Outlook displays two identical Personal Folders

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

You must still be migrating data incorrectly to the new profile. State what
you are doing.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Hi!
This is more than a year after your last post and about 3 months after the
last post in this discussion. I have been through all the threads and
discussions, and am thankful for your assistance to various folk on this
problem.

I tried creating a new profile and directing my mail to it, but I still
get
2 indentical Personal Folders. Is there no way out?

I quite agree. While this is not a "bug" per se in that Outlook is
operating
as designed, it is a very poor design indeed. This problem has existed in
every version of Outlook, but became more pronounced in Outlook 2003
because
it was the first version that forced the creation of a new, default PST
with
every new profile. Thus, every new profile is faced with the need to
migrate
another PST which can only be done using the supported method of opening
another PST file and setting it as the default(and _never_ by importing
and
exporting).
Migrating PST files is a real weak point in Outlook. Probably one of the
reasons it never gets corrected is that it is mostly a cosmetic problem.
The
existence of a second reference to a PST file in a profile rarely if ever
causes any real problems.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I hate to bring this subject up again. But after reading all of the
posts
on
this issue, is it not more than possible that Outlook 2003 has a bug in
it?
I have used Outlook since it first hit the market years ago and never
had
this particular problem. We have a brand new computer, newly purchased
Office 2003 installed and guess what Outlook did. 3 Personal calanders
ghosted on top of one another. 2 Personal contacts and so forth.
Everything
is duplicated and triplicated. I did what Mr Russ Valentine said to do
and
created a new profile. That worked! No more dups. I exported my info
from
my old computer, imported it into the new computer (via a network). In
the
Outlook Profile everything duplicated. Of course, the initial set of
folders
were in duplication to begin with. When I created a new profile, I did
the
exact same transfer of information and only 1 folder per import came
up.
So
draw your own conclusions as to whether this is owner/operator error or
not.
As for me, this is a software error that needs corrected at Microsoft.

:

Was there some other solution you would care to include with your
explanation?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
After reading the various posts I thought it was important to add a
top-level
post explaining what I know. The explanations provided were all
wrong.
The
actual error has to do with whether Outlook 2003views the file as a
one
time
source of data or if it incorrectly thinks that you will be using
the
file
as
a data file in an ongoing basis. If the second choice is falsely
indicated
it
provides you with an interface for working with the folders in the
other
file. You could in theory simply drag and drop e-mails from one set
of
folders to the other. This corupted setting for saved pst files also
shows
up
sometimes if you choose to Archive you Personal Folder. The fix
presented
by
others works simply because you disconnect the file from the list of
data
files Outlook thinks it needs to work.
:

On a new computer, I have done a fresh install of Office 2003.
Outlook
displays two identical copies of the Personal Folders. Changes to
one
are
reflected in the duplicate. There is only one .pst file. I have
removed
and
reinstalled Outlook to no avail.

I would like to know what might be causing this duplicate folder to
display
or how it could be removed. Thank you.

 

[C G]

Russ,
Thanks for your response and interest.
What you say is right, I was migrating data incorrectly, so i followed some
of the earlier postings and created a new profile in the users section in
control panel.
After I had chosen that OL should start with this profile, every thing was
back to normal, except i had no mail or contacts in my folders. However, i
was then able to import them from the earlier pst file which i had saved
after renaming.

Thanks once again.
CG

You must still be migrating data incorrectly to the new profile. State what
you are doing.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Hi!
This is more than a year after your last post and about 3 months after the
last post in this discussion. I have been through all the threads and
discussions, and am thankful for your assistance to various folk on this
problem.

I tried creating a new profile and directing my mail to it, but I still
get
2 indentical Personal Folders. Is there no way out?

I quite agree. While this is not a "bug" per se in that Outlook is
operating
as designed, it is a very poor design indeed. This problem has existed in
every version of Outlook, but became more pronounced in Outlook 2003
because
it was the first version that forced the creation of a new, default PST
with
every new profile. Thus, every new profile is faced with the need to
migrate
another PST which can only be done using the supported method of opening
another PST file and setting it as the default(and _never_ by importing
and
exporting).
Migrating PST files is a real weak point in Outlook. Probably one of the
reasons it never gets corrected is that it is mostly a cosmetic problem.
The
existence of a second reference to a PST file in a profile rarely if ever
causes any real problems.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I hate to bring this subject up again. But after reading all of the
posts
on
this issue, is it not more than possible that Outlook 2003 has a bug in
it?
I have used Outlook since it first hit the market years ago and never
had
this particular problem. We have a brand new computer, newly purchased
Office 2003 installed and guess what Outlook did. 3 Personal calanders
ghosted on top of one another. 2 Personal contacts and so forth.
Everything
is duplicated and triplicated. I did what Mr Russ Valentine said to do
and
created a new profile. That worked! No more dups. I exported my info
from
my old computer, imported it into the new computer (via a network). In
the
Outlook Profile everything duplicated. Of course, the initial set of
folders
were in duplication to begin with. When I created a new profile, I did
the
exact same transfer of information and only 1 folder per import came
up.
So
draw your own conclusions as to whether this is owner/operator error or
not.
As for me, this is a software error that needs corrected at Microsoft.

:

Was there some other solution you would care to include with your
explanation?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
After reading the various posts I thought it was important to add a
top-level
post explaining what I know. The explanations provided were all
wrong.
The
actual error has to do with whether Outlook 2003views the file as a
one
time
source of data or if it incorrectly thinks that you will be using
the
file
as
a data file in an ongoing basis. If the second choice is falsely
indicated
it
provides you with an interface for working with the folders in the
other
file. You could in theory simply drag and drop e-mails from one set
of
folders to the other. This corupted setting for saved pst files also
shows
up
sometimes if you choose to Archive you Personal Folder. The fix
presented
by
others works simply because you disconnect the file from the list of
data
files Outlook thinks it needs to work.
:

On a new computer, I have done a fresh install of Office 2003.
Outlook
displays two identical copies of the Personal Folders. Changes to
one
are
reflected in the duplicate. There is only one .pst file. I have
removed
and
reinstalled Outlook to no avail.

I would like to know what might be causing this duplicate folder to
display
or how it could be removed. Thank you.

 

[DL]

At least its OK now, even though you *still followed the oncorrect
procedure* to migrate your old data

Russ,
Thanks for your response and interest.
What you say is right, I was migrating data incorrectly, so i followed some
of the earlier postings and created a new profile in the users section in
control panel.
After I had chosen that OL should start with this profile, every thing was
back to normal, except i had no mail or contacts in my folders. However, i
was then able to import them from the earlier pst file which i had saved
after renaming.

Thanks once again.
CG

You must still be migrating data incorrectly to the new profile. State what
you are doing.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Hi!
This is more than a year after your last post and about 3 months after the
last post in this discussion. I have been through all the threads and
discussions, and am thankful for your assistance to various folk on this
problem.

I tried creating a new profile and directing my mail to it, but I still
get
2 indentical Personal Folders. Is there no way out?


:

I quite agree. While this is not a "bug" per se in that Outlook is
operating
as designed, it is a very poor design indeed. This problem has existed in
every version of Outlook, but became more pronounced in Outlook 2003
because
it was the first version that forced the creation of a new, default PST
with
every new profile. Thus, every new profile is faced with the need to
migrate
another PST which can only be done using the supported method of opening
another PST file and setting it as the default(and _never_ by importing
and
exporting).
Migrating PST files is a real weak point in Outlook. Probably one of the
reasons it never gets corrected is that it is mostly a cosmetic problem.
The
existence of a second reference to a PST file in a profile rarely if ever
causes any real problems.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I hate to bring this subject up again. But after reading all of the
posts
on
this issue, is it not more than possible that Outlook 2003 has a bug in
it?
I have used Outlook since it first hit the market years ago and never
had
this particular problem. We have a brand new computer, newly purchased
Office 2003 installed and guess what Outlook did. 3 Personal calanders
ghosted on top of one another. 2 Personal contacts and so forth.
Everything
is duplicated and triplicated. I did what Mr Russ Valentine said to do
and
created a new profile. That worked! No more dups. I exported my info
from
my old computer, imported it into the new computer (via a network). In
the
Outlook Profile everything duplicated. Of course, the initial set of
folders
were in duplication to begin with. When I created a new profile, I did
the
exact same transfer of information and only 1 folder per import came
up.
So
draw your own conclusions as to whether this is owner/operator error or
not.
As for me, this is a software error that needs corrected at Microsoft.

:

Was there some other solution you would care to include with your
explanation?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
After reading the various posts I thought it was important to add a
top-level
post explaining what I know. The explanations provided were all
wrong.
The
actual error has to do with whether Outlook 2003views the file as a
one
time
source of data or if it incorrectly thinks that you will be using
the
file
as
a data file in an ongoing basis. If the second choice is falsely
indicated
it
provides you with an interface for working with the folders in the
other
file. You could in theory simply drag and drop e-mails from one set
of
folders to the other. This corupted setting for saved pst files also
shows
up
sometimes if you choose to Archive you Personal Folder. The fix
presented
by
others works simply because you disconnect the file from the list of
data
files Outlook thinks it needs to work.
:

On a new computer, I have done a fresh install of Office 2003.
Outlook
displays two identical copies of the Personal Folders. Changes to
one
are
reflected in the duplicate. There is only one .pst file. I have
removed
and
reinstalled Outlook to no avail.

I would like to know what might be causing this duplicate folder to
display
or how it could be removed. Thank you.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Next time do not import from your old PST. You may lose or later data and
you may end up with another ghost PST file when you do.
Just open your old PST file in the new profile. At that point you can either
set Outlook to use it as its default and close the new PST, or you can copy
what you want from it into the new PST and close the old one.

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Russ,
Thanks for your response and interest.
What you say is right, I was migrating data incorrectly, so i followed
some
of the earlier postings and created a new profile in the users section in
control panel.
After I had chosen that OL should start with this profile, every thing was
back to normal, except i had no mail or contacts in my folders. However, i
was then able to import them from the earlier pst file which i had saved
after renaming.

Thanks once again.
CG

You must still be migrating data incorrectly to the new profile. State
what
you are doing.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Hi!
This is more than a year after your last post and about 3 months after
the
last post in this discussion. I have been through all the threads and
discussions, and am thankful for your assistance to various folk on
this
problem.

I tried creating a new profile and directing my mail to it, but I still
get
2 indentical Personal Folders. Is there no way out?


:

I quite agree. While this is not a "bug" per se in that Outlook is
operating
as designed, it is a very poor design indeed. This problem has existed
in
every version of Outlook, but became more pronounced in Outlook 2003
because
it was the first version that forced the creation of a new, default
PST
with
every new profile. Thus, every new profile is faced with the need to
migrate
another PST which can only be done using the supported method of
opening
another PST file and setting it as the default(and _never_ by
importing
and
exporting).
Migrating PST files is a real weak point in Outlook. Probably one of
the
reasons it never gets corrected is that it is mostly a cosmetic
problem.
The
existence of a second reference to a PST file in a profile rarely if
ever
causes any real problems.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I hate to bring this subject up again. But after reading all of the
posts
on
this issue, is it not more than possible that Outlook 2003 has a bug
in
it?
I have used Outlook since it first hit the market years ago and
never
had
this particular problem. We have a brand new computer, newly
purchased
Office 2003 installed and guess what Outlook did. 3 Personal
calanders
ghosted on top of one another. 2 Personal contacts and so forth.
Everything
is duplicated and triplicated. I did what Mr Russ Valentine said to
do
and
created a new profile. That worked! No more dups. I exported my
info
from
my old computer, imported it into the new computer (via a network).
In
the
Outlook Profile everything duplicated. Of course, the initial set
of
folders
were in duplication to begin with. When I created a new profile, I
did
the
exact same transfer of information and only 1 folder per import came
up.
So
draw your own conclusions as to whether this is owner/operator error
or
not.
As for me, this is a software error that needs corrected at
Microsoft.

:

Was there some other solution you would care to include with your
explanation?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
After reading the various posts I thought it was important to add
a
top-level
post explaining what I know. The explanations provided were all
wrong.
The
actual error has to do with whether Outlook 2003views the file as
a
one
time
source of data or if it incorrectly thinks that you will be using
the
file
as
a data file in an ongoing basis. If the second choice is falsely
indicated
it
provides you with an interface for working with the folders in
the
other
file. You could in theory simply drag and drop e-mails from one
set
of
folders to the other. This corupted setting for saved pst files
also
shows
up
sometimes if you choose to Archive you Personal Folder. The fix
presented
by
others works simply because you disconnect the file from the list
of
data
files Outlook thinks it needs to work.
:

On a new computer, I have done a fresh install of Office 2003.
Outlook
displays two identical copies of the Personal Folders. Changes
to
one
are
reflected in the duplicate. There is only one .pst file. I have
removed
and
reinstalled Outlook to no avail.

I would like to know what might be causing this duplicate folder
to
display
or how it could be removed. Thank you.

 

[dragonlady2264]

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!

~ Nicoletta

Gene, I found this answer-short, sweet and to the point, offered in another
thread regarding duplicate archive folders. I followed the instructions and
in 2 seconds the second set of personal folders was GONE........


Close Outlook | START | CONTROL PANEL | MAIL | SHOW PROFILES | Click your
Profile | PROPERTIES| DATA FILES | click the duplicate personal folder |
REMOVE | YES | CLOSE | CLOSE | OK
Start Outlook and they will not be present anymore

I'm sorry I didn't notice who provided this fabulously simple solution, but
it worked and I thank whomever it was!

Dear Russ,

I am having the same problem: duplicate appearance of the main Personal
Folder in the folder list.

I have studied all of the responses in this and other threads and I have
thoroughly researched the problem as far as I can go with this. I really need
a solution that is different from the ones offered previously (e.g. start
with a brand new profile, or experiment with an extremely cryptic registry
that only displays hexadecimal for all Unicode text).


PROBLEM DESCRIPTION

I maintain 7 very active email accounts as well as 5 email accounts that I
use occasionally.
Of the 7 very active accounts, 3 are POP3, and 4 are IMAP.
Messages for the 3 POP3 accounts are received in the Inbox in my mail
Personal Folder.
Each of the 4 IMAP accounts has its own .PST file.
In addition, all of the messages I send are copied into the Sent folder in
my main Personal Folder. There are additional folders for storing read mail
in my Personal Folder, and I have numerous archival .PST files.

About a month ago I successfully migrated my Outlook configuration and email
from an old machine to a new machine using “Microsoft Office 2003 Save My
Settings Wizardâ€.

Two days ago I reinstalled Windows in the new machine and followed this
procedure:
1. Backed-up settings with “Microsoft Office 2003 Save My Settings Wizardâ€.
2. Copied all .PST files to removable media
3. Formatted C drive
4. Installed Windows XP SP2
5. Installed Office 2003
6. Installed Office 2003 SP1
7. Copied all .PST files into “C:\Documents and Settings\Gene\Local
Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlookâ€
8. Restored settings “Microsoft Office 2003 Save My Settings Wizardâ€

I started using Outlook and everything seemed normal after entering
passwords for all active email accounts.

But after several hours I saw that there were THREE (3) instances of the
main Personal Folder within the “All Mail Folders†panel in Outlook.
Additional symptoms:

1. All 3 instances pointed to the same .PST file. I.e. if deleted a message
in one instance, the change was seen in the other two instances.
2. The “House†icon appeared next to the 1st instance.
3. The “Multiple Folders†icon appeared next to the 2nd and 3rd instance.
4. Properties for all 3 instances showed the “House†icon.
5. Right-mouse click “Close†was disabled (gray) for all 3 instances.
6. Clicking “Properties>Total Size†showed the same size (118,209 KB) for
all 3 instances
7. Clicking “Properties>Advanced†resulted in error message “(EXCLAMATION!)
The operation failed. An object could not be found.â€

I then tried “"c:\program files\microsoft office\office\outlook.exe"
a/cleanprofile as proposed by
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;303931 . This
resulted in an error message, so I remove the letter “aâ€, and it ran but it
did not fix the problem.

I then studied the registry for several hours and determined that this was
too difficult to mess with because Outlook 2003 most of the pertinent
information as Unicode, which regedit displays as Hexadecimal.

At this point I had the thought that the inability to close the several
instances of the main Personal Folder was related to their being the location
for delivering new email for the POP3 accounts.

I then created a new .PST file and named this “Temp†in Outlook. Using the
mail account wizard, I changed “Deliver new email … :†from my main Personal
Folder to the new “Temp†folder. After restarting Outlook I observed that
right-mouse click “Close†was no longer disabled (gray). However, when I
tried right-mouse click “Close†I received the error message “(EXCLAMATION!)
The operation failed. An object could not be found.â€

Outlook then automatically polled all of my POP3 accounts and downloaded
dozens of messages into the new Temp folder. These were mostly messages that
had previously been downloaded to my main Personal Folder, but which had also
been left on the servers. I copied only the newest ones into my main Personal
Folder.

I then changed “Deliver new email … :†back to my main Personal Folder and
restarted Outlook.
I then tried to get rid of the Temp folder and I did something (I am not
sure what it was) that resulted in two additional instances of a new folder
with zero-length name. When I clicked on either instances I received the
error message ““(EXCLAMATION!) The set of folders could not be opened. Show
Help>>†The help message said “This error usually appears if the OST or PST
file you are using is: Unavailable; Protected with file permissions; On a
share on a server and the network is down; Corrupt; To correct this problem,
store the OST or PST file on the local computer; You may also want to run the
scanost.exe and scanpst.exe tools to verify file integrity.â€
I then tried unsuccessfully to get rid of these instances.

MY CALL TO BANGALORE

Finally, out of desperation, I called MS for $35. The tech in Bangalore
spent 2 hours with me going through everything that I had previously tried.

He then asked me first back-up my outlook.PST file.

He then asked me to select “File>Data File Management…>â€. I observed that
this displayed a single instance of my main Personal Folder which was
associated with my outlook.PST file.

He then asked me select this instance and to click “Removeâ€.

This immediately removed the single instance of and the associated
Outlook.PST file from the list. This also removed one of the three instances
of my main Personal Folder from the folder list, which now left 2 instances
on the folder list.

After a while he had a brainstorm. He said that I should import everything
into Outlook Express, create a new profile in Outook, and import everything
back. I said I liked the boldbess of the concept and would give it a try. We
soon relaized, however, that Outlook Express had no capability for handling
the Calendar or other advanced features, so we abandoned this approach.

CONCLUSION

I need to fix the following things that are broken:
1. Eliminate the one extra instance of my main Personal Folder
2. Assure that the “File>Data File Management..†list shows my main Personal
Folder associated with my Outlook.PST file.
3. Get rid of the two useless zero-length names that are appearing in the
folder list.

Please email or call me at 914-772-5706 if this is not clear.

Thanks

Gene Miller

These ghost folders only appear if Outlook data has been migrated
incorrectly. Microsoft provides ample instructions on how to migrate
Outlook data correctly.
The problem is yours and yours to solve. Creating a new profile is
simply the easiest and safest way to solve this problem. I can provide
registry hacks if you prefer that route:

(Win XP) HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles\Outlook

Within the Outlook folder, there are a bunch of folders with long
hexadecimal values for names -- those are the ones you need to look in
to see if you can find the ghost .PST names. Export that key for safety
then delete it. If you delete the keys and that it point to your real
..PST file instead of one of the ghosts, it's not the end of the world --
your data won't be gone. The worst you would have to do is merge back
the key you exported or recreate your Outlook profile.

------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Camisade wrote:
I have this problem too... threefold over. I've used a program call Outback
plus to migrate Outlook to a new computer and also have the ghost entries.

So, no matter WHERE the blame lies (The Outback Plus folks say it's a bug in
Outlook), what I find REALLY hard to believe is that there isn't a reasonably
clean way to delete those "ghost" Outlook Personal Folder entries.

I find the answer of having to go through the whole "create a new profile"
process to be clumsy and unacceptable, because each time one has to do that,
one has to recreate ALL the email accounts (I use about 15), all the rules,
and in most cases either reconfigure and completely uninstall and reinstall
all the com add-ins (I probably use about five, between PGP, and LookOut,
etc), not to mention losing all the accumulated training associated with a
good bayesian spam blocker (I use SpamBayes).

So, there MUST be either a datafile editor or a reg key editor (or a set of
instructions to follow in regedit for advanced users), that will get rid of
these ridiculous ghost Personal Folders entries (and ghost contacts and
calendar entries, for that matter).

:


You migrated your data incorrectly and corrupted your profile. You must
create a new profile and make sure you connect it ONLY to the PST file you
want to use as your default.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Sorry to start this up again, but I've got the same problem Doreen had: a
new
PC (Windows XP), fresh install of Office 2003, only one pst file but two
identical Personal Folders. My old PC has only one personal folder, but
after transfering pst file my new PC insists on duplicating the Persoanl
Folder. Both operate as the default, so I'm unable to close or delete
either
of them. I use Office extensively for emails, calendar, tasks etc.

:


Very unusual. I don't think I've ever seen Outlook create duplicate
Personal
Folders by itself with a clean install.
If it happens again, creating a new profile is the easiest way to fix the
problem.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Thank you for responding. No, I did not migrate any files. Upon opening
for
the first time, duplicate Personal Folders displayed. No data had been
imported or files copied.

Since my post, I have sucessfully coped my .pst file from the computer
from
which I am upgrading. After installation on the new computer, and
working
through the problem, it appears that the duplicate Personal Folders
problem
has been corrected. Thank you again for your kind response. It was
very
much
appreciated.

:


This is usually the result of a corrupt profile caused by migrating
Outlook
data incorrectly.
After this fresh install, did you migrate data from an earlier version
of
Outlook? If so, how?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

On a new computer, I have done a fresh install of Office 2003.
Outlook
displays two identical copies of the Personal Folders. Changes to
one
are
reflected in the duplicate. There is only one .pst file. I have
removed
and
reinstalled Outlook to no avail.

I would like to know what might be causing this duplicate folder to
display
or how it could be removed. Thank you.

Subject: RE: Outlook displays two identical Personal Folders 2/2/2005
10:41 AM PST

By: Joe G In: microsoft.public.outlook.installation

Was this post helpful to you?


I had the same problem but solved it a different way. I had two different
.pst files but one was displayed twice, giving me the appearance of three. I
had to set my default email account to be the one that wasn't duplicated.
Then I removed the account that was duplicated, exited Outlook, re-added it
back, and then pointed my email accounts back to the original .PST. That way

 

[shaz]

I know this is long after this post was made but Russ HOW do you copy just
what you want out of the old one??
--
Needsmoreknowledge

Next time do not import from your old PST. You may lose or later data and
you may end up with another ghost PST file when you do.
Just open your old PST file in the new profile. At that point you can either
set Outlook to use it as its default and close the new PST, or you can copy
what you want from it into the new PST and close the old one.

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Russ,
Thanks for your response and interest.
What you say is right, I was migrating data incorrectly, so i followed
some
of the earlier postings and created a new profile in the users section in
control panel.
After I had chosen that OL should start with this profile, every thing was
back to normal, except i had no mail or contacts in my folders. However, i
was then able to import them from the earlier pst file which i had saved
after renaming.

Thanks once again.
CG

You must still be migrating data incorrectly to the new profile. State
what
you are doing.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Hi!
This is more than a year after your last post and about 3 months after
the
last post in this discussion. I have been through all the threads and
discussions, and am thankful for your assistance to various folk on
this
problem.

I tried creating a new profile and directing my mail to it, but I still
get
2 indentical Personal Folders. Is there no way out?


:

I quite agree. While this is not a "bug" per se in that Outlook is
operating
as designed, it is a very poor design indeed. This problem has existed
in
every version of Outlook, but became more pronounced in Outlook 2003
because
it was the first version that forced the creation of a new, default
PST
with
every new profile. Thus, every new profile is faced with the need to
migrate
another PST which can only be done using the supported method of
opening
another PST file and setting it as the default(and _never_ by
importing
and
exporting).
Migrating PST files is a real weak point in Outlook. Probably one of
the
reasons it never gets corrected is that it is mostly a cosmetic
problem.
The
existence of a second reference to a PST file in a profile rarely if
ever
causes any real problems.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I hate to bring this subject up again. But after reading all of the
posts
on
this issue, is it not more than possible that Outlook 2003 has a bug
in
it?
I have used Outlook since it first hit the market years ago and
never
had
this particular problem. We have a brand new computer, newly
purchased
Office 2003 installed and guess what Outlook did. 3 Personal
calanders
ghosted on top of one another. 2 Personal contacts and so forth.
Everything
is duplicated and triplicated. I did what Mr Russ Valentine said to
do
and
created a new profile. That worked! No more dups. I exported my
info
from
my old computer, imported it into the new computer (via a network).
In
the
Outlook Profile everything duplicated. Of course, the initial set
of
folders
were in duplication to begin with. When I created a new profile, I
did
the
exact same transfer of information and only 1 folder per import came
up.
So
draw your own conclusions as to whether this is owner/operator error
or
not.
As for me, this is a software error that needs corrected at
Microsoft.

:

Was there some other solution you would care to include with your
explanation?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
After reading the various posts I thought it was important to add
a
top-level
post explaining what I know. The explanations provided were all
wrong.
The
actual error has to do with whether Outlook 2003views the file as
a
one
time
source of data or if it incorrectly thinks that you will be using
the
file
as
a data file in an ongoing basis. If the second choice is falsely
indicated
it
provides you with an interface for working with the folders in
the
other
file. You could in theory simply drag and drop e-mails from one
set
of
folders to the other. This corupted setting for saved pst files
also
shows
up
sometimes if you choose to Archive you Personal Folder. The fix
presented
by
others works simply because you disconnect the file from the list
of
data
files Outlook thinks it needs to work.
:

On a new computer, I have done a fresh install of Office 2003.
Outlook
displays two identical copies of the Personal Folders. Changes
to
one
are
reflected in the duplicate. There is only one .pst file. I have
removed
and
reinstalled Outlook to no avail.

I would like to know what might be causing this duplicate folder
to
display
or how it could be removed. Thank you.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Edit > Select All > Edit > Copy to Folder.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I know this is long after this post was made but Russ HOW do you copy just
what you want out of the old one??
--
Needsmoreknowledge

Next time do not import from your old PST. You may lose or later data and
you may end up with another ghost PST file when you do.
Just open your old PST file in the new profile. At that point you can
either
set Outlook to use it as its default and close the new PST, or you can
copy
what you want from it into the new PST and close the old one.

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Russ,
Thanks for your response and interest.
What you say is right, I was migrating data incorrectly, so i followed
some
of the earlier postings and created a new profile in the users section
in
control panel.
After I had chosen that OL should start with this profile, every thing
was
back to normal, except i had no mail or contacts in my folders.
However, i
was then able to import them from the earlier pst file which i had
saved
after renaming.

Thanks once again.
CG

:

You must still be migrating data incorrectly to the new profile. State
what
you are doing.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Hi!
This is more than a year after your last post and about 3 months
after
the
last post in this discussion. I have been through all the threads
and
discussions, and am thankful for your assistance to various folk on
this
problem.

I tried creating a new profile and directing my mail to it, but I
still
get
2 indentical Personal Folders. Is there no way out?


:

I quite agree. While this is not a "bug" per se in that Outlook is
operating
as designed, it is a very poor design indeed. This problem has
existed
in
every version of Outlook, but became more pronounced in Outlook
2003
because
it was the first version that forced the creation of a new, default
PST
with
every new profile. Thus, every new profile is faced with the need
to
migrate
another PST which can only be done using the supported method of
opening
another PST file and setting it as the default(and _never_ by
importing
and
exporting).
Migrating PST files is a real weak point in Outlook. Probably one
of
the
reasons it never gets corrected is that it is mostly a cosmetic
problem.
The
existence of a second reference to a PST file in a profile rarely
if
ever
causes any real problems.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I hate to bring this subject up again. But after reading all of
the
posts
on
this issue, is it not more than possible that Outlook 2003 has a
bug
in
it?
I have used Outlook since it first hit the market years ago and
never
had
this particular problem. We have a brand new computer, newly
purchased
Office 2003 installed and guess what Outlook did. 3 Personal
calanders
ghosted on top of one another. 2 Personal contacts and so forth.
Everything
is duplicated and triplicated. I did what Mr Russ Valentine said
to
do
and
created a new profile. That worked! No more dups. I exported
my
info
from
my old computer, imported it into the new computer (via a
network).
In
the
Outlook Profile everything duplicated. Of course, the initial
set
of
folders
were in duplication to begin with. When I created a new profile,
I
did
the
exact same transfer of information and only 1 folder per import
came
up.
So
draw your own conclusions as to whether this is owner/operator
error
or
not.
As for me, this is a software error that needs corrected at
Microsoft.

:

Was there some other solution you would care to include with
your
explanation?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
After reading the various posts I thought it was important to
add
a
top-level
post explaining what I know. The explanations provided were
all
wrong.
The
actual error has to do with whether Outlook 2003views the file
as
a
one
time
source of data or if it incorrectly thinks that you will be
using
the
file
as
a data file in an ongoing basis. If the second choice is
falsely
indicated
it
provides you with an interface for working with the folders in
the
other
file. You could in theory simply drag and drop e-mails from
one
set
of
folders to the other. This corupted setting for saved pst
files
also
shows
up
sometimes if you choose to Archive you Personal Folder. The
fix
presented
by
others works simply because you disconnect the file from the
list
of
data
files Outlook thinks it needs to work.
:

On a new computer, I have done a fresh install of Office
2003.
Outlook
displays two identical copies of the Personal Folders.
Changes
to
one
are
reflected in the duplicate. There is only one .pst file. I
have
removed
and
reinstalled Outlook to no avail.

I would like to know what might be causing this duplicate
folder
to
display
or how it could be removed. Thank you.

 

[DL]

You select the item(s) and drag & drop, or rt click, copy, highlight were
you want them located & paste

I know this is long after this post was made but Russ HOW do you copy just
what you want out of the old one??
--
Needsmoreknowledge

Next time do not import from your old PST. You may lose or later data and
you may end up with another ghost PST file when you do.
Just open your old PST file in the new profile. At that point you can
either
set Outlook to use it as its default and close the new PST, or you can
copy
what you want from it into the new PST and close the old one.

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Russ,
Thanks for your response and interest.
What you say is right, I was migrating data incorrectly, so i followed
some
of the earlier postings and created a new profile in the users section
in
control panel.
After I had chosen that OL should start with this profile, every thing
was
back to normal, except i had no mail or contacts in my folders.
However, i
was then able to import them from the earlier pst file which i had
saved
after renaming.

Thanks once again.
CG

:

You must still be migrating data incorrectly to the new profile. State
what
you are doing.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Hi!
This is more than a year after your last post and about 3 months
after
the
last post in this discussion. I have been through all the threads
and
discussions, and am thankful for your assistance to various folk on
this
problem.

I tried creating a new profile and directing my mail to it, but I
still
get
2 indentical Personal Folders. Is there no way out?


:

I quite agree. While this is not a "bug" per se in that Outlook is
operating
as designed, it is a very poor design indeed. This problem has
existed
in
every version of Outlook, but became more pronounced in Outlook
2003
because
it was the first version that forced the creation of a new, default
PST
with
every new profile. Thus, every new profile is faced with the need
to
migrate
another PST which can only be done using the supported method of
opening
another PST file and setting it as the default(and _never_ by
importing
and
exporting).
Migrating PST files is a real weak point in Outlook. Probably one
of
the
reasons it never gets corrected is that it is mostly a cosmetic
problem.
The
existence of a second reference to a PST file in a profile rarely
if
ever
causes any real problems.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I hate to bring this subject up again. But after reading all of
the
posts
on
this issue, is it not more than possible that Outlook 2003 has a
bug
in
it?
I have used Outlook since it first hit the market years ago and
never
had
this particular problem. We have a brand new computer, newly
purchased
Office 2003 installed and guess what Outlook did. 3 Personal
calanders
ghosted on top of one another. 2 Personal contacts and so forth.
Everything
is duplicated and triplicated. I did what Mr Russ Valentine said
to
do
and
created a new profile. That worked! No more dups. I exported
my
info
from
my old computer, imported it into the new computer (via a
network).
In
the
Outlook Profile everything duplicated. Of course, the initial
set
of
folders
were in duplication to begin with. When I created a new profile,
I
did
the
exact same transfer of information and only 1 folder per import
came
up.
So
draw your own conclusions as to whether this is owner/operator
error
or
not.
As for me, this is a software error that needs corrected at
Microsoft.

:

Was there some other solution you would care to include with
your
explanation?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
After reading the various posts I thought it was important to
add
a
top-level
post explaining what I know. The explanations provided were
all
wrong.
The
actual error has to do with whether Outlook 2003views the file
as
a
one
time
source of data or if it incorrectly thinks that you will be
using
the
file
as
a data file in an ongoing basis. If the second choice is
falsely
indicated
it
provides you with an interface for working with the folders in
the
other
file. You could in theory simply drag and drop e-mails from
one
set
of
folders to the other. This corupted setting for saved pst
files
also
shows
up
sometimes if you choose to Archive you Personal Folder. The
fix
presented
by
others works simply because you disconnect the file from the
list
of
data
files Outlook thinks it needs to work.
:

On a new computer, I have done a fresh install of Office
2003.
Outlook
displays two identical copies of the Personal Folders.
Changes
to
one
are
reflected in the duplicate. There is only one .pst file. I
have
removed
and
reinstalled Outlook to no avail.

I would like to know what might be causing this duplicate
folder
to
display
or how it could be removed. Thank you.

 

[shaz]

I'm sorry I'm a real dummy when it comes to the more technical side of these
things. Do I open it in Outlook?? So I have to import it first to copy the
things I need??
--
Needsmoreknowledge

You select the item(s) and drag & drop, or rt click, copy, highlight were
you want them located & paste

I know this is long after this post was made but Russ HOW do you copy just
what you want out of the old one??
--
Needsmoreknowledge

Next time do not import from your old PST. You may lose or later data and
you may end up with another ghost PST file when you do.
Just open your old PST file in the new profile. At that point you can
either
set Outlook to use it as its default and close the new PST, or you can
copy
what you want from it into the new PST and close the old one.

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Russ,
Thanks for your response and interest.
What you say is right, I was migrating data incorrectly, so i followed
some
of the earlier postings and created a new profile in the users section
in
control panel.
After I had chosen that OL should start with this profile, every thing
was
back to normal, except i had no mail or contacts in my folders.
However, i
was then able to import them from the earlier pst file which i had
saved
after renaming.

Thanks once again.
CG

:

You must still be migrating data incorrectly to the new profile. State
what
you are doing.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Hi!
This is more than a year after your last post and about 3 months
after
the
last post in this discussion. I have been through all the threads
and
discussions, and am thankful for your assistance to various folk on
this
problem.

I tried creating a new profile and directing my mail to it, but I
still
get
2 indentical Personal Folders. Is there no way out?


:

I quite agree. While this is not a "bug" per se in that Outlook is
operating
as designed, it is a very poor design indeed. This problem has
existed
in
every version of Outlook, but became more pronounced in Outlook
2003
because
it was the first version that forced the creation of a new, default
PST
with
every new profile. Thus, every new profile is faced with the need
to
migrate
another PST which can only be done using the supported method of
opening
another PST file and setting it as the default(and _never_ by
importing
and
exporting).
Migrating PST files is a real weak point in Outlook. Probably one
of
the
reasons it never gets corrected is that it is mostly a cosmetic
problem.
The
existence of a second reference to a PST file in a profile rarely
if
ever
causes any real problems.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I hate to bring this subject up again. But after reading all of
the
posts
on
this issue, is it not more than possible that Outlook 2003 has a
bug
in
it?
I have used Outlook since it first hit the market years ago and
never
had
this particular problem. We have a brand new computer, newly
purchased
Office 2003 installed and guess what Outlook did. 3 Personal
calanders
ghosted on top of one another. 2 Personal contacts and so forth.
Everything
is duplicated and triplicated. I did what Mr Russ Valentine said
to
do
and
created a new profile. That worked! No more dups. I exported
my
info
from
my old computer, imported it into the new computer (via a
network).
In
the
Outlook Profile everything duplicated. Of course, the initial
set
of
folders
were in duplication to begin with. When I created a new profile,
I
did
the
exact same transfer of information and only 1 folder per import
came
up.
So
draw your own conclusions as to whether this is owner/operator
error
or
not.
As for me, this is a software error that needs corrected at
Microsoft.

:

Was there some other solution you would care to include with
your
explanation?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
After reading the various posts I thought it was important to
add
a
top-level
post explaining what I know. The explanations provided were
all
wrong.
The
actual error has to do with whether Outlook 2003views the file
as
a
one
time
source of data or if it incorrectly thinks that you will be
using
the
file
as
a data file in an ongoing basis. If the second choice is
falsely
indicated
it
provides you with an interface for working with the folders in
the
other
file. You could in theory simply drag and drop e-mails from
one
set
of
folders to the other. This corupted setting for saved pst
files
also
shows
up
sometimes if you choose to Archive you Personal Folder. The
fix
presented
by
others works simply because you disconnect the file from the
list
of
data
files Outlook thinks it needs to work.
:

On a new computer, I have done a fresh install of Office
2003.
Outlook
displays two identical copies of the Personal Folders.
Changes
to
one
are
reflected in the duplicate. There is only one .pst file. I
have
removed
and
reinstalled Outlook to no avail.

I would like to know what might be causing this duplicate
folder
to
display
or how it could be removed. Thank you.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

All of this is done within Outlook. You open both data files in Outlook and
copy from one to another. You never import, unless you have a need to lose
that data.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I'm sorry I'm a real dummy when it comes to the more technical side of
these
things. Do I open it in Outlook?? So I have to import it first to copy the
things I need??
--
Needsmoreknowledge

You select the item(s) and drag & drop, or rt click, copy, highlight were
you want them located & paste

I know this is long after this post was made but Russ HOW do you copy
just
what you want out of the old one??
--
Needsmoreknowledge


:

Next time do not import from your old PST. You may lose or later data
and
you may end up with another ghost PST file when you do.
Just open your old PST file in the new profile. At that point you can
either
set Outlook to use it as its default and close the new PST, or you can
copy
what you want from it into the new PST and close the old one.

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Russ,
Thanks for your response and interest.
What you say is right, I was migrating data incorrectly, so i
followed
some
of the earlier postings and created a new profile in the users
section
in
control panel.
After I had chosen that OL should start with this profile, every
thing
was
back to normal, except i had no mail or contacts in my folders.
However, i
was then able to import them from the earlier pst file which i had
saved
after renaming.

Thanks once again.
CG

:

You must still be migrating data incorrectly to the new profile.
State
what
you are doing.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Hi!
This is more than a year after your last post and about 3 months
after
the
last post in this discussion. I have been through all the threads
and
discussions, and am thankful for your assistance to various folk
on
this
problem.

I tried creating a new profile and directing my mail to it, but I
still
get
2 indentical Personal Folders. Is there no way out?


:

I quite agree. While this is not a "bug" per se in that Outlook
is
operating
as designed, it is a very poor design indeed. This problem has
existed
in
every version of Outlook, but became more pronounced in Outlook
2003
because
it was the first version that forced the creation of a new,
default
PST
with
every new profile. Thus, every new profile is faced with the
need
to
migrate
another PST which can only be done using the supported method of
opening
another PST file and setting it as the default(and _never_ by
importing
and
exporting).
Migrating PST files is a real weak point in Outlook. Probably
one
of
the
reasons it never gets corrected is that it is mostly a cosmetic
problem.
The
existence of a second reference to a PST file in a profile
rarely
if
ever
causes any real problems.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
message
I hate to bring this subject up again. But after reading all
of
the
posts
on
this issue, is it not more than possible that Outlook 2003 has
a
bug
in
it?
I have used Outlook since it first hit the market years ago
and
never
had
this particular problem. We have a brand new computer, newly
purchased
Office 2003 installed and guess what Outlook did. 3 Personal
calanders
ghosted on top of one another. 2 Personal contacts and so
forth.
Everything
is duplicated and triplicated. I did what Mr Russ Valentine
said
to
do
and
created a new profile. That worked! No more dups. I
exported
my
info
from
my old computer, imported it into the new computer (via a
network).
In
the
Outlook Profile everything duplicated. Of course, the initial
set
of
folders
were in duplication to begin with. When I created a new
profile,
I
did
the
exact same transfer of information and only 1 folder per
import
came
up.
So
draw your own conclusions as to whether this is owner/operator
error
or
not.
As for me, this is a software error that needs corrected at
Microsoft.

:

Was there some other solution you would care to include with
your
explanation?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
message
After reading the various posts I thought it was important
to
add
a
top-level
post explaining what I know. The explanations provided were
all
wrong.
The
actual error has to do with whether Outlook 2003views the
file
as
a
one
time
source of data or if it incorrectly thinks that you will be
using
the
file
as
a data file in an ongoing basis. If the second choice is
falsely
indicated
it
provides you with an interface for working with the folders
in
the
other
file. You could in theory simply drag and drop e-mails from
one
set
of
folders to the other. This corupted setting for saved pst
files
also
shows
up
sometimes if you choose to Archive you Personal Folder. The
fix
presented
by
others works simply because you disconnect the file from
the
list
of
data
files Outlook thinks it needs to work.
:

On a new computer, I have done a fresh install of Office
2003.
Outlook
displays two identical copies of the Personal Folders.
Changes
to
one
are
reflected in the duplicate. There is only one .pst file. I
have
removed
and
reinstalled Outlook to no avail.

I would like to know what might be causing this duplicate
folder
to
display
or how it could be removed. Thank you.