Oh where oh where are my .pst files?

[mschannon]

Outlook on my wife's Lenovo desktop is kafluie (a technical term.) Calling
and paying MS didn't fix problem. They suggested full system reboot.
Problem persists. Calling outside tech wizard produced similar confusion.

One more system reboot, but prior to that, I was able to export the files in
..pst format to a thumb drive using Files/Export. Outlook problem persists.
Conclusion: Outlook is cursed on this computer.

Then I downloaded Thunderbird. I easily transferred files from Outlook to
Thunderbird. However, when I now try to import the files to Outlook, it
doesn't recognize the file on either the thumb drive nor, when I moved it at
MS's suggestion, on the hard drive. The file is definitely in .pst format,
but when I use the import wizard, it doesn't list it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

is the pst file corrupt? That's the most common cause of problems. If the
original pst is still on the hard drive, paste the following line in the
address bar of windows explorer:
%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

see http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/filepath.htm for more information.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
mailto:[email protected]

 

[DL]

So what is the outlook problem?

 

[mschannon]

Nope, file isn't corrupt. I can read it off my other computer going through
Outlook, File/Import/Export.

is the pst file corrupt? That's the most common cause of problems. If the
original pst is still on the hard drive, paste the following line in the
address bar of windows explorer:
%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

see http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/filepath.htm for more information.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
mailto:[email protected]

Outlook on my wife's Lenovo desktop is kafluie (a technical term.)
Calling
and paying MS didn't fix problem. They suggested full system reboot.
Problem persists. Calling outside tech wizard produced similar confusion.

One more system reboot, but prior to that, I was able to export the files
in
.pst format to a thumb drive using Files/Export. Outlook problem
persists.
Conclusion: Outlook is cursed on this computer.

Then I downloaded Thunderbird. I easily transferred files from Outlook to
Thunderbird. However, when I now try to import the files to Outlook, it
doesn't recognize the file on either the thumb drive nor, when I moved it
at
MS's suggestion, on the hard drive. The file is definitely in .pst
format,
but when I use the import wizard, it doesn't list it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mschannon]

It's hard to describe. I have a pic of it in Windows photo gallery but
don't know how to copy it here. Basically, there's no read panel. You can
see message headers, forward them, delete them. But the place where one
reads messages only has sliders--like those that move screens up or down--but
they don't work. If you move the bar between the message & the header to the
left (not the right) it seems to create another window with another slider.

Outlook works for a while & then for no apparent reason, it goes haywire.
If I restore the system to an earlier time, it might work for a few days.
When I did a reinstall of the entire operating system the first time, it
worked for six months.

I use Outlook on my other computer with no problems. The outside tech guy I
talked to had never seen or heard anything like this. He gave up & didn't
even charge me for his time.

(Sorry for the long message, but it's weird.)

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

can you read the messages if you open them?

if you think a screenshot will help us, xsolive.com has an outlook
screenshot gallery for users to post screenshots in.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
mailto:[email protected]

 

[DL]

In general terms you dont export pst files to create a copy, with Outlook
closed you copy them.
Likewise you dont import, but with pst files copied to your Documents
folder, within Outlook you open them.

Try starting Outlook with the resetnavpane switch, ie

Start>Run
outlook.exe /resetnavpane
(note space between exe /)

 

[mschannon]

Oh well, why should anything work with computers? Went to xsolve.com,
finally found teensy, tiny login, used the login names they suggested with
password & I was summarily rejected as unworthy. It's the right site to post
the pic but I can't seem to crack the code. Sorry.

Answer is that you can't read the messages. Sometimes, if Outlook has an
important message, it gets pushed to the background of the reading panel, but
the message is nowhere to be found.

can you read the messages if you open them?

if you think a screenshot will help us, xsolive.com has an outlook
screenshot gallery for users to post screenshots in.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
mailto:[email protected]

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
mailto:[email protected]

It's hard to describe. I have a pic of it in Windows photo gallery but
don't know how to copy it here. Basically, there's no read panel. You
can
see message headers, forward them, delete them. But the place where one
reads messages only has sliders--like those that move screens up or
down--but
they don't work. If you move the bar between the message & the header to
the
left (not the right) it seems to create another window with another
slider.

Outlook works for a while & then for no apparent reason, it goes haywire.
If I restore the system to an earlier time, it might work for a few days.
When I did a reinstall of the entire operating system the first time, it
worked for six months.

I use Outlook on my other computer with no problems. The outside tech guy
I
talked to had never seen or heard anything like this. He gave up & didn't
even charge me for his time.

(Sorry for the long message, but it's weird.)

 

[mschannon]

Ok, will try that with my (good) computer, but then what are the
Import/Export commands for? Only hope I can find the files. There's a lot
of weird stuff in the Outlook file on the C drive...who knows what it all
means.

And why isn't there an explanation of this somewhere.

But given that I've done this wrong, is there any way to retrieve the .pst
files from my thumb drive? Or is that what resetnavpane is?

BTW, thanks for quick responses. I have to warn you...for all my
fascination with tech, I'm like the guy from Jurassic Park who can just touch
a computer & blow it up.

Of well, off to demolition derby.

 

[K. Orland]

Try this website for an easy-to-read and easy-to-understand Outlook primer.
It's written for people who don't know much about Outlook and will actually
answer most questions:

http://www.howto-outlook.com/

Including all the files in the Outlook folder on your C drive. So yes, there
is an explanation out there for you, all you have to do is ask. It will even
explain backup and restore for you and that will include a huge amount of
information about your PST file, including how to find it, copy it, and
restore it even if you're moving it to a different PC.

http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/backupandrestore.htm

 

[mschannon]

According to MS, here's how you export files:
http://www.online-tech-tips.com/ms-office-tips/export-outlook-contacts/

It instructs one to use the file/export/ .pst/ location, just as I've done.

And I can't figure out how to create a copy of outlook files with Outlook
closed.

Also, while I'm confusing things, when I recently restored the system on my
wife's computer, I deleted the dreaded Symantec system including all and any
files I could find. Then I loaded McAfee which we get for free from Cox.
That was the specific incident that blew her Outlook...but in the past, I had
not added any new programs.

Anyway, when we try to launch Outlook, we get an error message that C:
program files/symantec client security/symantec antivirus/vpmsece3.dll can't
be loaded so either get it right or uninstall it. I can't find any symantec
program on the computer & did a search for the .dll file. It doesn't exist
(I think). Why is Outlook looking for it. I removed Symantec from my good
computer & this never happened...although I just discovered a symantec file
on the good computer that has definitions, life update, and a shared folder.
Now I'm terrified about deleting them. Jeeze, talk about vicious, insidious
software.

Sigh...

 

[DL]

You dont delete a Program, you uninstall it via Add/Remove Programs dialogue
Symantec has a utility on their site for 'Completely Remove'

 

[mschannon]

Regardless of all the confusion about how to move files, I was able to use
this information, get the files back in Outlook & import them into
Thunderbird. Thank you so much for being so responsive.

As to the symantec nonsense, I know enough to use the Control Panel but that
never removes everything. When I went to the Symantec site, it asked for the
serial number. Oops. A little late. I've done that before, but I guess
before I deleted the whole thing. Anyway, it's not a problem...for now.

As to what went wrong with Outlook if you're still interested in pursuing
that, I'm game...just for curiosities sake.

But as far as I'm concerned, problem solved. Job well done, ma'am. Thanks.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

Ok, will try that with my (good) computer, but then what are the
Import/Export commands for?

They're really for moving data between Outlook and other non-Outlook
applications.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

According to MS, here's how you export files:
http://www.online-tech-tips.com/ms-office-tips/export-outlook-contacts/

That's not "according to Microsoft", that's according to online-tech-tips.com.

It instructs one to use the file/export/ .pst/ location, just as I've done.

Regardless, it's still not ideal for moving data from one Outlook instance to
another.

And I can't figure out how to create a copy of outlook files with Outlook
closed.

Use Windows Explorer while Outlook's closed. Just copy the PST(s).
http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/backupandrestore.htm