OK Russ -- I'm very much closer to the truth, Jedi Master.
Removed Outlook and reinstalled Office w/Outlook (yeah -- the settings
are
retained so it is a futile undertaking) however I had to pretend (and
PRAY)
it would revert to a fresh install. However. Sometimes it's the thought
that
counts.
NOt this time though.
Opened Outlook and had already placed a copy of my work machine's .pst
in
the folder along with the previous recovered .pst. It recognized both
(and
even saw renamed ones) Creepy !!!
As per our discussion and the KB article I assigned the OL2003 pst
(from
my
work machine) as the master PST(Thus allowing future growth from the
Unicode). From the recovered data file (97-2002.pst) I copied
everything
over
to the master pst. Folder after folder, email after email, notes,
calendar,
contacts, etc. Thoroughly cleaned all files and folders of dupes and
reorganized. Needed that anyway. Noticed that my New Contacts looked
GREAT,
very complete. Even dumped tons of folks I haven't yapped with in a
while
(my
wife wishes I would do a job like that in the garage).
NOW -- I'm back to the original problem. Full circle. After a "detect
and
repair," "reinstallation," building the proper data file, and just
generally
slappin it around. No Contacts in the DOUBLE contact drop down box in
the
ADDRESS BOOK. OH -- there are a dozen in one of the boxes. I figure
these
were leftoevers fron the previous (recoverd) data file after I copied
all
others to the master. I had removed that (recovered) data file however
adn
restarted Outlook. So --
I have a very nice, complete, and tidy "Contacts" sub-folder,
accessible
from the tabs on the left side of the nav pane in Outlook. I DO NOT
have
however, the corresponding ADDRESS BOOK, contacts display. Nothing
there.
If you solve this I'll personally thank Ballmer for Ya !!!!
Thanks for all you've done thusfar. Don't desert me now. Gotta be
close.
Alan
:
You do not need to worry about the Outlook Address Book configuration.
You
can remove and re-add references to Contacts Folder without ever
affecting
the data.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Hi Again Russ,
I am focusing on reading the import/migration thing "reconnect data
file.
I
should shed some light.
I am concerned though that I corrupted the contact dropdown defaults
and
are
unable to return to Contacts dropping down to contacts. Gonna remove
the
data
files and repair Outlook again to see if that works. I'll let ya
know.
Then it's the data file mess.
Yucch !!!!
Thanks
:
Been there. SP2 took me down beyond repair too. For me the Master
File
Table
became corrupt. Just a minor issue having one of the core system
files
go
down. Nice.
All that you really need to know here is the proper way to migrate
Outlook
data. First, forget everything you know or are accustomed to. After
all,
this is Outlook. For example, _never_ overwrite a PST file. Do not
even
import a PST file. Instead, you must painstakingly configure
Outlook
to
use
your old PST file as its data source. Here are the instructions:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA010771141033.aspx
This method is the only way to keep things working as they should,
including
rules and the Outlook Address Book. Rules often need to be stepped
through
to reset them to pick up the new location of the PST file, but
that's
a
simple matter.
There is no file incompatibility between earlier versions and
Outlook
2003,
so there is almost no reason not to keep using the old PST. I say
"almost"
because if you think you are likley to exceed the 2GB limit on your
PST
file, then you will want to use the new Outlook 2003 PST file
format
(UNICODE). Few people need that, but if you do, then you should let
Outlook
2003 create its own new PST file when you install it, then _open_
(not
import) your old PST file and copy the data you want from the old
PST
to
the
new. This method will not preserve rules, views, etc. so those will
have
to
be recreated. But your Outlook Address Book will still work.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
message
It is confusing for sure. Let me briefly say what was done and
I'll
start
this from scratch. You might be able to refer to articles which
help
although
most have not. I did in fact hunt them out and was left looking.
You
have
been INVALUABLE.
SP2 (I believe) crashed my HDD. Unreadable FAT and MBR. Was able
to
run
an
undelete utility to recover files. Fortunately got 95% HOORAY !!!
Tons
of
my
families pics, etc. My wife was glad too !!! She now backs up
regularly.
Built new drive and loaded XP Pro and Office XP fresh, these were
what
was
on the bad drive. Not Office 2003, yet. Captured .pst
(Office97-2002)
from
recovered drive and imported it to Outlook. Worked OK although
most
recent
3
months entries no longer existed.
My work machine is almost a clone. Since the more familiar the
easier,
right? On this machine in addition to XP Pro I had started with
Office
2003
in 1/04 (9 mos ago) SO -- I was hoping this would fill in the
blanks
from
my
data loss. It did. I just copied the data file to CD and took
home
and
imported (650mb)
It would not however update the contacts. So then I upgraded to
Office
2003
(just to capture my contacts). It too worked but now everything
is
askew!!
The data file continues as my previous .pst (97-2002) which may
be
creating
a version problem. I did remove (dis-associate) all and ran
detect
and
repair
in order to reset the defaults. Didn't help. I have 3 data files
that
are
all
a little different.
Contacts are in contact section on left of task pane, but not in
address
book, for any data file. Must be a error somewhere causing this.
Will you direct me to do the MIGRATION or MERGE properly so I can
for
once
restore sanity to my home machine??
What is the proper way to bring in this 4 upgrades old .pst and
capture
contacts and make the drop downs work as they should??
Ideally, I would like ONE data file. That may be askin a lot but
it
sure
makes backups easier in case of what started all of this.
AGAIN -- BIG THANKS
Alan
:
Outlook has not used a PAB for years.
Any Contact Folder that you have enabled as an email address
book
can
serve
as a data source in the Outlook Address book.
You've lost me completely in your description of what you did.
Suffice
it
to
say that importing Outlook data is never the correct way to
transfer
Outlook
data unless you are transferring from another program in a
foreign
format.
If data is in Outlook format, just open the data file, don't
import
it.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
message
Thanks Again Russ,
I am still a bit confused what I can point to as a source file
for
the
OAB.
There is a file (*.PAB) however it displays nothing after
loading,
restarting
outlook, and opening the OAB. The path only list PAB's as the
file
they
are
looking for. I take it, it was a recreation of an earlier
version
that
was
imported (outlook 2002). The original was imported into and
appended
and
was
intact til removed. The other was emptied prior to removal.
Now
no
contacts
drop downs exists. When aimed at the DataFile location the
drop
downs
list
"personal data file" i believe.
The address data must exist somewhere in the pst?? -- huh??
Since
it
is
nowhere else to be found.
Thanks for any help -- before I reimport PAB's and another PST
looking
for
contacts only.
Alan
:
You're not alone. When given a choice of which of two
references
to
remove,
users will defy all odds and remove the wrong one 90% of the
time.
Outlook
does not help at all by providing absolutely no clue as to
which
to
remove.
When this happens normally you can just remove the other
reference
and
add
the first back.
It is worth remembering that the Outlook Address Book is a
deeply
dumb
utility. Anytime you import Contacts, move your PST file,
open
another
PST
file, or even sneeze while Outlook is open, the OAB will
completely
lose
track of which Contacts Folder it is supposed to display and
go
into a
state
of nearly terminal confusion. When that happens, the easiest
thing
to
do
is
simply defibrillate it: remove it completely from your
profile,
restart
Outlook, add it back, point it to the Folders you want it to
display
and
restart Outlook again. Rest assured that the Outlook Address
Book
contains
no data (I would never trust it to) and can safely be
removed
and
re-added
without affecting your data.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
message
Hi Russ,
As you'd expect (always seems to happen to me
) I
removed
what
I
believed
to be the wrong "Contact" drop down and was left with
nothing
in
it.
Removed
that one too and searched out the source file. As I recall,
with
the
import
of another Outlook2003 *.pst, thet are merged as well as
the
imbedded
(formally *.pab's) data. correct? There are no PAB's
created
from
Outlook
2003, right. The ones I have are leftovers from previous
versions.
How do i return to the good address book?? that was
imported
into
and
appended in my Personal Folders File.
BIG BIG BIG Thanks for your help
:
Remove the invalid reference to a Contacts Folder here:
Tools > E-mail accounts > View or change existing
directories
or
address
books > Outlook Address Book > Change.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
in
message
Imported work *.pdf into home machine. the original
address
book
was
in
the
Personal Folders" while the work was i the imported
Alan's
Personal
Folders.
Now the contacts have the original contacts and the much
larger
contacts
(that appears as the origaibnal appended with the new
stuff).
When you open the address book and go to the drop downs
from
"Show
the
Names
From" there are 2 indentical "contact" drop downs. In
reality
only
one
is
desired. Deleted the content of the least populated (and
least
desired)
but
cannot remove the drop down.
Please help
Thanks
