Upgrading Outlook XP to Outlook 2003

How can I insure that all of my contacts, thousands of
important business emails that have many subcategories do
not get lost when I install Office 2003 Small Business
Edition. I currently have Office XP Professional.

If you do an in-place upgrade -- i.e. install Office 2003 over Office
XP -- the new version should automatically use the existing email configuration.
To be safe, you can use the Personal Folders Backup utility available
at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...F-5A6322F4FD01
to create backup your personal folders, which include all your e-mail
folders, in another location.
Athena


How can I insure that all of my contacts, thousands of important
business emails that have many subcategories do not get lost when I
install Office 2003 Small Business Edition. I currently have Office XP
Professional.

1. How to make a backup copy of a personal folders (.pst) file.
If you are not using Outlook with Microsoft Exchange Server, Outlook
stores all its data in a personal folders (.pst) file. If you want to back
up or export a particular folder, such as a Contacts or a Calendar folder,
follow the steps in the, "How to Import and Export Personal Folders (.pst)
File Data" section in this article.

Follow these steps to back up the complete personal folders (.pst) file:

a. Close any message-related programs such as Outlook, Microsoft Exchange,
or Windows Messaging.

b. Click "Start", point to "Settings", and then click "Control Panel".

c. Double-click the "Mail" icon.

d. Click the" Show Profiles" button.

e. Click the appropriate profile, and then click "Properties"
f. Click the "Data Files" button.

g. Click the Personal Folders Service that you want to back up. By
default, the this service is named "Personal Folders". However, it may have
been named something else.



NOTE You may have more than one Personal Folders service in your profile.
If this is true, you must back up each set of personal folders (.pst) files
separately.

If there are not any Personal Folders services in your profile and you
have been able to store information such as messages, contacts, or
appointments in Outlook, your information is probably being stored in a
mailbox on an Exchange Server.

If there are not any personal folders (.pst) files in the list of
services and you are not storing information in an Exchange Server mailbox,
you can only use Outlook can to browse files, and the features in Outlook
that store data cannot be used. If this is the case, there is not any data
to back up.

h. Click "Settings", and note the path and file name that is listed.



NOTE The personal folders (.pst) file contains all data stored in Outlook
2002, and it can be too large to put on a floppy disk. If this is true, use
a CD-ROM Re-Writeable, a Zip drive, or a SyQuest drive. You can reduce the
size of a personal folders (.pst) file when you click Compact Now. This is
useful if you plan to back up the personal folders (.pst) file to a floppy
disk.
i.
Close all the Properties windows.

j. Make a copy of the file you noted in step e. by using Windows Explorer
or My Computer.
To make a copy follow these steps:
- Navigate to the file you want to copy.
- Right-click on the file and select "Copy".You may have to restore a
personal folders (.pst) file from a removable media, such as a floppy disk
drive, a Zip drive, a CD-ROM re-writeable drive, a magnetic tape drive, or
any other storage media. To do this, copy the backup copy of the file that
you just created from the storage media back to the computer hard disk.
When you do this, make sure that the Read-Only attribute is cleared. If
this attribute is selected, you may receive the following error message:



The specified device, file, or path could not be accessed. It may have
been deleted, it may be being used, you may be experiencing network
problems, or you may not have sufficient permission to access it. Close
any application using this file and try again.#TOC: back to the top

2. How to export personal folders (.pst) file data.Follow these steps to
export an individual folder such as Contacts folder or a Calendar folder:

a. On the "File" menu, click "Import And Export". If the command is not
available, rest your pointer over the chevrons at the bottom of the menu,
and then click "Import and Export".

b. Click "Export To File", and then click "Next".

c. Click "Personal Folder File (.pst)", and then click "Next".

d. Click the folder that you want to export, and then click "Next".

e. Click the "Browse" button, and then select the location to save the
file.

f. In the "File Name" box, type a descriptive file name, and then click
"OK".

g. Click "Finish".
#TOC: back to the top

3. How to import personal folders (.pst) file data.
Follow these steps to import a personal folders (.pst) file into Outlook:

a. On the "File" menu, click "Import And Export". If the command is not
available, rest your pointer over the chevrons at the bottom of the menu,
and then click "Import and Export".

b. Click "Import from another program or file", and then click "Next".

c. Click "Personal Folder File (.pst)", and then click "Next".

d. Type the path and the name of the personal folders (.pst) file that you
want to import, and then click "Next".

e. Select the folder that you want to import, or select the top of the
hierarchy to import everything, and then click "Finish".#TOC: back to the
top

4. How to back up Personal Address Books.Although contact information can
be kept either in an Exchange Server mailbox or personal folders (.pst)
file, and is accessed through the Outlook Address Book, the Personal
Address Book creates a file that is stored on your hard disk. To make sure
that this address book is backed up, you must include any files with the
.pab extension in your backup process.

Follow these steps to locate your Personal Address Book file:

a. If you are running Microsoft Windows 95 or Microsoft Windows 98: Click
"Start", point to "Find", and then click "Files or Folders".

If you are running Microsoft Windows 2000 or Microsoft Windows Millennium
Edition (Me): Click" Start", point to "Search", and then click "For Files
or Folders".
It you are running Windows XP click "Start" then "Search".
b. Type *.pab, click "My Computer" in the "Look In" box, and then click
"Find Now".


NOTE Remember the location of the .pab file, and include it in your
backup.

If you must restore this address book either to the same computer or a
different computer, follow these steps:

a. Close any message-related programs such as Outlook, Microsoft Exchange,
or Windows Messaging.

b. Click "Start", point to "Settings", and then click Control Panel.
On Windows XP click "Start" and then click "Control Panel".
c. Double-click the "Mail "icon.

d. Click the "Show Profiles "button.

e. Click the appropriate profile, and then click Properties

f. Click the E-Mail Accounts button.

g. Click Add a New Directory or Address Book, and then click Next

h. Click Additional Address Books, and then click Next.

i. Click Personal Address Book, and then click Next.

j. Type the path and the name of the Personal Address Book file that you
want to restore, click Apply, and then click OK.

k. Click Close, and then click then OK.
#TOC: back to the top

5. How to back up Outlook Settings Files.
If you have customized settings that you want to replicate on another
computer by using Outlook, you may want to include the following files in
your back up also as the personal folders (.pst) file:
- Outcmd.dat - This file stores toolbar and menu settings.

- Profile Name.fav - This is your Favorites file that includes the
settings for the Outlook bar.

- Profile Name.nk2 - This file stores the NickNames for AutoComplete.


NOTE If you use Microsoft Word as your e-mail editor, signatures are
stored in the Normal.dot file as Autotext entries. You must back up
this file also.