Help Outlook 2003 has reached 2 GB Limit on PST size

[Pete]

Hi:

I believe my existing PST is the 97-2002 format because I imported it into
Outlook 2003 when upgrading Office. I am at the 2 GB limit and Outlook has
basically become dysfunctional. I emptied the deleted items and spam
folders and compacted all the other mailboxes, but it still says that I am
over the limit.

1. Where were the warnings when I was approaching this limit that shuts
down Outlook?

Help with solution.
1. I exported my personal folders as a pst, so I assuming that this PST
file is in the 2003 format. Now I am stuck.

2. I cannot figure out how to close the old personal folders so I can open
my new PST 2003 file
3. Outlook also will not let me change the default mail delivery folder and
seems to be mass producing copies of my personal folders. (HINT: MS give
the users the option to delete these folders by clicking on the folder and
hitting the delete key!!!)

Any help on how to solve another MS sloppy programming bug will be much
appreciated. I would like to read my e-mail again.

TIA,

Pete

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

MS sloppy programming bug? No, more like sloppy user error.

Have you already created your new unicode .pst file and copied your items
from the old to the new? I don't mean export - I mean copy the items from
the old .pst file using drag and drop? Exporting will consistenly lose
important items.

When you say you have many personal folder files, this means that your mail
profile is corrupt and you need to create a new one. When you do, just
configure it to work with the new .pst file.


--
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, Pete asked:

| Hi:
|
| I believe my existing PST is the 97-2002 format because I imported it
| into Outlook 2003 when upgrading Office. I am at the 2 GB limit and
| Outlook has basically become dysfunctional. I emptied the deleted
| items and spam folders and compacted all the other mailboxes, but it
| still says that I am over the limit.
|
| 1. Where were the warnings when I was approaching this limit that
| shuts down Outlook?
|
| Help with solution.
| 1. I exported my personal folders as a pst, so I assuming that this
| PST file is in the 2003 format. Now I am stuck.
|
| 2. I cannot figure out how to close the old personal folders so I
| can open my new PST 2003 file
| 3. Outlook also will not let me change the default mail delivery
| folder and seems to be mass producing copies of my personal folders.
| (HINT: MS give the users the option to delete these folders by
| clicking on the folder and hitting the delete key!!!)
|
| Any help on how to solve another MS sloppy programming bug will be
| much appreciated. I would like to read my e-mail again.
|
| TIA,
|
| Pete

 

[Guest]

MS sloppy programming bug? No, more like sloppy user error.

Totaly agree there! Total user inability to configure Outlook correctly
just leads to PST headaches!

Lee

 

[Pete]

And why should the user have to configure anything. As a programmer, good
programmers don't allow users to make sloppy errors.
Microsoft Outlook configured the PST, not me. Why can't I close the pst?
Why did I not see any warnings before crossing the 2 GB barrier.

Does your post make you feel better about your self? Tell me how to
configure Outlook properly, because Outlook surely does not know, and I
don't think you know either, or else you would have already told me.

Best wishes,

Pete

 

[Pete]

Thanks Milly for the heads up on export. I will create a new PST and paste
the old information into it. I do not know how to create a new mail
profile. Do I need to uninstall and reinstall Outlook or is there an easy
way to create a new mail profile?

Yes, maybe I am sloppy in that I use the DEFAULT MS SETTINGS and look for
advice in the MICROSOFT help and knowledge base. Anyway, philosophically
good programmers write software that discourage sloppy user errors. I still
think that Outlook is poorly written software that I HAVE to use at work.
It could be better if it was not so sloppy. For example, why doesn't
Outlook 2003 have a feature that would automatically convert the 97-2002 PST
to the 2003 PST, automatically.

Best wishes,

Pete

"Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]"

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Actually, there are no such "default settings" and you followed no Help or
KB advice to do what you did.
The methods for migrating PST files and changing to the new format, as
convoluted as they may be, are all well documented and you followed none of
them. I don't really like how difficult it is to migrate PST files either,
but at least I read up on how to do it before I messed it up.
How to create a new profile is equally well documented.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;829918&Product=out2003
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Thanks Milly for the heads up on export. I will create a new PST and
paste the old information into it. I do not know how to create a new mail
profile. Do I need to uninstall and reinstall Outlook or is there an easy
way to create a new mail profile?

Yes, maybe I am sloppy in that I use the DEFAULT MS SETTINGS and look for
advice in the MICROSOFT help and knowledge base. Anyway, philosophically
good programmers write software that discourage sloppy user errors. I
still think that Outlook is poorly written software that I HAVE to use at
work. It could be better if it was not so sloppy. For example, why
doesn't Outlook 2003 have a feature that would automatically convert the
97-2002 PST to the 2003 PST, automatically.

Best wishes,

Pete

"Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]"

MS sloppy programming bug? No, more like sloppy user error.

Have you already created your new unicode .pst file and copied your items
from the old to the new? I don't mean export - I mean copy the items
from
the old .pst file using drag and drop? Exporting will consistenly lose
important items.

When you say you have many personal folder files, this means that your
mail
profile is corrupt and you need to create a new one. When you do, just
configure it to work with the new .pst file.


--
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, Pete asked:

| Hi:
|
| I believe my existing PST is the 97-2002 format because I imported it
| into Outlook 2003 when upgrading Office. I am at the 2 GB limit and
| Outlook has basically become dysfunctional. I emptied the deleted
| items and spam folders and compacted all the other mailboxes, but it
| still says that I am over the limit.
|
| 1. Where were the warnings when I was approaching this limit that
| shuts down Outlook?
|
| Help with solution.
| 1. I exported my personal folders as a pst, so I assuming that this
| PST file is in the 2003 format. Now I am stuck.
|
| 2. I cannot figure out how to close the old personal folders so I
| can open my new PST 2003 file
| 3. Outlook also will not let me change the default mail delivery
| folder and seems to be mass producing copies of my personal folders.
| (HINT: MS give the users the option to delete these folders by
| clicking on the folder and hitting the delete key!!!)
|
| Any help on how to solve another MS sloppy programming bug will be
| much appreciated. I would like to read my e-mail again.
|
| TIA,
|
| Pete

 

[Pete]

Thanks. I can follow well document procedures when they work and thanks for
telling me what I did. I did find in the MS KB how to remove duplicate
folders in Outlook. The problem was that they did not work. When I
attempted to close the folders, I received "The operation failed. An object
could not be found". The KB and help help could be updated once in awhile.

Not a descriptive or useful diagnostic and not covered in the online
documentation that I could find. Finding the correct documentation is not
easy to find. Google will usually find KB, but the KB often does not fix
the problem. I spent some time looking for solutions before posting here.

Thanks for the link into the knowledge base. I followed it and so far
things seem to be working well.

Best wishes,

Pete

Actually, there are no such "default settings" and you followed no Help or
KB advice to do what you did.
The methods for migrating PST files and changing to the new format, as
convoluted as they may be, are all well documented and you followed none
of them. I don't really like how difficult it is to migrate PST files
either, but at least I read up on how to do it before I messed it up.
How to create a new profile is equally well documented.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;829918&Product=out2003
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Thanks Milly for the heads up on export. I will create a new PST and
paste the old information into it. I do not know how to create a new
mail profile. Do I need to uninstall and reinstall Outlook or is there
an easy way to create a new mail profile?

Yes, maybe I am sloppy in that I use the DEFAULT MS SETTINGS and look for
advice in the MICROSOFT help and knowledge base. Anyway, philosophically
good programmers write software that discourage sloppy user errors. I
still think that Outlook is poorly written software that I HAVE to use at
work. It could be better if it was not so sloppy. For example, why
doesn't Outlook 2003 have a feature that would automatically convert the
97-2002 PST to the 2003 PST, automatically.

Best wishes,

Pete

"Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]"

MS sloppy programming bug? No, more like sloppy user error.

Have you already created your new unicode .pst file and copied your
items
from the old to the new? I don't mean export - I mean copy the items
from
the old .pst file using drag and drop? Exporting will consistenly lose
important items.

When you say you have many personal folder files, this means that your
mail
profile is corrupt and you need to create a new one. When you do, just
configure it to work with the new .pst file.


--
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, Pete asked:

| Hi:
|
| I believe my existing PST is the 97-2002 format because I imported it
| into Outlook 2003 when upgrading Office. I am at the 2 GB limit and
| Outlook has basically become dysfunctional. I emptied the deleted
| items and spam folders and compacted all the other mailboxes, but it
| still says that I am over the limit.
|
| 1. Where were the warnings when I was approaching this limit that
| shuts down Outlook?
|
| Help with solution.
| 1. I exported my personal folders as a pst, so I assuming that this
| PST file is in the 2003 format. Now I am stuck.
|
| 2. I cannot figure out how to close the old personal folders so I
| can open my new PST 2003 file
| 3. Outlook also will not let me change the default mail delivery
| folder and seems to be mass producing copies of my personal folders.
| (HINT: MS give the users the option to delete these folders by
| clicking on the folder and hitting the delete key!!!)
|
| Any help on how to solve another MS sloppy programming bug will be
| much appreciated. I would like to read my e-mail again.
|
| TIA,
|
| Pete

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

You're exactly right. The documentation for removing duplicate PST files
does not exist. Apparently Microsoft assumed we would never end up in that
situation if we followed the other procedures correctly. The only way to
remove a duplicate PST is to hack the registry or just create a new profile.
The documentation for migrating PST files in the Help files is what most
people don't read, so they end up just assuming they should be importing and
exporting, which is the worst thing to do.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA010771141033.aspx
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Thanks. I can follow well document procedures when they work and thanks
for telling me what I did. I did find in the MS KB how to remove
duplicate folders in Outlook. The problem was that they did not work.
When I attempted to close the folders, I received "The operation failed.
An object could not be found". The KB and help help could be updated once
in awhile.

Not a descriptive or useful diagnostic and not covered in the online
documentation that I could find. Finding the correct documentation is not
easy to find. Google will usually find KB, but the KB often does not fix
the problem. I spent some time looking for solutions before posting here.

Thanks for the link into the knowledge base. I followed it and so far
things seem to be working well.

Best wishes,

Pete

Actually, there are no such "default settings" and you followed no Help
or KB advice to do what you did.
The methods for migrating PST files and changing to the new format, as
convoluted as they may be, are all well documented and you followed none
of them. I don't really like how difficult it is to migrate PST files
either, but at least I read up on how to do it before I messed it up.
How to create a new profile is equally well documented.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;829918&Product=out2003
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Thanks Milly for the heads up on export. I will create a new PST and
paste the old information into it. I do not know how to create a new
mail profile. Do I need to uninstall and reinstall Outlook or is there
an easy way to create a new mail profile?

Yes, maybe I am sloppy in that I use the DEFAULT MS SETTINGS and look
for advice in the MICROSOFT help and knowledge base. Anyway,
philosophically good programmers write software that discourage sloppy
user errors. I still think that Outlook is poorly written software that
I HAVE to use at work. It could be better if it was not so sloppy. For
example, why doesn't Outlook 2003 have a feature that would
automatically convert the 97-2002 PST to the 2003 PST, automatically.

Best wishes,

Pete

"Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]"
MS sloppy programming bug? No, more like sloppy user error.

Have you already created your new unicode .pst file and copied your
items
from the old to the new? I don't mean export - I mean copy the items
from
the old .pst file using drag and drop? Exporting will consistenly lose
important items.

When you say you have many personal folder files, this means that your
mail
profile is corrupt and you need to create a new one. When you do, just
configure it to work with the new .pst file.


--
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, Pete asked:

| Hi:
|
| I believe my existing PST is the 97-2002 format because I imported it
| into Outlook 2003 when upgrading Office. I am at the 2 GB limit and
| Outlook has basically become dysfunctional. I emptied the deleted
| items and spam folders and compacted all the other mailboxes, but it
| still says that I am over the limit.
|
| 1. Where were the warnings when I was approaching this limit that
| shuts down Outlook?
|
| Help with solution.
| 1. I exported my personal folders as a pst, so I assuming that this
| PST file is in the 2003 format. Now I am stuck.
|
| 2. I cannot figure out how to close the old personal folders so I
| can open my new PST 2003 file
| 3. Outlook also will not let me change the default mail delivery
| folder and seems to be mass producing copies of my personal folders.
| (HINT: MS give the users the option to delete these folders by
| clicking on the folder and hitting the delete key!!!)
|
| Any help on how to solve another MS sloppy programming bug will be
| much appreciated. I would like to read my e-mail again.
|
| TIA,
|
| Pete

 

[Pete]

Thanks for the help Russ. I am making progress, but now I can't figure out
how to transfer my old contact list and calendar into the new personal
folders. I will have to remove my old PST from the one in the new profile,
once I am done manually copying the information into it. A quick google
search will show that duplicate Personal Folders bug and the 2 GB bug is not
as uncommon as MicroSoft may wish to believe.

Note: A search of the Knowledge Base of Copy Calendar for product Outlook
2003 has only 2 hits dealing with errors in the hotfixes for SP1 and SP2.
Searching for copy contact list has more hits, but none of them at least by
the titles tells one how to copy/move their contact list from an old to new
folder.

I do appreciate your help.

Best wishes,

Pete

You're exactly right. The documentation for removing duplicate PST files
does not exist. Apparently Microsoft assumed we would never end up in that
situation if we followed the other procedures correctly. The only way to
remove a duplicate PST is to hack the registry or just create a new
profile.
The documentation for migrating PST files in the Help files is what most
people don't read, so they end up just assuming they should be importing
and exporting, which is the worst thing to do.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA010771141033.aspx
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Thanks. I can follow well document procedures when they work and thanks
for telling me what I did. I did find in the MS KB how to remove
duplicate folders in Outlook. The problem was that they did not work.
When I attempted to close the folders, I received "The operation failed.
An object could not be found". The KB and help help could be updated
once in awhile.

Not a descriptive or useful diagnostic and not covered in the online
documentation that I could find. Finding the correct documentation is
not easy to find. Google will usually find KB, but the KB often does not
fix the problem. I spent some time looking for solutions before posting
here.

Thanks for the link into the knowledge base. I followed it and so far
things seem to be working well.

Best wishes,

Pete

Actually, there are no such "default settings" and you followed no Help
or KB advice to do what you did.
The methods for migrating PST files and changing to the new format, as
convoluted as they may be, are all well documented and you followed none
of them. I don't really like how difficult it is to migrate PST files
either, but at least I read up on how to do it before I messed it up.
How to create a new profile is equally well documented.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;829918&Product=out2003
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Thanks Milly for the heads up on export. I will create a new PST and
paste the old information into it. I do not know how to create a new
mail profile. Do I need to uninstall and reinstall Outlook or is there
an easy way to create a new mail profile?

Yes, maybe I am sloppy in that I use the DEFAULT MS SETTINGS and look
for advice in the MICROSOFT help and knowledge base. Anyway,
philosophically good programmers write software that discourage sloppy
user errors. I still think that Outlook is poorly written software
that I HAVE to use at work. It could be better if it was not so sloppy.
For example, why doesn't Outlook 2003 have a feature that would
automatically convert the 97-2002 PST to the 2003 PST, automatically.

Best wishes,

Pete

"Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]"
MS sloppy programming bug? No, more like sloppy user error.

Have you already created your new unicode .pst file and copied your
items
from the old to the new? I don't mean export - I mean copy the items
from
the old .pst file using drag and drop? Exporting will consistenly lose
important items.

When you say you have many personal folder files, this means that your
mail
profile is corrupt and you need to create a new one. When you do,
just
configure it to work with the new .pst file.


--
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, Pete asked:

| Hi:
|
| I believe my existing PST is the 97-2002 format because I imported
it
| into Outlook 2003 when upgrading Office. I am at the 2 GB limit and
| Outlook has basically become dysfunctional. I emptied the deleted
| items and spam folders and compacted all the other mailboxes, but it
| still says that I am over the limit.
|
| 1. Where were the warnings when I was approaching this limit that
| shuts down Outlook?
|
| Help with solution.
| 1. I exported my personal folders as a pst, so I assuming that this
| PST file is in the 2003 format. Now I am stuck.
|
| 2. I cannot figure out how to close the old personal folders so I
| can open my new PST 2003 file
| 3. Outlook also will not let me change the default mail delivery
| folder and seems to be mass producing copies of my personal folders.
| (HINT: MS give the users the option to delete these folders by
| clicking on the folder and hitting the delete key!!!)
|
| Any help on how to solve another MS sloppy programming bug will be
| much appreciated. I would like to read my e-mail again.
|
| TIA,
|
| Pete

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

The first step of course is to repair the PST file that went over the 2 G
limit. I assume you already discovered the process for that since that
wasn't part of your question.
Once you do, you simply open that PST in your new Outlook profile, and copy
the data you need from it into the PST in the new profile. For any given
folder just select the contents: Edit > Select All > Edit > Copy to Folder
to move it to the destination folder in the new PST file. For something like
the Calendar, you will have to create a Table view of your appointments so
you can select them all. ""By Category" is an easy one to use.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Thanks for the help Russ. I am making progress, but now I can't figure
out how to transfer my old contact list and calendar into the new personal
folders. I will have to remove my old PST from the one in the new
profile, once I am done manually copying the information into it. A quick
google search will show that duplicate Personal Folders bug and the 2 GB
bug is not as uncommon as MicroSoft may wish to believe.

Note: A search of the Knowledge Base of Copy Calendar for product Outlook
2003 has only 2 hits dealing with errors in the hotfixes for SP1 and SP2.
Searching for copy contact list has more hits, but none of them at least
by the titles tells one how to copy/move their contact list from an old to
new folder.

I do appreciate your help.

Best wishes,

Pete

You're exactly right. The documentation for removing duplicate PST files
does not exist. Apparently Microsoft assumed we would never end up in
that situation if we followed the other procedures correctly. The only
way to remove a duplicate PST is to hack the registry or just create a
new profile.
The documentation for migrating PST files in the Help files is what most
people don't read, so they end up just assuming they should be importing
and exporting, which is the worst thing to do.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA010771141033.aspx
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Thanks. I can follow well document procedures when they work and thanks
for telling me what I did. I did find in the MS KB how to remove
duplicate folders in Outlook. The problem was that they did not work.
When I attempted to close the folders, I received "The operation failed.
An object could not be found". The KB and help help could be updated
once in awhile.

Not a descriptive or useful diagnostic and not covered in the online
documentation that I could find. Finding the correct documentation is
not easy to find. Google will usually find KB, but the KB often does
not fix the problem. I spent some time looking for solutions before
posting here.

Thanks for the link into the knowledge base. I followed it and so far
things seem to be working well.

Best wishes,

Pete



Actually, there are no such "default settings" and you followed no Help
or KB advice to do what you did.
The methods for migrating PST files and changing to the new format, as
convoluted as they may be, are all well documented and you followed
none of them. I don't really like how difficult it is to migrate PST
files either, but at least I read up on how to do it before I messed it
up.
How to create a new profile is equally well documented.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;829918&Product=out2003
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Thanks Milly for the heads up on export. I will create a new PST and
paste the old information into it. I do not know how to create a new
mail profile. Do I need to uninstall and reinstall Outlook or is
there an easy way to create a new mail profile?

Yes, maybe I am sloppy in that I use the DEFAULT MS SETTINGS and look
for advice in the MICROSOFT help and knowledge base. Anyway,
philosophically good programmers write software that discourage sloppy
user errors. I still think that Outlook is poorly written software
that I HAVE to use at work. It could be better if it was not so
sloppy. For example, why doesn't Outlook 2003 have a feature that
would automatically convert the 97-2002 PST to the 2003 PST,
automatically.

Best wishes,

Pete

"Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]"
MS sloppy programming bug? No, more like sloppy user error.

Have you already created your new unicode .pst file and copied your
items
from the old to the new? I don't mean export - I mean copy the items
from
the old .pst file using drag and drop? Exporting will consistenly
lose
important items.

When you say you have many personal folder files, this means that
your mail
profile is corrupt and you need to create a new one. When you do,
just
configure it to work with the new .pst file.


--
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, Pete asked:

| Hi:
|
| I believe my existing PST is the 97-2002 format because I imported
it
| into Outlook 2003 when upgrading Office. I am at the 2 GB limit
and
| Outlook has basically become dysfunctional. I emptied the deleted
| items and spam folders and compacted all the other mailboxes, but
it
| still says that I am over the limit.
|
| 1. Where were the warnings when I was approaching this limit that
| shuts down Outlook?
|
| Help with solution.
| 1. I exported my personal folders as a pst, so I assuming that
this
| PST file is in the 2003 format. Now I am stuck.
|
| 2. I cannot figure out how to close the old personal folders so I
| can open my new PST 2003 file
| 3. Outlook also will not let me change the default mail delivery
| folder and seems to be mass producing copies of my personal
folders.
| (HINT: MS give the users the option to delete these folders by
| clicking on the folder and hitting the delete key!!!)
|
| Any help on how to solve another MS sloppy programming bug will be
| much appreciated. I would like to read my e-mail again.
|
| TIA,
|
| Pete

 

[Guest]

And why should the user have to configure anything. As a programmer, good
programmers don't allow users to make sloppy errors.
Microsoft Outlook configured the PST, not me. Why can't I close the pst?
Why did I not see any warnings before crossing the 2 GB barrier.

Does your post make you feel better about your self? Tell me how to
configure Outlook properly, because Outlook surely does not know, and I
don't think you know either, or else you would have already told me.

Best wishes,

Pete

2GB Limitation - It's documented - just google!

Closing PST - How about - Right click - Close PST....works here and on
Office XP and on Office 2000 and Office 98....


BTW - Yes it did make me feel better about myself thanks!

Lee

 

[Pete]

And why should the user have to configure anything. As a programmer,
good programmers don't allow users to make sloppy errors.
Microsoft Outlook configured the PST, not me. Why can't I close the pst?
Why did I not see any warnings before crossing the 2 GB barrier.

Does your post make you feel better about your self? Tell me how to
configure Outlook properly, because Outlook surely does not know, and I
don't think you know either, or else you would have already told me.

Best wishes,

Pete

Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook] wrote:
MS sloppy programming bug? No, more like sloppy user error.
Totaly agree there! Total user inability to configure Outlook correctly
just leads to PST headaches!

Lee

2GB Limitation - It's documented - just google!

Closing PST - How about - Right click - Close PST....works here and on
Office XP and on Office 2000 and Office 98....


BTW - Yes it did make me feel better about myself thanks!

Lee

I am glad that i made you feel better, I am glad at least one of us could
help the other.

BTW, the problem with the duplicate personal folders is that closing them
generates an error. "The operation failed. An object could not be found",
and that is if you are lucky enough that the close function is active.

Best wishes,

Pete

 

[Pete]

Thanks Russ. I think everything is back to "normal" with outlook, plus I
learned a few new things along the way.

Best wishes,

Pete

The first step of course is to repair the PST file that went over the 2 G
limit. I assume you already discovered the process for that since that
wasn't part of your question.
Once you do, you simply open that PST in your new Outlook profile, and
copy the data you need from it into the PST in the new profile. For any
given folder just select the contents: Edit > Select All > Edit > Copy to
Folder to move it to the destination folder in the new PST file. For
something like the Calendar, you will have to create a Table view of your
appointments so you can select them all. ""By Category" is an easy one to
use.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Thanks for the help Russ. I am making progress, but now I can't figure
out how to transfer my old contact list and calendar into the new
personal folders. I will have to remove my old PST from the one in the
new profile, once I am done manually copying the information into it. A
quick google search will show that duplicate Personal Folders bug and the
2 GB bug is not as uncommon as MicroSoft may wish to believe.

Note: A search of the Knowledge Base of Copy Calendar for product
Outlook 2003 has only 2 hits dealing with errors in the hotfixes for SP1
and SP2. Searching for copy contact list has more hits, but none of them
at least by the titles tells one how to copy/move their contact list from
an old to new folder.

I do appreciate your help.

Best wishes,

Pete

You're exactly right. The documentation for removing duplicate PST files
does not exist. Apparently Microsoft assumed we would never end up in
that situation if we followed the other procedures correctly. The only
way to remove a duplicate PST is to hack the registry or just create a
new profile.
The documentation for migrating PST files in the Help files is what most
people don't read, so they end up just assuming they should be importing
and exporting, which is the worst thing to do.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA010771141033.aspx
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Thanks. I can follow well document procedures when they work and
thanks for telling me what I did. I did find in the MS KB how to
remove duplicate folders in Outlook. The problem was that they did not
work. When I attempted to close the folders, I received "The operation
failed. An object could not be found". The KB and help help could be
updated once in awhile.

Not a descriptive or useful diagnostic and not covered in the online
documentation that I could find. Finding the correct documentation is
not easy to find. Google will usually find KB, but the KB often does
not fix the problem. I spent some time looking for solutions before
posting here.

Thanks for the link into the knowledge base. I followed it and so far
things seem to be working well.

Best wishes,

Pete



Actually, there are no such "default settings" and you followed no
Help or KB advice to do what you did.
The methods for migrating PST files and changing to the new format, as
convoluted as they may be, are all well documented and you followed
none of them. I don't really like how difficult it is to migrate PST
files either, but at least I read up on how to do it before I messed
it up.
How to create a new profile is equally well documented.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;829918&Product=out2003
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Thanks Milly for the heads up on export. I will create a new PST and
paste the old information into it. I do not know how to create a new
mail profile. Do I need to uninstall and reinstall Outlook or is
there an easy way to create a new mail profile?

Yes, maybe I am sloppy in that I use the DEFAULT MS SETTINGS and look
for advice in the MICROSOFT help and knowledge base. Anyway,
philosophically good programmers write software that discourage
sloppy user errors. I still think that Outlook is poorly written
software that I HAVE to use at work. It could be better if it was not
so sloppy. For example, why doesn't Outlook 2003 have a feature that
would automatically convert the 97-2002 PST to the 2003 PST,
automatically.

Best wishes,

Pete

"Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]"
MS sloppy programming bug? No, more like sloppy user error.

Have you already created your new unicode .pst file and copied your
items
from the old to the new? I don't mean export - I mean copy the
items from
the old .pst file using drag and drop? Exporting will consistenly
lose
important items.

When you say you have many personal folder files, this means that
your mail
profile is corrupt and you need to create a new one. When you do,
just
configure it to work with the new .pst file.


--
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, Pete asked:

| Hi:
|
| I believe my existing PST is the 97-2002 format because I imported
it
| into Outlook 2003 when upgrading Office. I am at the 2 GB limit
and
| Outlook has basically become dysfunctional. I emptied the deleted
| items and spam folders and compacted all the other mailboxes, but
it
| still says that I am over the limit.
|
| 1. Where were the warnings when I was approaching this limit that
| shuts down Outlook?
|
| Help with solution.
| 1. I exported my personal folders as a pst, so I assuming that
this
| PST file is in the 2003 format. Now I am stuck.
|
| 2. I cannot figure out how to close the old personal folders so I
| can open my new PST 2003 file
| 3. Outlook also will not let me change the default mail delivery
| folder and seems to be mass producing copies of my personal
folders.
| (HINT: MS give the users the option to delete these folders by
| clicking on the folder and hitting the delete key!!!)
|
| Any help on how to solve another MS sloppy programming bug will be
| much appreciated. I would like to read my e-mail again.
|
| TIA,
|
| Pete

 

[Brian Tillman]

BTW, the problem with the duplicate personal folders is that closing
them generates an error. "The operation failed. An object could not
be found", and that is if you are lucky enough that the close
function is active.

That's a fairly conclusive sign that the person has damaged his or her
Outlook mail profile, most likely by improper manipulation of a PST, usually
importing or copying over the top of another PST. Unfortunately, mail
profiles are more fragile than they should be.