Outlook 2003 PST issue

[Henry]

Question pertains to getting an error "The PST file <name
here> is not a Personal Folders File" when trying to add
it (tried different ways, tried recreating profile) from
outlook 2002 pst file (copied from one machine to a CD,
then to the new machine). Has anyone ever had this? I
wasn't able to find anything on TechNet.

-Henry

 

[neo [mvp outlook]]

I'm a little confused about this question. Are you
trying to open a Outlook 2003 PST file in an earlier
version of Outlook (e.g. Outlook 2002)? If the answer is
yes, be advised that Outlook 2003 supports 2 different
PST file formats. The new file format is not compatible
with earlier versions. In Outlook 2003, you must
explicitly create a Outlook 97/2002 PST file via the File
| New menu if you need access to data in an older version
of Outlook.

 

[Brian Tillman]

Question pertains to getting an error "The PST file <name
here> is not a Personal Folders File" when trying to add
it (tried different ways, tried recreating profile) from
outlook 2002 pst file (copied from one machine to a CD,
then to the new machine). Has anyone ever had this? I
wasn't able to find anything on TechNet.

In addition to what Neo said, you have to make sure that, after copying the
PST to the hard drive from CD, you remove the "Read Only" attribute.

 

[Scott Atkins[MSFT]]

Hi Henry,

Outlook 2003 introduces a new type of .PST file called a unicode .PST that does not have the same 2 GB limitation as in previous version. Although Outlook 2003 can use either version
of .PST files, earlier versions of Outlook rae not able to use the new unicode file.

You will need to open the PST file in Outlook 2003 and move/copy the data to a PST that has not been upgraded to support Unicode.

To convert a .pst to ANSI from UNICODE:

1. Start Outlook 2003.

2. On the "File" menu, click" Data File Management", and then click "Add".

3. Click" Outlook 97-2002 Personal Folders File (PST)".

4. Click "OK".

5. Name the .pst file, or click "OK" to accept the default name.

6. Click "OK".

7. Click "Close".

8. Click "Folder List "at the bottom of the navigation pane.

9. In the navigation pane, you will now see your new .pst file that you named in step 5.

10. Drag the .pst file information from your existing Outlook 2003 folders to the new .pst file that you created.

Regards,

Scott Atkins MCSE, MCSA
Partner Technical Lead - Outlook
Microsoft Technical Support
for Platforms and Business Applications
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