outlook 2007 free trial has corrupted my outlook 2003

[utah3]

I downloaded a free copy of office 2007. I did not like it and went back to
Office 2003. Now my Outlook 2003 will not let me backup my mail through
export to pst files. I have also lost my send/receive button. I tried to
delete my old account and enter anew one as suggested by the help file for
losing your send/receive button but to no avail.

I just want to delete and reinstall outlook 2003 but I can't back up my
mail and if I delete and reinstall I will lose all my mail. Microsoft wants
me to pay for a service call but I wouldn't need a service call if the Office
2007 free trial allowed me to go back to 2003 seamlessly. This has to be a
bug in Microsoft's trial version and I should not have to pay for support,
especially when everything was working perfectly until in tried to downgrade
back to 2003.

Someone please help!

 

[Hal Hostetler [MVP-P/I]]

What a silly notion...

Uninstalling and re-installing Outlook will NOT lose a single byte of your
saved email. It sounds like you have a damaged Outlook profile. This can
easily happen when using the .PST export/import functions because they are
broken and have been for some time. You should NEVER do a .PST export or
import. If you wish to backup your email, close Outlook and make a copy of
your .PST file...that's it! No magic, No special backup applicaton, merely a
copy made with Windows Explorer when Outlook isn't running. If you ever
need to accesss this backup copy, you do so from within Outlook using
'File|Open|Outlook Data File'. This preserves ALL information (the
export/import function loses information in addition to corrupting the
Outlook profile in use) which you can then drag and drop into your default
..PST file. So:

1. Make a copy of your current .PST file (for backup puropses) with Outlook
closed.
2. Create a new Outlook profile (Control Panel|Mail|Show Profiles|New').
3. Add your email accounts to the new profile.
4. Connest Outlook to the old .PST file with 'File|Open|Outlook Data File'
5. Drag and drop the contents of the old .PST into the new one created with
the new profile,
OR...
6. Set the old .PST file to be your default and close the new one.
7. NEVER AGAIN use the .PST export/import functions.

Hal
--
Hal Hostetler, CPBE -- (e-mail address removed)
Senior Engineer/MIS -- MS MVP-Print/Imaging -- WA7BGX
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