Missing contacts..

[shawn]

One of my co-workers had something wrong with his PC. We formatted and
re-installed Windows. His Outlook 2003 .PST file was stored on our network
drive.

I have successfully imported his emails, but where are his contacts? Are
they not stored in the PST also?

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

One of my co-workers had something wrong with his PC. We formatted and
re-installed Windows. His Outlook 2003 .PST file was stored on our network
drive.

I have successfully imported his emails, but where are his contacts? Are
they not stored in the PST also?

The problems are that you think 1) it's a good idea to keep PSTs on a
network drive. It's not. You can lose your wntire PST that way and 2) that
importing is the way to transfer the data. Just reuse the existing PST by
pointing your mail profile at it. With Outlook closed, open the Mail applet
in Ccontrol Panel and click Data Files. Click Add and browse to the PST on
the network drive. Select it and click OK. CLick Close. Now click E-mail
Accounts>View or change existing e-mail accounts>Next. In the "Delivery new
e-mail to the following location" drop-down at the lower left. Select the
PST you just added. Click Finish. Now click Data Files again and remove
non-default PST into which you imported. Click Close, then Close. Start
Outlook and it will be set up exactly as it should be.

 

[shawn]

Well, it's not a problem that we think it's a good idea to keep PSTs on a
network drive. We don't just think it is a good idea, IT ACTUALLY IS A GOOD
IDEA. The network gets backed up on a daily basis on a tape drive, and then
a backup once a month as well.

I messed up when I said imported. By imported I meant I did the steps you
said already.. only I did the through Outlook itself. Not through the
control panel, though. His emails all are fine, contacts/address book not.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

Well, it's not a problem that we think it's a good idea to keep PSTs on a
network drive. We don't just think it is a good idea, IT ACTUALLY IS A
GOOD IDEA. The network gets backed up on a daily basis on a tape drive,
and then a backup once a month as well.

It's not a good idea. Microsoft says you shouldn't do it. See
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/297019/ . WHat's the point of backing up a
potentially-damaged file? The I/O methodology for accessing network files
is different than that for local files and PSTs are not well-suited for
network I/O. Any interruption in the network while writing to the PST can
damage it beyond repair. If you want to make a copy of your PST to the
network drive, either before you start Outlook or after you close it, that's
a better approach. In fact, Microsoft provides a free Personal Folders
Backup utility to assist with that.

I messed up when I said imported. By imported I meant I did the steps you
said already.. only I did the through Outlook itself. Not through the
control panel, though. His emails all are fine, contacts/address book not.

So, if he looks in the Contacts folder, he doesn't see his contacts? If
not, then either he's not using the correct PST or he didn't do the steps I
described. If it's a matter of not seeing the contacts in the Address Book,
then he didn't configure the address book service correctly.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287563

 

[shawn]

Thanks for the info. I will look into that backup thing. Problem is to get
our network consultant to do any work is hard. He's not very responsive.