Trouble importing .pst files back into Outlook

[hevfev]

Hi... I recenlty had to reformat the hardrive. So I exported the Inbox
and Contacts and Sent folders to .pst files and renamed them
accordingly eg Inbox BACKUP.pst (not really knowing what I was doing).
I put them in My Documents and burned them onto disk.
Now I have them back in my document and I have tried to import them
back into Outlook.
I get a message that it is not a Personal Folder file. What have I
done wrong. They are .pst files!

 

[Judy Gleeson MVP Outlook]

Have you tried to start Outlook, then File | Open, Outlook data file and
find the file you want?


Judy Gleeson [MVP Outlook]
Acorn Training and Consulting
www.acorntraining.com.au

Everyone - turn on your Advanced Toolbars and learn how to use the Field
Chooser and Group by Box!!

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Never import PST files.
Open them.
Remove the read only attribute it acquired from being on a CD before you do.

 

[hevfev]

I have checked the read only attribute and it is not ticked.
How do I open them?
Where from?

Thanks

 

[hevfev]

Yes I have tried that and it says it is not a personal folder file

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Sounds like you corrupted the file when you created it. That happens if you
export to create the file.
State how you created and transferred this file.

 

[hevfev]

I think I went:

File>Export>Export to a file>Personal foler File.pst> then selected the
Inbox or contacts Folder or the Sent Folder and tick included sub
folders> next>Browse>then save to My Documents with a new name instead
of BACKUP.pst.... eg I would change the name to Contacts BACKUP.pst or
Inbox BACKUP.pst... (save as type... .PST file)> click OK and Finish

The files are there as .pst files.... It is really important that I get
the contact address at least. PLEASE HELP ME!!!!! will check back in
the morning...

 

[Brian Tillman]

Yes I have tried that and it says it is not a personal folder file

Then you damaged it in the process you used (perhaps by copying the exported
PST without closing Outlook) and without a commercial tool, it's
unrecoverable.

 

[Brian Tillman]

I think I went:

File>Export>Export to a file>Personal foler File.pst> then selected
the Inbox or contacts Folder or the Sent Folder and tick included sub
folders> next>Browse>then save to My Documents with a new name instead
of BACKUP.pst.... eg I would change the name to Contacts BACKUP.pst
or Inbox BACKUP.pst... (save as type... .PST file)> click OK and
Finish

Never export to a PST. Just copy the original PST with Outlook closed.

After you created this PST, did you close Outlook before burning it to the
CD? Also, some CD burning software does not sem to handle PSTs very well.
Usually, once someone gets the "not a Personal Folders file" message, the
PST is irreparable, at least with Microsoft-supplied tools.

 

[hevfev]

OK, well can you tell me how to restore the .dbx files to OE

I have placed them in the store location... the subfolders are there
with there contents but the Inbox is empty. I moved them there then
reopened OE.

I tried copying the inbox file and renaming it but it still wont show
up in OE

HELP!!!!

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

What does OE have to do with this?
Ask in an OE group. This is not one of them. This newsgroup is for support
of Outlook 97, 98, 2000, 2002 & 2003 from the
Office family for Intel PCs. For Outlook Express (OE) support try posting in
one of these newsgroups:
microsoft.public.inetexplorer.ie4.outlookexpress for OE 4.x
microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie5.outlookexpress for OE 5.x
http://support.microsoft.com/newsgr...express&SLCID=US&sd=GN&id=fh;en-us;newsgroups
microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie55.outlookexpress for OE 5.5x
http://support.microsoft.com/newsgr...express&SLCID=US&sd=GN&id=fh;en-us;newsgroups
microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress for OE 6.x
http://support.microsoft.com/newsgr...express&SLCID=US&sd=GN&id=fh;en-us;newsgroups
microsoft.public.internet.mail.mac for the Macintosh version of OE
http://support.microsoft.com/newsgr...ess.mac&SLCID=US&sd=GN&id=fh;en-us;newsgroups

If those groups aren't carried on the news server that's carrying this group
try using msnews.microsoft.com (MS's public news server that's the source
for all the microsoft.public newsgroups). The links under the newsgroup
references are for use with MS's web newsreader (not exactly the best way to
post but it works for some people)

Also a good source of Outlook Express info can be found here:
http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/

 

[hevfev]

Sorry I am new at this... thanks for the info....

Heather