Outlook 2007 - move IMAP PST files to new directory/drive?

[catherdersoftware]

Outlook 2007, Vista x64.

I'm running into space problems on my C drive, so I'd like to move my IMAP
PST files to another drive.

I've been searching through all of the account settings, but I don't see
anything obvious that will allow me to move the file.

Is there a registry entry, or a setting somewhere else, that will allow me
to move the file from its current location?

TIA,
Ray

 

[DL]

With Outlook closed, & ensure it is, locate your pst files in explorer, move
them to another location.
When outlook is then started it will complain, browse to your new location &
point it to the pst.

BTW you have done the obvious & moved your Documents etc to the other drive,
using the appropriate method?
And since your pst file's are unlikely to be that huge it appears that
either your system partition is too small or you need a larger disk.

 

[catherdersoftware]

Actually, they are huge. I have *goes and counts* 6 IMAP folders, two of
which are over 1GB in size. There are also some other non-IMAP large PST
folders (not open to Outlook at the moment) that I'm going to move as well.

I did what you suggested (move the IMAP PST file), and that did not work.
Outlook just created a new file in the AppData etc. Outlook directory. In my
experience, Outlook treats IMAP PST files differently from POP3, Exchange,
and unassociated (i.e., archive) PSTs.

At the moment, I'd rather not move C:\Users\xxx\etc. to the other drive.

 

[DL]

In the general scheme of things that is not huge, if C drive is that short
of space then you likely need to think of other solutions.

And sorry my misinformation the IMAP pst cannot be moved, you can move your
pop mail pst's
You can locate any archive pst's at another location

BTW Moving the Documents folder to another location using the reccommended
proceedure is not the same as moving a User account

 

[catherdersoftware]

Yes, I think I will have to move Documents over to the D drive. I also
realized that with the 10 different users I have set up on this machine
(standard + admin, 5 different languages), that is the best solution all
around.

Thank you for your assistance, DL!

 

[catherdersoftware]

DL, do you have a link to a KB or something similar on Microsoft's web site
on the recommended way to move the profile folders after Vista installation?
I've found a couple of forum references that point to non-Microsoft sites,
but I would rather see something official from Microsoft.

 

[Brian Tillman]

With Outlook closed, & ensure it is, locate your pst files in
explorer, move them to another location.
When outlook is then started it will complain, browse to your new
location & point it to the pst.

Not for IMAP.

 

[Brian Tillman]

Yes, I think I will have to move Documents over to the D drive. I
also realized that with the 10 different users I have set up on this
machine (standard + admin, 5 different languages), that is the best
solution all around.

Moving Documents won't relocate the Outlook files, however, since they're in
a folder parallel to Documents, not underneath Documents. You could,
however, move the entire user's profile location.

 

[catherdersoftware]

c/Documents/C:\Users\<user>/

Yeah, I know that. Brain slip. It's supposed to be 114° today, along with
the smoke.

As I asked DL above, do you have a pointer to instructions on the Microsoft
web site? I find links on microsoft.com that point to another web site that
points to instructions that also include modifying registry entries.
Although I'm very comfortable with modifying registry entries, I'd like to
read that in a KB or MSDN posting or something else...

 

[DL]

http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/05/1...ta-data-folders-documents-music-pictures-etc/
The above applies to Vista.
For winxp, rt click My Documents, on the desktop, select Properties, move is
an option on one of the tabs

 

[Brian Tillman]

c/Documents/C:\Users\<user>/

Yeah, I know that. Brain slip. It's supposed to be 114° today,
along with the smoke.

As I asked DL above, do you have a pointer to instructions on the
Microsoft web site? I find links on microsoft.com that point to
another web site that points to instructions that also include
modifying registry entries. Although I'm very comfortable with
modifying registry entries, I'd like to read that in a KB or MSDN
posting or something else...

Can't you use the User Account management tool in Control Panel to specify a
new Windows profile location?

 

[MaxN]

Hi,
If you want to move just file(s) from Outlook folder (IMAP files, for
example) you can do next thing:
1) Close outlook
2) Move Outlook folder to, let's say, disk D:\Emails\IMAP
3) Open cmd with Run As Administrator
4)mklink /d C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook
D:\Emails\IMAP\Outlook
It will create Outlook "folder" in
C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\Microsoft\ and you will see all files
from "original" Outlook folder, but all of them are located on disk D...

 

[catherdersoftware]

No...that copies the C:\Users\directory...but there's no easy way to change
the various registry entries to point to the new directory.

But the MKLINK solution as posted by MaxN looks very promising.

 

[catherdersoftware]

I had forgotten that Windows now supports the equivalent of symlinks. This
looks very promising. Hearty thanks, MaxN!

 

[Diane Poremsky {MVP}]

you can try moving the imap pst using this method:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/300593
I'm pretty sure this works on imap - but I can't recall if you also need to
set a reg key.



** Please include your Outlook version, Account type, and Windows Version
when requesting assistance **

 

[Brian Tillman]

you can try moving the imap pst using this method:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/300593
I'm pretty sure this works on imap - but I can't recall if you also
need to set a reg key.

I don't think it works any more, but I wish him luck.

 

[Diane Poremsky {MVP}]

Seems to work fine here on outlook 2007 and vista 32bit. I know in the past
that moving the imap and hotmail psts was buggy - outlook would randomly
decide to go back to the default location. It may still do that - I only
restarted outlook twice so far.

FWIW, when moving any pst, its better to update the profile with the new
location before you reopen outlook rather than waiting for outlook to ask
where to look.



** Please include your Outlook version, Account type, and Windows Version
when requesting assistance **

 

[forum2342]

MaxN

I just posted a new post, but is see that many people have worked on this.
i have windows xp and outlook 2007. are you aware of any solution to this
problem

 

[Diego Soto]

Check this:
http://outlook-tips.net/cs/blogs/outlooktips/archive/2008/10/27/843.aspx

This seems to work.

 

[Bruce Leyden]

I can confirm this method works fine (OL2002, XPSP2) is zero hassle and
doesn't require admin privileges. I have been through several restarts and
various other config changes and it seems stable with no sign of OL reverting
my IMAP .pst files to their old location on the system drive.

Thanks Diane