PST Problem

[jim]

I've got a user running Outlook2k3 (SP2). She just tried copying some email
into her PST file and got this error message:

"Can't move the items. The file <path>\<filename>.pst has reached its
maximum size. To reduce the amount of data in this file, select some items
that you no longer need, and then permanently delete them."

Her PST file is just under 2 gigs.

I found what looked to be the exact fix for the problem on TechNet:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/832925/en-us

The only problem is that the registry entries described in the article don't
exist. I get as far as HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> Policies ->
Microsoft. There are no subkeys called "Office", "11.0". or "Outlook". I
checked a couple of other PC's and didn't find them there either.

Anyone know how to correct this problem? I thought Outlook2k3 supported
PST's over 2 gigs.

 

[jim]

Never mind, i figured it out. It was an older PST format that didn't
support large file sizes. Created a new one, imported the items, a voila!

 

[Brian Tillman]

Never mind, i figured it out. It was an older PST format that didn't
support large file sizes. Created a new one, imported the items, a
voila!

Importing is rarely a good idea. Importing loses data.

 

[jim]

It seems to have worked ok. Why would MS recommend using that method if it
results in losing mail?

 

[Brian Tillman]

It seems to have worked ok. Why would MS recommend using that method
if it results in losing mail?

At least some of the articles that suggested exporting and importing have
been changed to suggest other methods first. Importing and exporting have
their place, but rarely when the goal is to move Outlook data between
instances. Just as you would never think of exporting a Word document to
transfer it to another Word instance, so to should you avoid exporting to a
PST to move data to another Outlook instance. Your data is already in a
PST. No need to export to another one.