Best pract: changing client pc cache exch mode to stand alone w/o

[HHH]

My server went out at about same time as business went under and my NetAdmin
provider cut me my acct. I was using cache exch mode with SBS 2003 and have
since been working disconnected, but am encountering increasing
problems/errors like, "Outlook has not finished synchronizing local changes
made to items in this folder. You cannot delete this folder until the
synchronization with the server is complete."
The Dell server is/was the domain controller but I am no longer using corp
email or accessing files on the server. My machine has two ways to log on
(locally and domain) and, although I access all of my main files by logging
on to my computer with the domain log on, they must be on my hard drive -
since they have been accessible since the server's RAID died.
I no longer need to access the server and was planning to back up either my
ost file or pst file, uninstall Office 2003 Professional and reinstall, but
thought i would ask for more experienced advice to avoid doing more damage
than good.

 

[Diane Poremsky {MVP}]

Before you do anything, export or move the items in your cached exchange
mailbox to a pst. Once you remove the exchange account from your profile you
will lose access to the offline store.

 

[HHH]

Thank you. I appreciate your help.
My mailbox properties shows the Offline Folder File Settings to be .ost and
running in unicode.
In the C:drive Outlook folder there is an Outlook.pst and an outlook.ost
The pst file, which was modified approx 30 min earlier than the ost is approx
50,000 KB larger than the ost
Should I do a standard export of the "Mailbox", with all subfolders to a pst
file on my desktop and then, after I remove the exchange acct, import again
or can I just drag the ost or pst out of the outlook folder before I remove
exchange acct? Will this have any impact on the existing pst file and will
there be any "ownership/privilege" problems with the folders, emails,
contacts, etc. after I import?

 

[Brian Tillman]

Should I do a standard export of the "Mailbox", with all subfolders
to a pst file on my desktop and then, after I remove the exchange
acct, import again or can I just drag the ost or pst out of the
outlook folder before I remove exchange acct?

You should create a new PST and copy all of the folders you see in the
mailbox set of folders (those known to the OST) to the newly-added PST. Do
not use export.

 

[HHH]

Based upon Diane's instructions, I exported/backed-up yesterday. Now I have
two identical sets of personal folders - one with the icon that looks like a
house and the other with a file/folder icon...as well as a folder with "sync
issues", containing "Conflicts", "local failures"...and a bunch of duplicate
calendar items in the Deleted Items folder...and I lost all of my customized
views and folder arrangements.
Can you instruct me or refer me to someone on how to either remove the extra
set of folders or create a separate pst with only one set of folders and then
target the new pst or how to convert the original ost file to a pst (I still
have another pc that is on the domain and running outlook exchange, but not
on cache exchange mode, and w/o server access. Muchas gracias!