Insane number of duplicate contacts in backup file

[bmax]

The only thing I use Outlook for is Contacts -- and I am very conscientious
about backing up the PST file on a regular basis.

The procedure I follow is ...
Import and Export ...
Export to a file ...
Personal Folder File (.pst) ...
Contacts (include subfolders) ...
Replace Duplicates with items exported.

Then I Import that file into Outlook on another computer ...
Import from another program or file ...
Personal Folder File (.pst) ...
Replace duplicates with items imported ...
Include subfolders ...
Import items into the same folder in Personal Folders.

That's when completely non-sensical things happen.

1) Even when I delete all the entries in the main Contacts folder on the
target computer before importing the new ones, my number of contacts
increases from 513 to 524. That I can live with -- even though I wonder if I
can trust the integrity of the entries.

2) One subfolder has the same number of entries after importing the backup
file.

3) But the other subfolder's entries are totally insane. The number of
files in that subfolder is 233. But the number that winds up on the
target/computer is 15,488!!!

Even when I manually deleted all the entries in the subfolder before
importing, it then took the number of entries in that subfolder down to
"only" 2,958.

Is it not reasonable to expect the target/backup computer's entries to be a
mirror image of the backup file???

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

Version of Outlook?
Have you opened the pst you are using for the import/export to see how many
are really in it?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
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EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
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You can access this newsgroup by visiting
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[bmax]

Version of Outlook?
Have you opened the pst you are using for the import/export to see how many
are really in it?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
(e-mail address removed)

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.

The only thing I use Outlook for is Contacts -- and I am very
conscientious
about backing up the PST file on a regular basis.

The procedure I follow is ...
Import and Export ...
Export to a file ...
Personal Folder File (.pst) ...
Contacts (include subfolders) ...
Replace Duplicates with items exported.

Then I Import that file into Outlook on another computer ...
Import from another program or file ...
Personal Folder File (.pst) ...
Replace duplicates with items imported ...
Include subfolders ...
Import items into the same folder in Personal Folders.

That's when completely non-sensical things happen.

1) Even when I delete all the entries in the main Contacts folder on the
target computer before importing the new ones, my number of contacts
increases from 513 to 524. That I can live with -- even though I wonder
if I
can trust the integrity of the entries.

2) One subfolder has the same number of entries after importing the backup
file.

3) But the other subfolder's entries are totally insane. The number of
files in that subfolder is 233. But the number that winds up on the
target/computer is 15,488!!!

Even when I manually deleted all the entries in the subfolder before
importing, it then took the number of entries in that subfolder down to
"only" 2,958.

Is it not reasonable to expect the target/backup computer's entries to be
a
mirror image of the backup file???

The originating computer uses Outlook 2003. One of the target computers
uses just "Microsoft Outlook" without a year being attached to it in the
About box.

But my laptop also uses Outlook 2003 and I get the same screwy results on
the laptop.

 

[bmax]

Version of Outlook?
Have you opened the pst you are using for the import/export to see how many
are really in it?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
(e-mail address removed)

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.

The only thing I use Outlook for is Contacts -- and I am very
conscientious
about backing up the PST file on a regular basis.

The procedure I follow is ...
Import and Export ...
Export to a file ...
Personal Folder File (.pst) ...
Contacts (include subfolders) ...
Replace Duplicates with items exported.

Then I Import that file into Outlook on another computer ...
Import from another program or file ...
Personal Folder File (.pst) ...
Replace duplicates with items imported ...
Include subfolders ...
Import items into the same folder in Personal Folders.

That's when completely non-sensical things happen.

1) Even when I delete all the entries in the main Contacts folder on the
target computer before importing the new ones, my number of contacts
increases from 513 to 524. That I can live with -- even though I wonder
if I
can trust the integrity of the entries.

2) One subfolder has the same number of entries after importing the backup
file.

3) But the other subfolder's entries are totally insane. The number of
files in that subfolder is 233. But the number that winds up on the
target/computer is 15,488!!!

Even when I manually deleted all the entries in the subfolder before
importing, it then took the number of entries in that subfolder down to
"only" 2,958.

Is it not reasonable to expect the target/backup computer's entries to be
a
mirror image of the backup file???

The originating computer uses Outlook 2003. One of the target computers
uses just "Microsoft Outlook" without a year being attached to it in the
About box.

But my laptop also uses Outlook 2003 and I get the same screwy results on
the laptop.

Also, I'm unclear what you mean by "opening the pst to see how many are
really in it".

The only way I can think of to check that is to look at the number of
entries in each folder on the originating (backup-producing) computer.

When I do that, I compare the number of entries in each folder. I see ...
513 entries in the main folder versus 524 on the backup computers ...
18 in one subfolder versus 18 on the backup ...
and 233 in the other (originating) subfolder versus anywhere from 2,958 to
15,488 on the backup.

Something I have noticed over a period of time, though, is that the
backup.pst file size on the original computer has increased from less than
2MB when I first configured it -- to 11.8MB most recently -- and that's
without any significant addition of entries.

Still, the originating computer is showing 233 contacts in that subfolder.

Where else is there to check this??

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

Go to help, about on the computer with no number and get the version # -
that will tell us which one it is. We only really need the first digits but
the full 9 or 10 digits will tell us if they system is current on updates.
It'll look something like 10.6543.6543

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
(e-mail address removed)

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.

Version of Outlook?
Have you opened the pst you are using for the import/export to see how
many
are really in it?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
(e-mail address removed)

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point
your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.

The only thing I use Outlook for is Contacts -- and I am very
conscientious
about backing up the PST file on a regular basis.

The procedure I follow is ...
Import and Export ...
Export to a file ...
Personal Folder File (.pst) ...
Contacts (include subfolders) ...
Replace Duplicates with items exported.

Then I Import that file into Outlook on another computer ...
Import from another program or file ...
Personal Folder File (.pst) ...
Replace duplicates with items imported ...
Include subfolders ...
Import items into the same folder in Personal Folders.

That's when completely non-sensical things happen.

1) Even when I delete all the entries in the main Contacts folder on
the
target computer before importing the new ones, my number of contacts
increases from 513 to 524. That I can live with -- even though I
wonder
if I
can trust the integrity of the entries.

2) One subfolder has the same number of entries after importing the
backup
file.

3) But the other subfolder's entries are totally insane. The number of
files in that subfolder is 233. But the number that winds up on the
target/computer is 15,488!!!

Even when I manually deleted all the entries in the subfolder before
importing, it then took the number of entries in that subfolder down to
"only" 2,958.

Is it not reasonable to expect the target/backup computer's entries to
be
a
mirror image of the backup file???

The originating computer uses Outlook 2003. One of the target computers
uses just "Microsoft Outlook" without a year being attached to it in the
About box.

But my laptop also uses Outlook 2003 and I get the same screwy results on
the laptop.

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

Open the pst on the computer using File, Open, outlook data file and view
the contacts. If you are using the same pst over and over, I'm guessing
duplicates were created at some point.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
(e-mail address removed)

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.

Version of Outlook?
Have you opened the pst you are using for the import/export to see how
many
are really in it?

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
(e-mail address removed)

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point
your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.


The only thing I use Outlook for is Contacts -- and I am very
conscientious
about backing up the PST file on a regular basis.

The procedure I follow is ...
Import and Export ...
Export to a file ...
Personal Folder File (.pst) ...
Contacts (include subfolders) ...
Replace Duplicates with items exported.

Then I Import that file into Outlook on another computer ...
Import from another program or file ...
Personal Folder File (.pst) ...
Replace duplicates with items imported ...
Include subfolders ...
Import items into the same folder in Personal Folders.

That's when completely non-sensical things happen.

1) Even when I delete all the entries in the main Contacts folder on
the
target computer before importing the new ones, my number of contacts
increases from 513 to 524. That I can live with -- even though I
wonder
if I
can trust the integrity of the entries.

2) One subfolder has the same number of entries after importing the
backup
file.

3) But the other subfolder's entries are totally insane. The number
of
files in that subfolder is 233. But the number that winds up on the
target/computer is 15,488!!!

Even when I manually deleted all the entries in the subfolder before
importing, it then took the number of entries in that subfolder down
to
"only" 2,958.

Is it not reasonable to expect the target/backup computer's entries
to be
a
mirror image of the backup file???

The originating computer uses Outlook 2003. One of the target computers
uses just "Microsoft Outlook" without a year being attached to it in the
About box.

But my laptop also uses Outlook 2003 and I get the same screwy results on
the laptop.

Also, I'm unclear what you mean by "opening the pst to see how many are
really in it".

The only way I can think of to check that is to look at the number of
entries in each folder on the originating (backup-producing) computer.

When I do that, I compare the number of entries in each folder. I see ...
513 entries in the main folder versus 524 on the backup computers ...
18 in one subfolder versus 18 on the backup ...
and 233 in the other (originating) subfolder versus anywhere from 2,958 to
15,488 on the backup.

Something I have noticed over a period of time, though, is that the
backup.pst file size on the original computer has increased from less than
2MB when I first configured it -- to 11.8MB most recently -- and that's
without any significant addition of entries.

Still, the originating computer is showing 233 contacts in that subfolder.

Where else is there to check this??

 

[bmax]

The main/originating computer is using 2003 - 11.8010.8107.

The other desktop is using 2003 - 11.8217.8202 -- and what's screwy about
that other desktop is that yesterday it was NOT reporting itself as 2003 but
today it is.

My laptop is unavailable right now but yesterday it clearly said it was 2003.

When I just opened Outlook on the main computer, I did File > Open >Outlook
Data File > Outlook.pst. It is showing the correct number of files without
duplicates. Is there someplace else the duplicates could be lurking???

Something else that's curious --
I right-clicked Personal Folders and opened Properties For "Personal
Folders" on the main computer. When I then clicked on Folder Size, it
confirmed that the ONLY thing I'm using Outlook for is Contacts.

It shows three folders -- 645KB ... 230KB ... and13KB -- totalling 888KB.
The "Total Size" column, however, reports 888KB plus 230KB plus 13KB -- for a
total of 1131KB (1.13MB).

Yet when I look at the size of backup.pst, it reports as 11.8MB!!

Something seems definitely strange here.

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

It shows three folders -- 645KB ... 230KB ... and13KB -- totalling 888KB.

The "Total Size" column, however, reports 888KB plus 230KB plus 13KB --
for a
total of 1131KB (1.13MB).

this normal. Along with the contacts you can see, outlook creates hidden
files and folders - reminders, forms etc. Unless there are multiple contacts
folders, there shouldn't be duplicates lurking anywhere else.

Have you ran scanpst on the pst?
http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/scanpst.htm

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
(e-mail address removed)

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
(e-mail address removed)

You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.