Why msg files are differ after export from Outlook to filesystem?

[Mikhail Lisenkov]

http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...look&mid=e3d35e3c-0d09-49aa-9fd8-9fc713f01fc5
Hi,
I have a problem:
I need to export one message to filesystem in two different folders and
need to get in result two exact same files in my filesystem, is it possible?
but:
These two msg files are differ.
Steps:
1 Choose one message in your inbox
2 Save it as msg file to one sample folder
3 Save it again in second sample folder
4 Compare thouse files by content or by checksum (SHA-1 for example)

Are there any workarounds for it. What can I do if I need get two same msg
files?

 

[Ken Slovak - [MVP - Outlook]]

What's different? Is it the times of the file creation? Try saving once and
then copy the original to the second folder. That's about as close as you
can get.

 

[Mikhail Lisenkov]

Hi, files are different if you try to compare it by content (some bytes are
differ) or by checksum.
If I export message from outlook to msg file and then copy it to another
folder(in filesystem) those files exact same (by checksum and content). It's
ok. But if I export one message from outlook twice to different folders (in
filesystem) and compare by content, there are difference in some bytes.
Why it so? And have you any workarounds for this?
Thanks

 

[Dmitry Streblechenko]

MSG file is really OLE storage file, which is a bag of various properties.
The file may include time stamps and the order of the properties may be
different.

MSG files should never be compared directly. You can only do tha twith
humaly readable files, such as TXT, HTML or MIME.
Even MIMe file can be different if MIME boundaries are autogenerated.

--
Dmitry Streblechenko (MVP)
http://www.dimastr.com/
OutlookSpy - Outlook, CDO
and MAPI Developer Tool
-

 

[Mikhail Lisenkov]

Thanks.

MSG file is really OLE storage file, which is a bag of various properties.
The file may include time stamps and the order of the properties may be
different.

MSG files should never be compared directly. You can only do tha twith
humaly readable files, such as TXT, HTML or MIME.
Even MIMe file can be different if MIME boundaries are autogenerated.

--
Dmitry Streblechenko (MVP)
http://www.dimastr.com/
OutlookSpy - Outlook, CDO
and MAPI Developer Tool
-

 

[fehiyop427]

MSG files can look different after exporting from Microsoft Outlook to the filesystem because Outlook does not store them as a perfect “copy” of the original mailbox message.
When you export or save an email as MSG, Outlook may:
Change the file timestamps (created/modified dates depend on Windows file system)
Lose some mailbox context (like conversation view or account association)
Slightly alter formatting or encoding based on how the file is saved
Remove server-side properties that exist only inside Exchange/Office 365
The thing about MSG is that it is a format that only some programs can use so it works differently depending on the version of Outlook you have and how your computer is set up.
If you want things to look the same you can use something like GainTools MSG Converter to keep all the details and the way things are laid out when you export them. This is a tool that professionals use to change Outlook MSG files into formats like PST, MBOX, EML, PDF and more without losing any information. The also has a trial so you can try it out and convert a few emails, from each folder to see how it works.