I am having problems transferring my Office 2003 data

[James@Creag an Tuirc]

I am having problems moving my Office 2003 data from my old computer which
ran Windows XP to my new computer. The new computer is a Dell Dimension E520
running Vista 32 bit operating system. I would like to get back all my old
emails, email folders, contacts, and tasks, etc. I would be grateful if you
would tell me where I have gone wrong and how to remedy the problem.

To load the Office 2003 software onto the new computer I entered the cdrom
and accepted the default folders and pathways suggested. It appeared to load
without problem. I then ran the Save My Settings Wizard on my old computer
(Windows XP) and transferred the files to a memory stick. I then ran Save My
Settings Wizard on the new computer and to restore the files and the files
were copied from the memory stick but I know not where.*

When I opened my Outlook programme I got the message “The path specified for
the file C:\Documents and Settings\User\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook\Outlook.pst is not valid.†The programme then opened
a window “Create/Open Personal Folders File.†I accepted the file offered.
I should point out that I had transferred some files earlier into a Documents
folder.

I then received another message “The path specified for the file
C:\Documents and Settings\User\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook\archive.pst is not valid.†Again the programme opened
a window “Create/Open Personal Folders File.†I accepted the file offered.
But this time a window came up entitled “Create Microsoft Personal Foldersâ€
and a file C:\Users\james\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\archive.pst
And “Name Archive Folders†with encryption settings. I accepted the default
and entered a password.

Then the next message said “Unable to start processing service. The path
specified for the file C:\Documents and Settings\User\Local
Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\Outlook.pst is not valid.

The next message said “The add-in template is not valid
(C:\users\james\.....~$neReader7.2003.dot)â€

*I clicked on “Properties†for Save My Settings Wizard and can see that the
folder path is shown to be C:\users\james\Desktop\Microsoft
Office\Microsoft…..

 

[Tim Feld]

Hello,

They key to your problem is that Vista no longer uses "C:\Documents and
Settings\etc." folders. The last sentence in your post is part of the
solution. You need to find your PST file (hopefully now located somewhere in
"C:\Users\james\..." (I don't remember the exact path...but just use Search
to find it). Once you locate the new home of your PST file (and archive and
OST if you have one), just adjust your Outlook account settings to reflect
the new folder path. You may run into other problems with applications not
being able to locate needed files that were once found in "Documents and
Settings". You'll just have to manually change the appropriate settings.

Note that there actually is a folder called "Documents and Settings". But it
is a protected folder (actually a special type of shortcut) that is there
only for compatibility purposes. Do not try to delete it or change
permissions on it. Just ignore it. This is one of the changes in Vista that
causes a lot of confusion for new users.

Hope that helped.

Tim