Getting rid of unwanted PST file--2 questions

[Joe McGuire]

After creating a new PST at my old office and copying it and a corresponding
archive.pst (with permissions, of course) I finally got the stuff onto my
new computer after installing OL 2003 (What an ordeal and it's not over yet;
remind me never to do this again). Now I have 2 sets of Personal Folders:
one (let's call it Real) I know represents my Outlook data through midday
February 1; the other (call it Toss) a mash-up of that stuff and e-mail sent
to my new address since then.

1. How can I get the stuff from Toss into Real without duplicating anything?
Without dragging each durned message from the Inbox and Sent Items from one
to the other. I tried everything I could think of but with no results.

2. Once I am satisfied that A is OK, how do I get rid of Toss? I don't have
that problem (yet) on my new office computer but I have it on my home
computer. I tried renaming the unwanted pst file but OL keeps tossing up
messages that is is missing that durned pst. More puzzling is the fact that
inspite of being unable to file the pst it wants (bit I don't) it still
turns up all the info from the "correct" pst. If I click on any of the
Personal Files folders and then Properties I am informed that it is "visible
but not available" (a conundrum for sure) which means I get the Properties
window stripped of anything--and I can't do anything about it.

(I was about to explain to my new partners the unbridled joys of running OL
in a network with an Exchange Server, so I am keeping mum about my present
OL troubles. If they see me having this much trouble, forget Outlook!)

 

[Pat Willener]

1. Open both PST files with Outlook, then copy (drag-and-drop) the items
you want.

2. Close the PST file, then delete it.

 

[Joe McGuire]

Thanks. As it turns out both Personal Folders folders (PFF) and their
contents now appear to be identical--including the fact that both seem to
have lost the contents of their Contacts folder. Recent e-mail can be
recovered form the ISP, but not the Contacts. I also deleted the contents
of the Calendar in one of the PFFs but the calendar information also
disappeared from the other PFF. The contacts and calendar info doesn't
appear in either Deleted Items folder or in the Wastebasket on the desktop.
Any idea where they might be hidden? Calendar items also don't show up in
the Archive folder. Instead I get the error, "Unable to display this
folder." I don't know if it means anything but it seems OL deleted one of
my two e-mail accounts!

I assume the "open both PST files" means start Outlook, which is where both
PFFs appear. But I can't close either PFF; if I try I get this error
message: "You cannot close the mailbox that contains your calendar, contacts
and inbox." Is there a way to close Outlook without overwriting the pst
file that it probably used when I opened it for the current session? Oops,
OL just did exactly that 1 minute ago! Without my doing anything but typing
this message! So the question now is whether I can recover my Contacts.
Meanwhile I'm going to leave OL running.

(All this trouble is on my home computer. Tomorrow I have to tackle the
office computer.)

 

[Joe McGuire]

Pat, Do you mean open OL, which should contain the two Personal Folders
Folders (PFF) arising from the 2 different PST files? I don't know how to
open a PST file otherwise. Same sort of question for closing the PST. Do
you mean closing the unwanted/surplus PFF in OL, closing OL and then
deleting the unwanted/surpus PST? Will OL create its own PST (I'm guessing
as Outlook.pst) along the way?

(I have somewhat similar problems on 2 computers, one at home and the other
in my office; OL on the home PC seems pretty much FUBAR, so I am
concentrating on my office computer for now)