Outlook 2000 pst files in Outlook 2007

[nojo901]

I run XP Home and OL 2000 on my old PC and XP Pro and OL 2007 (trial version)
on my new PC.
I intend to copy all my files and settings from old pc to new pc, tonight,
using "files and settings transfer wizard".
Time is of the essence, because my Outlook 2000 has died, because the pst
file exceeds 2GB.
1) Will the wizard work on this set-up and move the pst file?
2) Will OL 2007 be able to use the OL 2000 PST files?
3) Can OL 2007 handle pst files larger than 2GB?
I will copy the old pst file to a flash drive, as a backup, before trying
anything.
Thanks

 

[Roady [MVP]]

1) No, by default pst-files are not included. I would also recommend against
transferring Outlook settings between machines especially with different
versions. Reconfigure Outlook on the new machine and connect to the pst-file
from the previous machine by File-> Open-> Outlook Data File...

2) Yes, but not while the pst-file is still damaged/oversized. You'll need
to fix that issue first;
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=296088

3) Yes, newly created pst-files in Outlook 2007 are by default in the new
UNICODE format. To "upgrade" your old ANSI formatted pst-files you connect
to the old pst-file by File-> Open-> Outlook Data File and move the items to
the newly created data store in Outlook 2007.

 

[Gordon]

2) Will OL 2007 be able to use the OL 2000 PST files?

not if you are already getting size errors on Outlook 2000 AFAIK....

3) Can OL 2007 handle pst files larger than 2GB?

yes - up to 20GB natively.....

 

[nojo901]

Thank you so much for your ever excellent advice, Roady.

I did not realise that the PST file was itself "damaged" by being oversize -
I had assumed that it was fine and that just OL 2000 was unable to utilise it.

I happen to have "Exported" all my PDF folders recently. What would I lose
from the original emails (e.g. attachments? formatting? text?) if, instead of
shrinking the file with the tool you pointed me to and copying the shrunk PST
file to the new machine, I just instead "Imported" the folders I recently
exported? You see, I am loathe to let the shrinking tool randomly decide what
emails to dump and which to keep.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

It is a guess what you will lose. If there is white space in the file the
pst2gb tool could take out that and you won't lose anything.
Can you still open the pst-file in Outlook 2000? If so you can see if
manually compacting works;
right click on the root of the folder set-> Properties-> tab Advanced->
Compact Now
If that does the trick then there is no need to run pst2gb but you should
still start with a new pst-file and set it as the default delivery location
since your original is still close to the limit.

In all cases and since we are dealing with a damaged pst-file here, I would
recommend keeping a good backup handy at all times while trying to recover.

 

[nojo901]

Thank you again Roady.
No, manual compacting did nada - the disk ground away for 15 minutes but the
file size was exactly the same at the end!
I can open the PST file in OL 2000, and delete and whatever from the sent
emails, but I am unable to do anything to the In tray emails.
Strangely too, I can send emails but not receive any.
Looks like I'm going to be gambling on the compression tool! Then again,
maybe I will try importing the individual folders I previously exported -
although I cannot understand why they are so much smaller than the original
versions (i.e. they all fit on half a 2 gb flsh drive).

 

[Gordon]

Thank you again Roady.
No, manual compacting did nada - the disk ground away for 15 minutes but
the
file size was exactly the same at the end!
I can open the PST file in OL 2000, and delete and whatever from the sent
emails, but I am unable to do anything to the In tray emails.

before you do that, if you can actually access the file in Outlook 2000,
create another pst file and move the items you can access into it. Then try
compacting the original file.

 

[nojo901]

Thank you Gordon.
I will give this a try before everything else!
(But AFTER backing up the pst elsewhere!).
Regards
N