Outlook PSTs Do Not Open in XP

[Guest]

I am a LAN Admin in a large governmental agency.

Recently we replaced a whole bunch of PCs running either NT or 2000Pro with
XP and Outlook 2002 or 2003.

The users were using Outlook 2000 and had PSTs that were kept on network
drives.

I know of the MSKB articles that advise against PSTs on a LAN or WAN link.
I also have to take orders and keep my job.

In any case, when I rebuild the Outlook profile on these PSTs, I try to
attach to these PSTs via File, Open, outlook Data File. I see the PST but
cannot open it, I get a "you do not have rights to this." message. I have
tried putting the PST on a local hard drive, a networked one and a flash
drive, same message.

I suspect it is XP, here is why. I have 2000Pro with 2002 Outllok, another
with 2003 Outlook. I have no problem opening the PST, even on a network
drive.

What does XP have against these PSTs. And if it really hates them, how can
I convert the PSTs and save the data and make it available to my users?

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

I am a LAN Admin in a large governmental agency.

Recently we replaced a whole bunch of PCs running either NT or
2000Pro with XP and Outlook 2002 or 2003.

The users were using Outlook 2000 and had PSTs that were kept on
network drives.

I know of the MSKB articles that advise against PSTs on a LAN or WAN
link. I also have to take orders and keep my job.

OK - well, get something in writing that shows you've advised them not to do
this. It's not just that it's unadvisable - MS officially does not support
it, and aside from performance problems, you will probably run into data
corruption and loss.
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=297019

In any case, when I rebuild the Outlook profile on these PSTs, I try
to attach to these PSTs via File, Open, outlook Data File. I see the
PST but cannot open it, I get a "you do not have rights to this."
message. I have tried putting the PST on a local hard drive, a
networked one and a flash drive, same message.

I suspect it is XP, here is why. I have 2000Pro with 2002 Outllok,
another with 2003 Outlook. I have no problem opening the PST, even
on a network drive.

What does XP have against these PSTs. And if it really hates them,
how can I convert the PSTs and save the data and make it available to
my users?

Don't know what you mean by convert. You can't open a new/unicode-format
(2003) PST file in an older version, but you can open any PST file with
OL2003, and you can open non-unicode format PST files in any other version
of Outlook.
Did you try posting in an Outlook newsgroup?
Did you try running scanpst.exe against the file after making a backup copy?

 

[Guest]

Dear LAN:

I did mention the 297019 to several people. Some were unaware, others said,
"we have never had problems", others have said, "you are preaching to the
choir". Fear not, my *** is covered in this one .

That said, I use the word "convert" carefully. The file can be read in a
2000 Pro PC with Outlook 2003 but not in an XP PC (the user's) with Outlook
2003. It is my job to figure out a way to make it readable.

I use convert because if I had another type of file, say DOC, that ran in
one version of Windows and not another, one of my fixes would be to convert
the file to RTF and then try it on the XP PC.

I agree I should be able to open it in Outlook 2003, but not with XP as my OS.

I posted this in an Outlook newsgroup, they mentioned similar points. The
reason I bring it to the XP group is that when I test it, my variable is the
OS. The file is good accord to the Outlook 2003/2000Pro configuration but
not in the Outlook 2003/XP configuration. I have eliminated all the other
variables.

What is Scanpst and where is it found?

Thanks

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Dear LAN:

I did mention the 297019 to several people. Some were unaware,
others said, "we have never had problems", others have said, "you are
preaching to the choir". Fear not, my *** is covered in this one .

Hope so.

That said, I use the word "convert" carefully. The file can be read
in a 2000 Pro PC with Outlook 2003 but not in an XP PC (the user's)
with Outlook 2003. It is my job to figure out a way to make it
readable.

I can't think of any reason this shouldn't work by default. Where exactly is
the file located, and what permissions does this user have on it? I think
you're running into permissions issues, nothing to do with the workstation
per se, or with Outlook. Are you on a domain? Does this computer belong to
the domain?

I use convert because if I had another type of file, say DOC, that
ran in one version of Windows and not another, one of my fixes would
be to convert the file to RTF and then try it on the XP PC.

I agree I should be able to open it in Outlook 2003, but not with XP
as my OS.

I posted this in an Outlook newsgroup, they mentioned similar points.
The reason I bring it to the XP group is that when I test it, my
variable is the OS. The file is good accord to the Outlook
2003/2000Pro configuration but not in the Outlook 2003/XP
configuration. I have eliminated all the other variables.

What is Scanpst and where is it found?

Search for scanpst.exe - but I don't think you need this, I think it's a
permissions issue.

 

[Guest]

I will look at the file carefully as far as permissions goes now. Being that
the user shad no issues with it when they were using a 2000 box or a NT 4.0
box (this actually has occurred twice), I never looked at the permissions
issue.

I have tried putting the file on a local drive, on a network drive and even
a USB key, all to the same result .

You are going to love the domain issue, the PC is on one domain and the
e-mail is on another one. The user has to log on separately to the e-mail .

I will examine the file carefully. Thanks.