Converting OneNote 2003 files/folders to 2007

[steven]

I got a completely new computer with OneNote 2007 loaded on it, and I
can't get it to recognize the folder structure of my old 2003 files
which I've copied over, nor did it do any bulk conversion when it
started up.

What do I need to do to get it to recognize the old folder structure
and files? I've copied the folders into the new OneNote directory, but
One Note doesn't seem to see them. I can open individual files, one at
a time, but that's not helpful, both because I have hundreds of files
and also because I want to continue using the my old hierarchy (I
don't care whether they are "folders" or "notebooks," but I do what
the same basic structure because it's useful for my work.

I've looked through OneNote Help and through forums, but I can't find
the answer. I did see that if you upgrade a computer with a previous
version of OneNote, OneNote 2007 will automatically convert all your
files, but my old computer died so I just have a copy of the files,
but I'm not using that old computer.

How can I get OneNote 2007 which was pre-loaded on my new computer to
recognize and use the folder structure that I've copied from my old
computer and convert all the files?

Thanks very much.

Steven

 

[Ilya Koulchin]

I got a completely new computer with OneNote 2007 loaded on it, and I
can't get it to recognize the folder structure of my old 2003 files
which I've copied over, nor did it do any bulk conversion when it
started up.

What do I need to do to get it to recognize the old folder structure
and files? I've copied the folders into the new OneNote directory, but
One Note doesn't seem to see them.

Could you go to File->Open->Notebook, and navigate to the folder with
your notes, and click open. That should open all of the sections you had
before, with the same folder structure (you could instead opt to open
each subfolder as a separate notebook, if you prefer). The sections will
still be in OneNote 2003 format, so you'd need to click on the infobar
at the top of any page, and select to upgrade all the sections in the
notebook.

Ilya

 

[Rainald Taesler]

I got a completely new computer with OneNote 2007 loaded on it, and
I can't get it to recognize the folder structure of my old 2003
files which I've copied over, nor did it do any bulk conversion
when it started up.

Sorry, it's been long ago since I made the move form ON2003 to ON2007
(far more than a years ago) so I can not reliably remember how
converting the old stuff (not much) to the new format did work.
I *think* to remember that ON2007 did the conversion without many extra
action from my side.

... (I don't care whether they are "folders" or "notebooks,"
but I do what the same basic structure because it's useful for my
work.

This IMO might need re-thinking.

ON2007 offers new structures.
It has
- notebooks (as many as one likes),
- section groups,
- sections,
- pages,
- subpages.

The section groups can be "nested", i.e. one can create section groups
inside section groups.

This new concept of the basic structures helps a whole lot for creating
custom tailored hierarchies for the administration of the information
held in ON.

I fully understand that you want to work with the structures you are
used too.
And the first step indeed might better be re-using what you were used to
from ON2007.

Still I' suggest to carefully think about an organizational concept for
your ON structures.
Using a sheet of paper, a pencil and Indian rubber for modeling might be
of great help.

I've looked through OneNote Help and through forums, but I can't
find the answer. I did see that if you upgrade a computer with a
previous version of OneNote, OneNote 2007 will automatically
convert all your files, but my old computer died so I just have a
copy of the files, but I'm not using that old computer.

As said, me seems that conversion was automatically.

And I think to remember that clicking on the "TOC" files (files with the
extension "onetoc") did open the old notebooks.

How can I get OneNote 2007 which was pre-loaded on my new computer
to recognize and use the folder structure that I've copied from my
old computer and convert all the files?

First thin to do:
Copy the old stuff to a different directory/folder.

I can not say if un-installing and deleting the standard directory for
ON2007 and the re-installing and setting the default directory to place
where the old stuff is stored (Tools | Options | Storage) would start
automatic conversion or not.

If I had to do it *manually* I would create a new structure by creating
new notebooks in the standard storage directory. And then I would use
the Windows Explorer and would just copy the old subdirectories into the
new notebook-directories.
When using "File | Open " ON should see files in the subdirectories and
open the data.

I'm sorry for having perhaps said wrong things.

Rainald

 

[steven]

Could you go to File->Open->Notebook, and navigate to the folder with
your notes, and click open. That should open all of the sections you had
before, with the same folder structure (you could instead opt to open
each subfolder as a separate notebook, if you prefer). The sections will
still be in OneNote 2003 format, so you'd need to click on the infobar
at the top of any page, and select to upgrade all the sections in the
notebook.

Ilya

Open----Notebook worked! At first it didn't see my sections, but now
it does!

Really great.

Thanks very much.

Steven

 

[Rainald Taesler]

Thanks for your success report, Steven!

Have fun with ON2007.
But rethink the structures of your ON system

All the best
Rainald