Outlook Data Files

[Shauna T]

I've done some reading but I'm still confused about the use of Office
Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) versus Outlook 97-2002 Personal Folders
File (.pst). I understand the basic "Office Outlook Personal Folders File
(.pst) to create a new Outlook 2003 .pst file. Click Outlook 97-2002
Personal Folders File (.pst) to create a new Outlook .pst file that is
compatible with earlier versions of Outlook."
When we have upgraded to Outlook 2003 or set up a new PC with Outlook 2003,
when adding PST's you can chosse either of the two file type options and
browse to chosse an existing PST file. If the original PST was created
pre-Outlook 2003, you can choose Office Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst)
and there appears to be no problem. Is there a problem that is not
apparent? I've read articles about how to "Convert a non-Unicode data file
(.pst) to a Unicode data file (.pst)", but as far as I can tell it is not
necessary. What am I missing? Just looking for to understand so I ensure
we create instructions for using PST's created per-Outlook 2003 preoperly.
Thanks!!
ST.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

What exactly is your question?
The default format for Outlook 2003 PST files in UNICODE. Those files are
not compatible with any previous versions of Outlook. Hence the ability to
create PST files in ANSI ("Outlook 97-2002") format if you need to use data
files that are compatible with earlier versions. That option can only be
accessed with the File > New command.

 

[Brian Tillman]

I've done some reading but I'm still confused about the use of Office
Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) versus Outlook 97-2002 Personal
Folders File (.pst).

You use the Unicode (new) PSTs if you do not need to use those PSTs in
earlier versions of Outlook and you use ANSI (old) PSTs if you do.

 

[Alan]

I've done some reading but I'm still confused about the use of Office
Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) versus Outlook 97-2002 Personal
Folders File (.pst). I understand the basic "Office Outlook Personal
Folders File (.pst) to create a new Outlook 2003 .pst file. Click Outlook
97-2002 Personal Folders File (.pst) to create a new Outlook .pst file
that is compatible with earlier versions of Outlook."
When we have upgraded to Outlook 2003 or set up a new PC with Outlook
2003, when adding PST's you can chosse either of the two file type options
and browse to chosse an existing PST file. If the original PST was
created pre-Outlook 2003, you can choose Office Outlook Personal Folders
File (.pst) and there appears to be no problem. Is there a problem that
is not apparent? I've read articles about how to "Convert a non-Unicode
data file (.pst) to a Unicode data file (.pst)", but as far as I can tell
it is not necessary. What am I missing? Just looking for to understand
so I ensure we create instructions for using PST's created per-Outlook
2003 preoperly.
Thanks!!
ST.

In addition to the other posts Unicode has the advantage of allowing larger
files so if you have LOADS of messages the newer format has the advantage.

 

[Shauna T]

What I'm asking is...... a user has 5 PST files on their hard drive, all
created prior to Outlook 2003. Now they have upgraded to 2003 and are
creating a new profile. They can "add" these pre-existing PSTs after
choosing either Office Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) or Outlook
97-2002 Personal Folders File (.pst) and then browsing to the appropriate
folder.
Will there be a problem if the user chooses the Office Outlook Personal
Folders File (.pst) option then browses to a pre-2003 PST?
This has been done and there is no apparent problem, but all the articles on
Microsoft.com seem to indicate this may be a problem. All articles talk
about creating new PST's and importing in the old data. I am not concerned
with compatability with old versions of Outlook at all. I'm trying to
determine if choosing the new Unicode version of the Storage File Type for a
pre-2003 PST will introduce any problems.

Thank you..........
ST

What exactly is your question?
The default format for Outlook 2003 PST files in UNICODE. Those files are
not compatible with any previous versions of Outlook. Hence the ability to
create PST files in ANSI ("Outlook 97-2002") format if you need to use
data files that are compatible with earlier versions. That option can only
be accessed with the File > New command.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I've done some reading but I'm still confused about the use of Office
Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) versus Outlook 97-2002 Personal
Folders File (.pst). I understand the basic "Office Outlook Personal
Folders File (.pst) to create a new Outlook 2003 .pst file. Click Outlook
97-2002 Personal Folders File (.pst) to create a new Outlook .pst file
that is compatible with earlier versions of Outlook."
When we have upgraded to Outlook 2003 or set up a new PC with Outlook
2003, when adding PST's you can chosse either of the two file type
options and browse to chosse an existing PST file. If the original PST
was created pre-Outlook 2003, you can choose Office Outlook Personal
Folders File (.pst) and there appears to be no problem. Is there a
problem that is not apparent? I've read articles about how to "Convert a
non-Unicode data file (.pst) to a Unicode data file (.pst)", but as far
as I can tell it is not necessary. What am I missing? Just looking for
to understand so I ensure we create instructions for using PST's created
per-Outlook 2003 preoperly.
Thanks!!
ST.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Question still makes no sense. You cannot "add" an "Outlook 97-2002" PST
file as if it were an Outlook 2003 file. The ability to choose file format
only exists when you create a new PST file in Outlook 2003.
Clarify what you mean.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

What I'm asking is...... a user has 5 PST files on their hard drive, all
created prior to Outlook 2003. Now they have upgraded to 2003 and are
creating a new profile. They can "add" these pre-existing PSTs after
choosing either Office Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) or Outlook
97-2002 Personal Folders File (.pst) and then browsing to the appropriate
folder.
Will there be a problem if the user chooses the Office Outlook Personal
Folders File (.pst) option then browses to a pre-2003 PST?
This has been done and there is no apparent problem, but all the articles
on Microsoft.com seem to indicate this may be a problem. All articles
talk about creating new PST's and importing in the old data. I am not
concerned with compatability with old versions of Outlook at all. I'm
trying to determine if choosing the new Unicode version of the Storage
File Type for a pre-2003 PST will introduce any problems.

Thank you..........
ST

What exactly is your question?
The default format for Outlook 2003 PST files in UNICODE. Those files are
not compatible with any previous versions of Outlook. Hence the ability
to create PST files in ANSI ("Outlook 97-2002") format if you need to use
data files that are compatible with earlier versions. That option can
only be accessed with the File > New command.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I've done some reading but I'm still confused about the use of Office
Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) versus Outlook 97-2002 Personal
Folders File (.pst). I understand the basic "Office Outlook Personal
Folders File (.pst) to create a new Outlook 2003 .pst file. Click
Outlook 97-2002 Personal Folders File (.pst) to create a new Outlook
.pst file that is compatible with earlier versions of Outlook."
When we have upgraded to Outlook 2003 or set up a new PC with Outlook
2003, when adding PST's you can chosse either of the two file type
options and browse to chosse an existing PST file. If the original PST
was created pre-Outlook 2003, you can choose Office Outlook Personal
Folders File (.pst) and there appears to be no problem. Is there a
problem that is not apparent? I've read articles about how to "Convert
a non-Unicode data file (.pst) to a Unicode data file (.pst)", but as
far as I can tell it is not necessary. What am I missing? Just looking
for to understand so I ensure we create instructions for using PST's
created per-Outlook 2003 preoperly.
Thanks!!
ST.

 

[Shauna T]

If I pick File, Data File Management, Add - I then get the option to choose
Office Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) or Outlook 97-2002 Personal
Folders File (.pst). Regardless of which I choose, I then get a "Create or
Open Data File" dialogue box. At that point I can select a pre-existing,
pre-2003 PST file. If I choose Office Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst)
and "open" an existing pre-2003 PST file, will there be any ramifications?
If this still doesn't make sense, I'll stop asking and cross my fingers.
Thanks - ST

Question still makes no sense. You cannot "add" an "Outlook 97-2002" PST
file as if it were an Outlook 2003 file. The ability to choose file format
only exists when you create a new PST file in Outlook 2003.
Clarify what you mean.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

What I'm asking is...... a user has 5 PST files on their hard drive, all
created prior to Outlook 2003. Now they have upgraded to 2003 and are
creating a new profile. They can "add" these pre-existing PSTs after
choosing either Office Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) or Outlook
97-2002 Personal Folders File (.pst) and then browsing to the
appropriate folder.
Will there be a problem if the user chooses the Office Outlook Personal
Folders File (.pst) option then browses to a pre-2003 PST?
This has been done and there is no apparent problem, but all the articles
on Microsoft.com seem to indicate this may be a problem. All articles
talk about creating new PST's and importing in the old data. I am not
concerned with compatability with old versions of Outlook at all. I'm
trying to determine if choosing the new Unicode version of the Storage
File Type for a pre-2003 PST will introduce any problems.

Thank you..........
ST

What exactly is your question?
The default format for Outlook 2003 PST files in UNICODE. Those files
are not compatible with any previous versions of Outlook. Hence the
ability to create PST files in ANSI ("Outlook 97-2002") format if you
need to use data files that are compatible with earlier versions. That
option can only be accessed with the File > New command.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I've done some reading but I'm still confused about the use of Office
Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) versus Outlook 97-2002 Personal
Folders File (.pst). I understand the basic "Office Outlook Personal
Folders File (.pst) to create a new Outlook 2003 .pst file. Click
Outlook 97-2002 Personal Folders File (.pst) to create a new Outlook
.pst file that is compatible with earlier versions of Outlook."
When we have upgraded to Outlook 2003 or set up a new PC with Outlook
2003, when adding PST's you can chosse either of the two file type
options and browse to chosse an existing PST file. If the original PST
was created pre-Outlook 2003, you can choose Office Outlook Personal
Folders File (.pst) and there appears to be no problem. Is there a
problem that is not apparent? I've read articles about how to "Convert
a non-Unicode data file (.pst) to a Unicode data file (.pst)", but as
far as I can tell it is not necessary. What am I missing? Just
looking for to understand so I ensure we create instructions for using
PST's created per-Outlook 2003 preoperly.
Thanks!!
ST.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Should be fine. You can use either file type with Outlook 2003. The only
ramification is that you can't exceed the 2 GB limit with the older file
type. Very few people need to do that.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

If I pick File, Data File Management, Add - I then get the option to
choose Office Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) or Outlook 97-2002
Personal Folders File (.pst). Regardless of which I choose, I then get a
"Create or Open Data File" dialogue box. At that point I can select a
pre-existing, pre-2003 PST file. If I choose Office Outlook Personal
Folders File (.pst) and "open" an existing pre-2003 PST file, will there
be any ramifications?
If this still doesn't make sense, I'll stop asking and cross my fingers.
Thanks - ST

Question still makes no sense. You cannot "add" an "Outlook 97-2002" PST
file as if it were an Outlook 2003 file. The ability to choose file
format only exists when you create a new PST file in Outlook 2003.
Clarify what you mean.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

What I'm asking is...... a user has 5 PST files on their hard drive,
all created prior to Outlook 2003. Now they have upgraded to 2003 and
are creating a new profile. They can "add" these pre-existing PSTs
after choosing either Office Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) or
Outlook 97-2002 Personal Folders File (.pst) and then browsing to the
appropriate folder.
Will there be a problem if the user chooses the Office Outlook Personal
Folders File (.pst) option then browses to a pre-2003 PST?
This has been done and there is no apparent problem, but all the
articles on Microsoft.com seem to indicate this may be a problem. All
articles talk about creating new PST's and importing in the old data. I
am not concerned with compatability with old versions of Outlook at all.
I'm trying to determine if choosing the new Unicode version of the
Storage File Type for a pre-2003 PST will introduce any problems.

Thank you..........
ST



What exactly is your question?
The default format for Outlook 2003 PST files in UNICODE. Those files
are not compatible with any previous versions of Outlook. Hence the
ability to create PST files in ANSI ("Outlook 97-2002") format if you
need to use data files that are compatible with earlier versions. That
option can only be accessed with the File > New command.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I've done some reading but I'm still confused about the use of Office
Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) versus Outlook 97-2002 Personal
Folders File (.pst). I understand the basic "Office Outlook Personal
Folders File (.pst) to create a new Outlook 2003 .pst file. Click
Outlook 97-2002 Personal Folders File (.pst) to create a new Outlook
.pst file that is compatible with earlier versions of Outlook."
When we have upgraded to Outlook 2003 or set up a new PC with Outlook
2003, when adding PST's you can chosse either of the two file type
options and browse to chosse an existing PST file. If the original
PST was created pre-Outlook 2003, you can choose Office Outlook
Personal Folders File (.pst) and there appears to be no problem. Is
there a problem that is not apparent? I've read articles about how to
"Convert a non-Unicode data file (.pst) to a Unicode data file
(.pst)", but as far as I can tell it is not necessary. What am I
missing? Just looking for to understand so I ensure we create
instructions for using PST's created per-Outlook 2003 preoperly.
Thanks!!
ST.