is
seen
by Outlook but cannot be opened. Just for the hell of it, I put it on
her
C
drive and it still could not be opened.

I copied the file onto a Flash drive to work with it.

Friday, j ust before I left for home, I could open the file on my
2000Pro
Pc
with Outlook 2000 SR-1.

I also had another call about this.

One final test, I will sit at 2 identical 2000Pro Pcs, one with Outlook
2003, one with 2000. I will plug in my Flash drive into each and if I
can
read the PST in the 2000 and not the 2003, I would say it is the PST,
not
the
rights.

Any better way of troubleshooting this?






:

You'll need to look elsewhere for an answer.
PST files from earlier version are perfectly compatible with Outlook
2003.
There is no conversion needed. Why are you so sure it is not a rights
issue?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
My organization is in the middle of a lengthy upgrade.

User has a PST created in Outlook 2000, her Outlook is upgraded to
2003.
When she tries opening it, Outlook sees it, but says she has no
rights
to
access it.

I have 2000, and when I try to open it in 2000, I can do it. So it
is
not
a
rights issue.

is there a workaround? Or can the PST be converted then reimported?

 

[Guest]

Russ:

Here is a wild one.

I now have the PSTs from both non-working users and can see them both in
2000Pro PCs running Outlook 2000, 2003 and 2002.

But the non-working PCs are XP Pro.

Could the OS be the source of the problem? That seems to be the variable
here now.

BTW, I did consult the Knowledge Base and found what you were talking about.
I mentioned it to several senior Exchange people and they had no idea about
it. Thanks.

I'll let you find the documentation for yourself. I'm not a research
librarian and I'm sure you know how to search the KB.

PST files are designed for standalone end users of Outlook. They are not
designed for use with Exchange and most certainly are not designed for
sharing or use on network drives.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I was not aware of the problem of moving PSTs to network drives. I have
been
with this organization for 5 years and have never seen a problem in
practice.
This issue is the first I have ever seen of it. And my practice has
always
been to create a PST on a network drive. This problem only happened with
Outlook 2000 PSTs being opened in Outlook 2003.

However, that whole line of thinking seems bizarre to me in theory as
well.
E-mail is inherently a network resource and just as Microsoft has
procedures
for backups of Exchange servers with user mailboxes, it seems incredibly
disingenuous that PSTs are not considered a network resource.

From a practical standpoint, workstation hard drives have been known to
crash once or twice. Networks are designed to prevent data loss by having
data files being put on a central server which is backed up daily.

But for you to tell me that one should put a PST on a local workstation
that
is never backed up sounds quite strange.

I'll get back to you tomorrow with results of my tests. Like I said, I
will
put the PST locally, then on a network drive. If I can see it in 2000 but
not in 2003, then perhaps we have a new problem that I am the first person
to
report .

BTW, can you point me to Microsoft documentation that advises against
placement of PST files on network drives?

Not that I know of. I can only tell you that there is no incompatibility
between Outlook 2003 and PST's created in earlier versions, so that is
not
the problem. I have never seen what you are describing reported. I'm sure
you already know that PST files should reside on a local hard drive and
must
have complete read/write access. It is well known that moving PST's to
network drives can have unintended consequences and is not supported.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Russ:

I am the LAN Admin for a large governmental agency on the east coast.

After we got new PCs for a bunch of users, I was called to the site.
Before
we FDISKed the drives, I had to remove a whole lot of data that resides
on
a
users hard drive, Word documents and her Outlook 2000 PST. They were
in
her
My Documents folder on the C drive.

I got the old PC on the network, moved her documents and her PST to her
network drive. The Word documents opened, no problem, the PST file is
seen
by Outlook but cannot be opened. Just for the hell of it, I put it on
her
C
drive and it still could not be opened.

I copied the file onto a Flash drive to work with it.

Friday, j ust before I left for home, I could open the file on my
2000Pro
Pc
with Outlook 2000 SR-1.

I also had another call about this.

One final test, I will sit at 2 identical 2000Pro Pcs, one with Outlook
2003, one with 2000. I will plug in my Flash drive into each and if I
can
read the PST in the 2000 and not the 2003, I would say it is the PST,
not
the
rights.

Any better way of troubleshooting this?






:

You'll need to look elsewhere for an answer.
PST files from earlier version are perfectly compatible with Outlook
2003.
There is no conversion needed. Why are you so sure it is not a rights
issue?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
My organization is in the middle of a lengthy upgrade.

User has a PST created in Outlook 2000, her Outlook is upgraded to
2003.
When she tries opening it, Outlook sees it, but says she has no
rights
to
access it.

I have 2000, and when I try to open it in 2000, I can do it. So it
is
not
a
rights issue.

is there a workaround? Or can the PST be converted then reimported?

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

The only reason the OS might come into play is if you have an issue with
folder permissions. You should be getting an error message to that effect if
that were the case. You can read about that here:
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=308421

Did you ever check these PST files for errors?

You can certainly store PST files on network drives for backup purposes, but
you should not try to access them over a network. Your administrators should
already be aware of this information:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;297019
http://www.swinc.com/resources/exch... 5.5&sectionID=1013&sectionName=Why PST = BAD

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Russ:

Here is a wild one.

I now have the PSTs from both non-working users and can see them both in
2000Pro PCs running Outlook 2000, 2003 and 2002.

But the non-working PCs are XP Pro.

Could the OS be the source of the problem? That seems to be the variable
here now.

BTW, I did consult the Knowledge Base and found what you were talking
about.
I mentioned it to several senior Exchange people and they had no idea
about
it. Thanks.

I'll let you find the documentation for yourself. I'm not a research
librarian and I'm sure you know how to search the KB.

PST files are designed for standalone end users of Outlook. They are not
designed for use with Exchange and most certainly are not designed for
sharing or use on network drives.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I was not aware of the problem of moving PSTs to network drives. I have
been
with this organization for 5 years and have never seen a problem in
practice.
This issue is the first I have ever seen of it. And my practice has
always
been to create a PST on a network drive. This problem only happened
with
Outlook 2000 PSTs being opened in Outlook 2003.

However, that whole line of thinking seems bizarre to me in theory as
well.
E-mail is inherently a network resource and just as Microsoft has
procedures
for backups of Exchange servers with user mailboxes, it seems
incredibly
disingenuous that PSTs are not considered a network resource.

From a practical standpoint, workstation hard drives have been known to
crash once or twice. Networks are designed to prevent data loss by
having
data files being put on a central server which is backed up daily.

But for you to tell me that one should put a PST on a local workstation
that
is never backed up sounds quite strange.

I'll get back to you tomorrow with results of my tests. Like I said, I
will
put the PST locally, then on a network drive. If I can see it in 2000
but
not in 2003, then perhaps we have a new problem that I am the first
person
to
report .

BTW, can you point me to Microsoft documentation that advises against
placement of PST files on network drives?


:

Not that I know of. I can only tell you that there is no
incompatibility
between Outlook 2003 and PST's created in earlier versions, so that is
not
the problem. I have never seen what you are describing reported. I'm
sure
you already know that PST files should reside on a local hard drive
and
must
have complete read/write access. It is well known that moving PST's to
network drives can have unintended consequences and is not supported.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Russ:

I am the LAN Admin for a large governmental agency on the east
coast.

After we got new PCs for a bunch of users, I was called to the site.
Before
we FDISKed the drives, I had to remove a whole lot of data that
resides
on
a
users hard drive, Word documents and her Outlook 2000 PST. They
were
in
her
My Documents folder on the C drive.

I got the old PC on the network, moved her documents and her PST to
her
network drive. The Word documents opened, no problem, the PST file
is
seen
by Outlook but cannot be opened. Just for the hell of it, I put it
on
her
C
drive and it still could not be opened.

I copied the file onto a Flash drive to work with it.

Friday, j ust before I left for home, I could open the file on my
2000Pro
Pc
with Outlook 2000 SR-1.

I also had another call about this.

One final test, I will sit at 2 identical 2000Pro Pcs, one with
Outlook
2003, one with 2000. I will plug in my Flash drive into each and if
I
can
read the PST in the 2000 and not the 2003, I would say it is the
PST,
not
the
rights.

Any better way of troubleshooting this?






:

You'll need to look elsewhere for an answer.
PST files from earlier version are perfectly compatible with
Outlook
2003.
There is no conversion needed. Why are you so sure it is not a
rights
issue?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
My organization is in the middle of a lengthy upgrade.

User has a PST created in Outlook 2000, her Outlook is upgraded
to
2003.
When she tries opening it, Outlook sees it, but says she has no
rights
to
access it.

I have 2000, and when I try to open it in 2000, I can do it. So
it
is
not
a
rights issue.

is there a workaround? Or can the PST be converted then
reimported?