Opening outlook error message

[Neveragain]

Have moved this message from another group.

I will never again update my computer. I will never again try to get help
from the Microsoft online help facility. And if things go to par I will
probably never again post on this site. Apologies from the beginning. I
am sooooooooooooo cross/angry/frustrated/in need of help.
Whew!!! That feels better.

Question. I have had a computer upgrade. Now have two HDDs sitting on my
computer. All my old files, folders, information including MS Office XP are
on one drive E:. On the new drive C: I have another copy of the Office XP
program. I intend to delete one of the copies and use the other. (When I am
more familiar of what is stored where).

When I click on the Outlook icon I get a message "unable to open your
default e-mail folders. Could not open them. Try again" Click on OK "Would
you like to open your default file system instead" No I would not! I want
to open Outlook.

Because I can not find my old Outlook I am using Outlook express for my
email. I
don't want to use Outlook Express I want my old Outlook and all my files, and
addresses. The version of Office XP I am running is 2002.

By setting up Outlook express I may have upset Outlook 2002. How do I get
it all back. In non-techo words in easy to understand language, grandma
version please
And before you even start I thank you for your assistance.

 

[Neveragain]

No replies yet. Does that mean I'm not as dumb as I thought I was. Or
alternatively ............. , my question is just too difficult.

 

[DL]

You cannot open any program on your old/other drive, only programs installed
on your new win drive
The only files you can access/open on your old win drive are the data files

You had better explain what you mean exactly by 'computer upgrade'

 

[Neveragain]

Increased RAM, new HDD, with old one still in place (therefore have a C:
drive and an E: drive. I am able to access information from both drives.
New motheboard. Everything else is still exactly the same.

 

[DL]

You must have done more than that since you state, new hd is C and old HD is
E

If you added a new HD it would have been assigned a drive letter other than
C
And if you had added a new mobo then at the least you would have to have
done a repair installation of win

Disconnect your new hd - just remove the pwr connector.
Insert your win cd boot your PC, select repair option - if your drives are
sata drives you will need to have a floppy containing the sata controller
drivers for your new mobo, you will also need your mobo drivers cd
Complete the repair
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Once all ok, shutdown PC, reconnect new HD, in Disk Management your new hd
will be shown, probably E, delete Partition, then create a new Partition &
format

This is not an Office problem, but one relating to your o/s and the method
you used in upgrading your PC

 

[Neveragain]

Thank you for your reply. I'm sorry I don't understand terribly much of your
reply. It would probably work really well if I knew what I was doing. I
thought there would be a very simple explanation to the problem along the
line of click, this, copy that move this save that.

To explain my set up and forgive me if I don't have all the words correct.
My system operates from the C: drive. All my old files are sitting on the E
drive. It is just storage. When I decide how I want things set up, copy
files between one drive or the other, etc etc something will be done to the E
drive. What I need to find out is where microsoft has hidden the old
outlook files on the E drive. They are still there, just hidden. Please
disregard my question. Thank you for your efforts.

 

[DL]

In winxp the default location of the Outlook data files is;
C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook\

You will also have to 'take ownership' - see win help - once done copy the
data files to your Documents Folder on your C drive - do NOT copy them to
the default location, doing so will overwrite any existing data files
possibly corrupting them and the outlook Profile.
Then within Outlook, File>Open>Data File.........browse to your Documents
folder and open the data file, probably named outlook.pst

Life for you would have been a whole lot simpler if you had used the HD
manufacturers free utility to transfer the contents of your old drive to
your new one, or used a cloning application eg Acronis TI which would have
given you more control over the cloning process.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

Increased RAM, new HDD, with old one still in place (therefore have a C:
drive and an E: drive. I am able to access information from both drives.
New motheboard. Everything else is still exactly the same.

If this is the case, then you need to move the old PST you were using when the
E drive was your C drive to some folder on your new C drive then when Outlook
complains, point it at that PST. Your old PST is likely in the (usually
hidden) folder E:\Documents and Settings\yourusername\Local
Settings\Applicacion Data\Microsoft\Outlook and it's also likely to be called
Outlook.pst. Copy that file from E to, say, My Documents\OutlookFiles. Start
Outlook, then when Outlook asks you where the folders are, browse to that
file.