Transferring *everything* in Outlook 2000(IMO) to new PC

[Comboverfish]

Hi,

I don't even know if what I have been trying to do is possible, so I
will ask before becoming completely frustrated!

Story: I have an old, slow, not-worth-upgrading PC which has been my
main computer for years, and I have ordered a new tower/processor to
replace it. I am running XP Home and will have a new retail version
of XP Home installed on the new PC. I plan to install my Office 2000
pro retail software on the new PC and trash the old one once
everything is up and running.

Question: Is there a way to transfer *all* of the Outlook 2000
emails in every folder (sent, inbox, deleted, custom folders I
created, etc...) -- basically every bit of typed or emailed content --
to Outlook 2000 on the new PC?

What's been done so far: I've searched usenet and MS KB for ways to
do this and can't seem to come up with a solution that works. I have
been practicing transferring various .pst, .fav, .dat, .NICK, etc
files with another PC that has a similar install of Outlook 2000
(IMO). I haven't managed to screw the other PC up yet (luckily)
because I can safely revert back to it's original configuration...
but when I do any sort of copy/paste file swap operations to try to
get the "test PC" version of Outlook to act like mine, it results
poorly. The main screen *looks* the same when I copy all of the above-
mentioned files from one PC to the other. It defaults to the Inbox
like on my system, and all of my current email titles are there in the
same order, the unread ones are highlighted; everything looks good
until I try to navigate anywhere. When you click on any folder on the
left, let's say Inbox, I get a gray screen instead of email titles,
and the message "Unable to display the folder. Unable to display the
folder. The folder no longer exists." in the center of the gray area.
BTW, that wasn't a typo, the message looks exactly as I typed it. The
wierd thing is, if I click on any of the email titles on the default
Inbox screen, they open up. I even opened an attachment pdf that was
in one of them -- even the attachment worked properly! But like I
said, if I click on any of the shortcuts on the left, I get that
message. At that point the only thing I can do is use the back button
to get back to the default Inbox. All of my custom Outlook Bars and
included folders show properly, but I can't look inside them.

Is what I am trying to do impossible? Can you only back up the
folders and not the content, or do I need to find the file(s) that
contain the email content and copy them also? Could I have gone out
of order in my trial attempts and screwed up the procedure to cause
this?

Thanks for any help,
Tony

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

Take a look here, it may help:
http://www.slipstick.com/config/backup.htm


--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, Comboverfish wrote:

| Hi,
|
| I don't even know if what I have been trying to do is possible, so I
| will ask before becoming completely frustrated!
|
| Story: I have an old, slow, not-worth-upgrading PC which has been my
| main computer for years, and I have ordered a new tower/processor to
| replace it. I am running XP Home and will have a new retail version
| of XP Home installed on the new PC. I plan to install my Office 2000
| pro retail software on the new PC and trash the old one once
| everything is up and running.
|
| Question: Is there a way to transfer *all* of the Outlook 2000
| emails in every folder (sent, inbox, deleted, custom folders I
| created, etc...) -- basically every bit of typed or emailed content --
| to Outlook 2000 on the new PC?
|
| What's been done so far: I've searched usenet and MS KB for ways to
| do this and can't seem to come up with a solution that works. I have
| been practicing transferring various .pst, .fav, .dat, .NICK, etc
| files with another PC that has a similar install of Outlook 2000
| (IMO). I haven't managed to screw the other PC up yet (luckily)
| because I can safely revert back to it's original configuration...
| but when I do any sort of copy/paste file swap operations to try to
| get the "test PC" version of Outlook to act like mine, it results
| poorly. The main screen *looks* the same when I copy all of the
| above- mentioned files from one PC to the other. It defaults to the
| Inbox like on my system, and all of my current email titles are there
| in the same order, the unread ones are highlighted; everything looks
| good until I try to navigate anywhere. When you click on any folder
| on the left, let's say Inbox, I get a gray screen instead of email
| titles, and the message "Unable to display the folder. Unable to
| display the folder. The folder no longer exists." in the center of
| the gray area. BTW, that wasn't a typo, the message looks exactly as
| I typed it. The wierd thing is, if I click on any of the email
| titles on the default Inbox screen, they open up. I even opened an
| attachment pdf that was in one of them -- even the attachment worked
| properly! But like I said, if I click on any of the shortcuts on the
| left, I get that message. At that point the only thing I can do is
| use the back button to get back to the default Inbox. All of my
| custom Outlook Bars and included folders show properly, but I can't
| look inside them.
|
| Is what I am trying to do impossible? Can you only back up the
| folders and not the content, or do I need to find the file(s) that
| contain the email content and copy them also? Could I have gone out
| of order in my trial attempts and screwed up the procedure to cause
| this?
|
| Thanks for any help,
| Tony

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Not sure what you've been reading but no accurate instructions would have
you do what you've done. You never just copy and paste a PST file because
you'll corrupt your Outlook profile. Because you're using IMO, you have no
way of creating a new profile. Don't be so sure you haven't "screwed up" the
new installation.
Read the post Milly referred you to. Pay strict attention to this part:
Never just paste a PST file and expect Outlook to be able to connect to it
correctly. Instead, you open it in Outlook first then set it as your
default.
- File menu > Open > Personal Folders file > migrate to your PST file
location to open it
- Right-click on the root of the new set of folders in the folder pane (View

Folder List)

- Choose Properties
- Check the "Deliver POP mail" box
- Quit & restart Outlook
- Now you can Close the PST file that you were previously using (R-click on
that pst folder while in Folder View and select "Close <foldername>
Folders"). If you have any information in your former PST that you'd like to
transfer to your new default PST, you can drag and drop from one to the
other before you close the old one.

 

[Michael]

Not sure what you've been reading but no accurate instructions would have
you do what you've done. You never just copy and paste a PST file because
you'll corrupt your Outlook profile. Because you're using IMO, you have no
way of creating a new profile. Don't be so sure you haven't "screwed up" the
new installation.
Read the post Milly referred you to. Pay strict attention to this part:
Never just paste a PST file and expect Outlook to be able to connect to it
correctly. Instead, you open it in Outlook first then set it as your
default.
- File menu > Open > Personal Folders file > migrate to your PST file
location to open it
- Right-click on the root of the new set of folders in the folder pane (View
- Choose Properties
- Check the "Deliver POP mail" box
- Quit & restart Outlook
- Now you can Close the PST file that you were previously using (R-click on
that pst folder while in Folder View and select "Close <foldername>
Folders"). If you have any information in your former PST that you'd like to
transfer to your new default PST, you can drag and drop from one to the
other before you close the old one.

Thank you. Excellent instructions. I've saved it.

Michael

 

[Comboverfish]

Not sure what you've been reading but no accurate instructions would have
you do what you've done. You never just copy and paste a PST file because
you'll corrupt your Outlook profile. Because you're using IMO, you have no
way of creating a new profile. Don't be so sure you haven't "screwed up" the
new installation.
Read the post Milly referred you to. Pay strict attention to this part:
Never just paste a PST file and expect Outlook to be able to connect to it
correctly. Instead, you open it in Outlook first then set it as your
default.
- File menu > Open > Personal Folders file > migrate to your PST file
location to open it
- Right-click on the root of the new set of folders in the folder pane (View
- Choose Properties
- Check the "Deliver POP mail" box
- Quit & restart Outlook
- Now you can Close the PST file that you were previously using (R-click on
that pst folder while in Folder View and select "Close <foldername>
Folders"). If you have any information in your former PST that you'd like to
transfer to your new default PST, you can drag and drop from one to the
other before you close the old one.

- Show quoted text -

Thanks Russ,

I restored the test Outlook to default with the Office XP disc, then
proceded as you instructed and was able to get all of my folders,
emails, etc functional. I tried then copying the other types of files
(fav dat and NICK) into their appropriate folder and the screen
*looked* correct like after my original attempt; IOW, my custom
Outlook shortcut bars were present in the same order, but again the
whole screen was functionless. I removed those files and it works,
it's just that all of my manually arranged custom folders were in
special shortcut bars, and now they are all just listed in the "tree
view". It will be simple enough to recreate shortcuts, then drag and
drop everything into place.

Thanks for getting me this far! The rest is cake.

Tony

 

[Comboverfish]

Not sure what you've been reading but no accurate instructions would have
you do what you've done. You never just copy and paste a PST file because
you'll corrupt your Outlook profile. Because you're using IMO, you have no
way of creating a new profile. Don't be so sure you haven't "screwed up" the
new installation.
Read the post Milly referred you to. Pay strict attention to this part:
Never just paste a PST file and expect Outlook to be able to connect to it
correctly. Instead, you open it in Outlook first then set it as your
default.
- File menu > Open > Personal Folders file > migrate to your PST file
location to open it
- Right-click on the root of the new set of folders in the folder pane (View
- Choose Properties
- Check the "Deliver POP mail" box
- Quit & restart Outlook
- Now you can Close the PST file that you were previously using (R-click on
that pst folder while in Folder View and select "Close <foldername>
Folders"). If you have any information in your former PST that you'd like to
transfer to your new default PST, you can drag and drop from one to the
other before you close the old one.

Thanks Russ,

I restored the test computer's Outlook to default with the Office 2000
disc, then
proceded as you instructed and was able to get all of my folders,
emails, etc functional. I tried then copying the other types of
files
(fav dat and NICK) into their appropriate folder and the screen
*looked* correct like after my original attempt; IOW, my custom
Outlook shortcut bars were present in the same order, but again the
whole screen was functionless. I removed those files and it works,
it's just that all of my manually arranged custom folders were in
special shortcut bars, and now they are all just listed in the "tree
view". It will be simple enough to recreate shortcuts, then drag and
drop everything into place.


Thanks for getting me this far! The rest is cake.


Tony