Can’t Link Old Contact File When Setting Rules

J

jaygreg90

I’m trying to use my old .pst file in Outlook 2003. I followed the directions
I found here: http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/connect_pst.htm and made
the old pst the default. I get mail … but some of my Filter Rules aren’t
working. I think the root cause is the pst can’t access some of the contact
files. When I click the Contacts icon at the bottom of the navigation panel,
I find the following four entries:

1) “Contacts†– Contains hundreds of entries in over a dozen categories …
but every Category entry looks shaded out as though inactive. When I expand a
category, the entries appear in normal; black print and each record pops up
looking fine. However, if I enter a name to find in the box next to the
Address book icon on the toolbar, nothing is found. Window reads: “Microsoft
Office Outlookâ€â€¦ “Outlook could not find the requested contact.†However,
when I enter that same name in the “Look For†box of the main Contacts
section, bingo: the record is found. Several of the rules I made in the old
file are trying to find records that don’t pop up when I examine the rule.
But the records are there in the Contact file.

2) “Contacts in Personal Folders†– Empty. This was the file I suspect the
program makes when I first setup Outlook.

3) “Accounts in Business Contact Manager†– Empty. I created a BCM a few
months before I had to reformat my disc. I have the .mfd file but it’s not
attached yet. That’s my next project. I have five files with .mdf extensions
that were created when I loaded BCM; master, model, msdbdata, tempdb, and
popupmnu.mdf. I was expecting to get a window allowing me to name the BCM
file during set up but it didn’t. So… I could use a little help here too.

4) “Business Contacts in Business Contact Manger†– Empty.

If anyone can help me get my Categories to display as though they weren’t
shaded or inactive, and get my Address search box to link to that old
Contacts file that’s there, I’d sure appreciate it.
 
S

Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]

I don't know what you mean about categories. Outlook doesn't have any "inactive category" feature.

On the Properties dialog for the Contacts folder that contains all the data, check the Outlook Address Book check box. If it's disabled, use Tools | E-mail Accounts to add the Outlook Address Book to you mail profile.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
 
J

jaygreg90

Thanks for the reply, Sue. I was just coming back here to post that I
stumbled upon the solution. I didn't get there the simple way you suggest but
I did get there and made the address book available.

The "Categories" to which I refer are those I see when in the Contacts
folder and sort the "Current View" ... "By Category". Those appear in a soft
shade of brown but it's possible there's nothing wrong and it's merely a
factor of the color scheme I apparently chose along the way.

My next step is getting that BCM file attached. If there's any help you can
offer there, I'd sure be grateful. And thanks again for your advice.
 
S

Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]

Glad to hear it's doing better for you. BCM questions are best handled in the microsoft.public.outlook.bcm newsgroup.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
 

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