Transferring Outlook data to another PC

[Guest]

I am running Outlook 2000 under Windows XP Pro. I alternate my use of Outlook
between my main desktop PC and my laptop by simply transferring the
outlook.pst file. However, my rules for automatically filing incoming mail
into specific folders are not transferred via the pst file.

Can anyone advise me what other files I should synchronise between my two PCs?

 

[Brian Tillman]

I am running Outlook 2000 under Windows XP Pro. I alternate my use of
Outlook between my main desktop PC and my laptop by simply
transferring the outlook.pst file. However, my rules for
automatically filing incoming mail into specific folders are not
transferred via the pst file.

Well, they usually are, but have to be reactivated.

Can anyone advise me what other files I should synchronise between my
two PCs?

I don't know of any way other than exporting a .rwz file to be copied along
with the PST to the other machine and imported there.

 

[Guest]

Hi Brian,
After my original post, I stumbled across a help section on Rules
Export/Import and found that exporting rules is what creates the rwz file you
mentioned. I tried this process but hit a new problem. All my rules automate
the transfer of certain inbox emails to the appropriate folder. However,
after transfer to my new PC, none of these rules contained the name of the
target folder. They all required me to re-specify the folder name. This would
be almost as laborious as simply redefining the rules from scratch. Am I
missing something in the Export/Import procedure?

Regards,
David

 

[Brian Tillman]

After my original post, I stumbled across a help section on Rules
Export/Import and found that exporting rules is what creates the rwz
file you mentioned. I tried this process but hit a new problem. All
my rules automate the transfer of certain inbox emails to the
appropriate folder. However, after transfer to my new PC, none of
these rules contained the name of the target folder. They all
required me to re-specify the folder name. This would be almost as
laborious as simply redefining the rules from scratch. Am I missing
something in the Export/Import procedure?

If, as you say, you're transferring the PST as well, then the folder names
MUST be identical, since the PST you're transferring is where the rules came
from. Are you making this PST your delivery location after opening it in
the destination Outlook?

 

[Guest]

Are you making this PST your delivery location after opening it in
the destination Outlook?

I'm not quite sure what you mean by that question. However, I can confirm
that in every respect other than the missing rules, the transfer of the PST
appears to have fully recreated my Outlook environment in the new PC. All the
emails are there and all my personal folders are there. Opening the rules
wizard shows no rules at all, unless I select the import option - which, as
previously stated, imports only one half of each rule.

 

[Guest]

Brian, you may be on to something here. When I rebooted my PC this morning I
was reminded that I get the following warning message on my new PC after
opening Outlook - "The location messages are delivered to has changed for
this user profile. To complete this operation, you may need to copy the
contents of the old Outlook folders to the new Outlook folders. For
information about how to complete the change of your mail delivery location,
see Microsoft Outlook Help."

I had not previously related this message to my rules problem and was
intending to follow this up after fixing the rules. That now appears to have
been mistaken. However, searching Outlook Help for 'location' or 'delivery
location' has not thown up any obviously relevant topics.

Does this help to clarify my problem?

Regards,
David

 

[Brian Tillman]

Brian, you may be on to something here. When I rebooted my PC this
morning I was reminded that I get the following warning message on my
new PC after opening Outlook - "The location messages are delivered
to has changed for this user profile. To complete this operation, you
may need to copy the contents of the old Outlook folders to the new
Outlook folders. For information about how to complete the change of
your mail delivery location, see Microsoft Outlook Help."

I had not previously related this message to my rules problem and was
intending to follow this up after fixing the rules. That now appears
to have been mistaken. However, searching Outlook Help for 'location'
or 'delivery location' has not thown up any obviously relevant topics.

OK, then, describe in detail exactly what you do to transfer the PST and
make it available to the destination Outlook.

 

[Guest]

Brian,
In my case, the path to the PST file was as follows (or something similar)
on the source PC (my laptop):
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook\outlook.pst

With Outlook closed down on the target PC (my new desktop), I copied the
file via my network to the same location in this PC, overwriting the existing
PST file. Both source and target PCs were running Outlook 2000 under Win XP
Pro. I then opened Outlook on the target PC and got the error message I have
already quoted.

This is only the second Outlook transfer I have tried. My first transfer was
a few weeks ago from my old desktop (running Win 2k Pro) to my laptop. This
transfer was carried out in exactly the same manner as described above, but I
did not get the error message on opening Outlook. However, my rules were all
missing, just as with the latest transfer.

Regards,
David

 

[Brian Tillman]

With Outlook closed down on the target PC (my new desktop), I copied
the file via my network to the same location in this PC, overwriting
the existing PST file.

That is an excellent way to corrupt your mail profile. Never overwite an
existing PST that is currently part of a mail profile. The correct method
would be either put the copied PST in another folder or give it a new name
and put it in the same folder as the old one. Then, in Control Panel's Mail
applet, add the copied PST to the mail profile and make it the default
delivery location. When you start Outlook, it will be exactly the same as
what it was on the source PC, complete with rules. You may have to
reactivate the rules by reselecting the folders, and that's why I suggest
exporting your rules from the source machine and reimporting them on the
destination machine. That may correctly associate the rule references with
the proper folders.

As an alternative to using Control Panel, you can start Outlook, click
File>Open>Outlook Data File, browse to the copied PST, select it, and click
OK to add it to the profile, the use Tools>E-mail Accounts>Next to select it
as the delivery location, finally stopping and restarting Outlook to get it
to take effect.

See this as well: http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/backupandrestore.htm

 

[Guest]

..... in Control Panel's Mail
applet, add the copied PST to the mail profile and make it the default
delivery location.

I can't see anything in Control Panel/Mail that relates to PST files or
delivery locations. Please clarify.

As an alternative to using Control Panel, you can start Outlook, click
File>Open>Outlook Data File, browse to the copied PST, select it, and click
OK to add it to the profile.....

There is no option called Outlook Data File under File/Open on my copy of
Outlook 2000. There is an option entitled 'Personal Folders File (.pst)' that
will let me open any PST file I browse to, but there is no mention of
anything called a profile in this process.

..... then use Tools>E-mail Accounts>Next to select it
as the delivery location

There is no Tools/E-Mail Accounts option on my Outlook. The nearest is
Tools/Accounts and this does not then offer a Next option. I am beginning to
think that you are using a different version of Outlook.

Regards,
David

 

[Gordon]

I can't see anything in Control Panel/Mail that relates to PST files
or delivery locations. Please clarify.

Start-Control panel-Mail-Data Files

 

[Guest]

Start-Control panel-Mail-Data Files

No 'Data Files' option appears when I select Start/Control panel/Mail. All I
get is the opportunity to add or modify internet mail accounts. This is the
same on both my old desktop PC running Win2K Pro and my new desktop PC
running Win XP Pro. Both machines are using Outlook 2000.

Am I in a parallel universe?

Regards,
David

 

[Gordon]

No 'Data Files' option appears when I select Start/Control
panel/Mail. All I get is the opportunity to add or modify internet
mail accounts. This is the same on both my old desktop PC running
Win2K Pro and my new desktop PC running Win XP Pro. Both machines are
using Outlook 2000.

Am I in a parallel universe?

No, just using a rather old version of Outlook. I'm afraid you'll have to
wait for someone with the requisite knowledge to answer this - I haven't
used Office 2000 for 5 years or more......

 

[Brian Tillman]

I can't see anything in Control Panel/Mail that relates to PST files
or delivery locations. Please clarify. ....snip...
There is no option called Outlook Data File under File/Open on my
copy of Outlook 2000. There is an option entitled 'Personal Folders
File (.pst)' that will let me open any PST file I browse to, but
there is no mention of anything called a profile in this process.

Ah. I forgot you said you're using Outlook 2000. It must be that you're
using it in Internet Mail Only mode, then. To make another PST the delivery
location in that version, click File>Open>Personaly Folders File, browse to
the PST, select it, click OK. Then select if in the Folder List and click
File>Properties. Enable the option to delivery mail to the PST. Click OK.
Stop and restart Outlook.

 

[Guest]

Ah. I forgot you said you're using Outlook 2000. It must be that you're
using it in Internet Mail Only mode, then. To make another PST the delivery
location in that version, click File>Open>Personaly Folders File, browse to
the PST, select it, click OK. Then select if in the Folder List and click
File>Properties. Enable the option to delivery mail to the PST. Click OK.
Stop and restart Outlook.

I wasn't really aware of the terminology before, but I can confirm that my
version of Outlook 2000 is running in Internet Mail Only mode. As a home user
without access to an Exchange server, is there any other relevant mode?

Given that the PST file currently associated with the problematic Outlook
installation now carries my latest email data, I cannot rewind the clock and
re-run the transfer from my laptop. Obviously, none of the emails created
since my original transfer are present on the laptop PST file.

Since most of your previous comments related to the transfer process, and
were confused by the Outlook version misunderstanding, I would appreciate it
if you would confirm the steps now required to fix my current Outlook
installation.

Regards,
David

 

[Brian Tillman]

I wasn't really aware of the terminology before, but I can confirm
that my version of Outlook 2000 is running in Internet Mail Only
mode. As a home user without access to an Exchange server, is there
any other relevant mode?

I use Outlook 2000 in Corporate/Workgroup mode on one of my home PCs, even
though I have no Exchange server. For SMTP accounts it works the same and
gives me the advantage of being able to access the mail profile either via
Control Panel's Mail applet or Outlook's Tools>Services (which is
Tools>Accounts for IMO mode)

Given that the PST file currently associated with the problematic
Outlook installation now carries my latest email data, I cannot
rewind the clock and re-run the transfer from my laptop. Obviously,
none of the emails created since my original transfer are present on
the laptop PST file.

If I were in your shoes, I'd edit the registry to remove the existing mail
profile, start Outlook to create a new one, add in my existing PSTs, create
a new one if necessary (I don't recall whether allowing Outlook to create
the profile itself will also create a new PST), make the new, empty PST my
delivery location, then move all the data from the existing PSTs to the new
one. When done, I'd close the old PSTs top remove them from Outlook.

During the move (or copy, if you'd rather keep the old PSTs intact) process,
non-default folders thermselves can be moved. For the folders with the
default names (i.e., Calendar, Tasks, Inbox, etc.) however, the contents
must be moved.

If you need more detail than that, post back.

 

[Guest]

Brian,
More detail on the registry edit would be much appreciated. My experience
with regedit is very limited and I've no idea where the Outlook 'profile' is
stored.

When I reinstall Outlook I'll go for the Corporate/Workgroup option this time.

Thanks for all your help.

Regards,
David

 

[Brian Tillman]

More detail on the registry edit would be much appreciated. My
experience with regedit is very limited and I've no idea where the
Outlook 'profile' is stored.

In a Windows NT-based OS (i.e., WIndows NT, Windows 2000, or Windows XP),
the profile is in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\WIndows
Messaging Subsystem\Profiles. There should be a key "Microsoft Outlook
Internet Settings" there which is the IMO mail profile. Deleting that (with
Outlook closed, of course) should clear the mail profile and allow Outlook
to create a new one. As always, export the Profiles key prior to making the
change so that it can be restored it trouble occurs.

When I reinstall Outlook I'll go for the Corporate/Workgroup option
this time.

You don't need to reinstall, per se, to change modes. Use the Reconfigure
button on Tools>Options>Mail Setup. You will need your install CD, though.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

I'd think twice about switching to Corp/Workgroup mode. Corp/Workgroup is a
real dog if you only have simple Internet transports, and you should be able
to repair your IMO profile just fine with Brian's instructions.
Read the comparison between the modes before you do any switching to see
what really fits your needs better:
http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/choosingmode.htm

 

[Guest]

Brian,
I've deleted my Outlook profile as you advised. When reopening Outlook, I
was required to reconfigure my internet POP3/SMTP connection and then I was
given the opportunity to select my existing PST file instead of creating a
new one.

Before proceeding any further, I moved my existing PST file into a new
folder under My Documents instead of it being buried deep in a very obscure
location (more convenient for backup tasks). Completing the Outlook setup
then worked perfectly. There was no need to mess around copying data from one
PST to another. I no longer get a warning message each time I open Outlook.
Thanks for that!

However, I still have my original problem with the import of rules. I
created the RWZ file on my source PC and then used the Rules Wizard on my new
PC to try and import these rules. As before, the rules were only half
complete, with every target folder being simply described as 'specified'
(which means that you must manually specify the folder before the rule can be
imported).

Any more suggestions on that one?

Regards,
David