.pst compatbility between Outlook 2003 & Outlook XP

I recently upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003 which means I now have Outlook 2003.
But now I want to uninstall Office 2003 and re-install Office XP as my wife who is learning computers wants to learn the older version as that is what is used at most businesses.

So my question is, will I be able to import the emails etc. from the .PST file of Outlook 2003 into Outlook XP ?

I read the Microsoft article on Running multiple versions of Office, but it does not answer this question. After reading this article ( http://support.microsoft.com/default...roduct=off2003 ), I have decided NOT TO run multiple versions, but instead will use the older version of Office for few months and then upgrade to Office 2003 later.

Please help, I do not want to screw something up and waste time having to re-install the whole operating system. That is a solid weeks worth of wasted time for me as I have so many other apps to install on top of the OS.

if you are using a Unicode pst, export or copy the messages to an old format
pst. (file, new, outlook message store and choose outlook97/2002 format.)

To check your pst format, use file, data management.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Outlook Tips: http://www.outlook-tips.net/
Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center: http://www.slipstick.com
OneNote Tips:

"Navin" wrote in message
news
I recently upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003 which means I now have
Outlook 2003.
But now I want to uninstall Office 2003 and re-install Office XP as my
wife who is learning computers wants to learn the older version as that is
what is used at most businesses.

So my question is, will I be able to import the emails etc. from the .PST
file of Outlook 2003 into Outlook XP ?

I read the Microsoft article on Running multiple versions of Office, but
it does not answer this question. After reading this article (
http://support.microsoft.com/default...roduct=off2003 ), I
have decided NOT TO run multiple versions, but instead will use the older
version of Office for few months and then upgrade to Office 2003 later.

Please help, I do not want to screw something up and waste time having to
re-install the whole operating system. That is a solid weeks worth of
wasted time for me as I have so many other apps to install on top of the
OS.

I went to File --- Data File Management and then picked the .PST file and clicked on SETTINGS, and in the FORMAT field the value is "Personal Folders File (97-2002)".

Does this mean it is not Unicode ?
Or does it mean the file is still backward compatible ?

----- Diane Poremsky [MVP] wrote: -----

if you are using a Unicode pst, export or copy the messages to an old format
pst. (file, new, outlook message store and choose outlook97/2002 format.)

To check your pst format, use file, data management.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Outlook Tips: http://www.outlook-tips.net/
Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center: http://www.slipstick.com
OneNote Tips:

"Navin" wrote in message
news
I recently upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003 which means I now have
Outlook 2003.
But now I want to uninstall Office 2003 and re-install Office XP as my
wife who is learning computers wants to learn the older version as that is
what is used at most businesses.
So my question is, will I be able to import the emails etc. from the .PST
file of Outlook 2003 into Outlook XP ?
I read the Microsoft article on Running multiple versions of Office, but
it does not answer this question. After reading this article (
http://support.microsoft.com/default...roduct=off2003 ), I
have decided NOT TO run multiple versions, but instead will use the older
version of Office for few months and then upgrade to Office 2003 later.
Please help, I do not want to screw something up and waste time having to
re-install the whole operating system. That is a solid weeks worth of
wasted time for me as I have so many other apps to install on top of the
OS.

On 10 May 2004 13:26, "Navin" wrote:
I went to File --- Data File Management and then picked the .PST file
and clicked on SETTINGS, and in the FORMAT field the value is "Personal
Folders File (97-2002)".

Does this mean it is not Unicode ?
Or does it mean the file is still backward compatible ?

Yes, that means it's not unicode.



--
-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr, MVP-OneNote
OneNote FAQ: http://home.hawaii.rr.com/schorr/Com...OneNoteFAQ.htm
SchorrTech Blog: http://www.thespoke.net/MyBlog/bschorr/MyBlog.aspx

both - it's not Unicode and it's backwards compatible. it will work with
ol2002.
--


"Navin" wrote in message
...
I went to File --- Data File Management and then picked the .PST file and
clicked on SETTINGS, and in the FORMAT field the value is "Personal Folders
File (97-2002)".

Does this mean it is not Unicode ?
Or does it mean the file is still backward compatible ?

----- Diane Poremsky [MVP] wrote: -----

if you are using a Unicode pst, export or copy the messages to an old
format
pst. (file, new, outlook message store and choose outlook97/2002
format.)

To check your pst format, use file, data management.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)

Outlook Tips: http://www.outlook-tips.net/
Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center: http://www.slipstick.com
OneNote Tips:

"Navin" wrote in message
news
I recently upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003 which means I now
have
Outlook 2003.
But now I want to uninstall Office 2003 and re-install Office XP as
my
wife who is learning computers wants to learn the older version as
that is
what is used at most businesses.
So my question is, will I be able to import the emails etc. from
the .PST
file of Outlook 2003 into Outlook XP ?
I read the Microsoft article on Running multiple versions of
Office, but
it does not answer this question. After reading this article (

http://support.microsoft.com/default...roduct=off2003 ), I
have decided NOT TO run multiple versions, but instead will use the
older
version of Office for few months and then upgrade to Office 2003
later.
Please help, I do not want to screw something up and waste time
having to
re-install the whole operating system. That is a solid weeks worth
of
wasted time for me as I have so many other apps to install on top of
the
OS.

Diane,

You are right, it is backward compatible. As I upgraded from Office XP, it left the format unchanged.
But i thourough trust Microsoft to create a monster and not be able to control it or command it.
I un-installed Office 2003 yesterday after backing up my .PST file. I had infact first removed the Backup and Video Email Add ons before removing Office 2003. I decided not to have multiple Office versions after reading a knowledgebase article.

I then installed Office XP and it automatically found the .pst file and got all my emails into Outlook 2002, which was never deleted from the default location that Outlook 2003 put it in. What kind of uninstall did it do then ? It never does a clean un-install. After I clicked on the Send and Receive all in Outlook 2002, it failed. I started getting the "This operation failed" error. Thanks to Google found that it is a known problem. I had to quit Outlook 2002 and rename the .srs file to .old and start Outlook 2002 and everything was fine....or so I thought.
Today morning when I open up the Address book, it is blank !!! I had so many address in it and I thought they were all in the .PST file. God knows what it did with them. It won't even let me add any new addresses. It says I need to add a .PAB file by going to Tools --- Email Accounts. I had to leave for work so did not try that.
Before I screw something up by adding a new .PAB file, can u suggest any ways that I could get my old address book back ?

I read something about going to Control Panel --- Mail and creating a Profile etc.

----- Diane Poremsky [MVP] wrote: -----

both - it's not Unicode and it's backwards compatible. it will work with
ol2002.
--


"Navin" wrote in message
...
I went to File --- Data File Management and then picked the .PST file and
clicked on SETTINGS, and in the FORMAT field the value is "Personal Folders
File (97-2002)".
Does this mean it is not Unicode ?
Or does it mean the file is still backward compatible ?
----- Diane Poremsky [MVP] wrote: -----
if you are using a Unicode pst, export or copy the messages to an old
format
pst. (file, new, outlook message store and choose outlook97/2002
format.)
To check your pst format, use file, data management.
--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Author, Google and Other Search Engines (Visual QuickStart Guide)
Outlook Tips: http://www.outlook-tips.net/
Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center: http://www.slipstick.com
OneNote Tips:
"Navin" wrote in message
news
I recently upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003 which means I now
have
Outlook 2003.
But now I want to uninstall Office 2003 and re-install Office XP as
my
wife who is learning computers wants to learn the older version as
that is
what is used at most businesses.
So my question is, will I be able to import the emails etc. from
the .PST
file of Outlook 2003 into Outlook XP ?
I read the Microsoft article on Running multiple versions of
Office, but
it does not answer this question. After reading this article (
http://support.microsoft.com/default...roduct=off2003 ), I
have decided NOT TO run multiple versions, but instead will use the
older
version of Office for few months and then upgrade to Office 2003
later.
Please help, I do not want to screw something up and waste time
having to
re-install the whole operating system. That is a solid weeks worth
of
wasted time for me as I have so many other apps to install on top of
the
OS.