Share/Copy .PST data PC#1 Outlook 2003 {--} PC#2 Outlook 2007 Business Contact Manager

[JDJ]

I have 2 PC's with Office 2003 Pro.

I want to install the Office 2007 Beta on one of the PC's, at least
the MS Outlook 2007 module, and I want to install THAT with the
Business Contact Manager 2007.

Will I be able to safely copy my data, i.e. my .PST files back & forth
over the coming months between the PC running Outlook 2003 WITHOUT BCM
and the one running Outlook 2007 WITH Business Contact Manager?

I mean is there any incompatibility between the data files used by
Office 2007 and Office 2003?

I know that the Business Contact Manager stores its data in MSDE (SQL
Server), but is that separate from the Contacts, Emails, Calendar Data
in Outlook?

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

I would not recommend it if the data is important - better is to install it
in a virtual machine until you are sure it won't corrupt your data.

 

[JDJ]

I would not recommend it if the data is important - better is to install it
in a virtual machine until you are sure it won't corrupt your data.

Well I realize there is a risk because it is "beta" software, but how
can I test it / use it, if I don't go and get mail, send mail, etc.
etc.

I think multiple snapshot backups of

C:\Documents and Settings\JJ\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook\Outlook.pst

C:\Documents and Settings\JJ\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook\archive.pst

C:\Documents and Settings\JJ\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook\[email protected] John
Jackson-00000010.pst

is probably a good idea in case Outlook 2007 crashes the .pst file(s),
but my question was, in theory, the file structure has not changed ???
and assuming no corruption due to a bug, Outlook 2003 can still read a
..pst file that has been updated by daily use with Outlook 2007??

 

[Brian Tillman]

is probably a good idea in case Outlook 2007 crashes the .pst file(s),
but my question was, in theory, the file structure has not changed ???
and assuming no corruption due to a bug, Outlook 2003 can still read a
.pst file that has been updated by daily use with Outlook 2007??

Yes, Outlook 2003 should be able to use a PST previously used in Outlook
2007.