PST File stored on external shared USB Drive Question

[steve02a]

I have an odd and interesting question here.

Two computers in this. Computer A has the external USB Drive (which is
shared so computer B can access it). Both computers have Outlook 2003 and
just use POP3 email account (one account).

Computer A originated the .pst file. We moved that .pst file to the
external drive (and shared the file). Recreated the profile in computer A to
point the personal folder to the newly shared .pst file on the external
drive. Created profile on computer B and pointed it to .pst file on the
shared USB drive. Both computes do not access the .pst file at the same time
- the user just bounces from computer to computer throughout the day,
opening/closing outlook all the time.

Thus far, it's been working great like that - all the email is stored in
that single .pst file on the external usb drive. However, the user says a
..pst file is created locally on the computer and THAT also contains all the
email. They are constantly having to delete that local .pst file (so if they
take the laptop home or somewhere, there is no trace of the email - since all
the email is stored on that USB drive and that is left in the office).

Why does a local .pst file get created on the computer that is opening
Outlook (and accessing the shared .pst file where all the email is,
downloading new messages, doing their email thing, then closing outlook)? A
local copy get created even though the profile clearly shows the personal
file's location on the shared drive. Does anyone know why this happens?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Hard to say without any details about your "local" pst-file. To start with;
where does it get created and at what exact point when doing what?

Either way; this configuration is asking for a disaster. Connecting to a
pst-file anywhere else than on a local hard drive is not recommended or
supported by Microsoft.

 

[steve02a]

I've cautioned the user on the damage that can happen using a .pst over the
network, but they insist on doing this way.

The local copy gets stored in the C:\Documents and Settings\User
Profile\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook folder - even
though they are using the only profile in Outlook that fetches everything
from the shared USB Drive.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

If the pst-file is set as the default delivery location and is the only
pst-file connected to the mail profile then an additional pst-file will not
be created unless you have AutoArchive configured to do so.