3 of 5 PST files don't install from d:\outlook but only from D:\

[PhilBurton]

Operating system::    windows 11
Outlook version:     Office 365
Email type or host:    IMAP + 5 PST files

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I'm setting up Outlook on a laptop which I just upgraded to Windows 11, clean install.
To be honest, my bad because I wiped out the C:\ partition completely, and no recent backup. So rather than re-install Windows 10, I thought it was time to upgrade to Win 11.

FYI: Microsoft will sunset all Win versions in Oct. 2025.

I use IMAP for ISP access plus five local storage PST files. I keep my five PST files in d:\outlook. I did the usual import process but only 2 of those PST files could be imported. For the other 3, I got an uninformative error message. But when I moved those 3 PST files to D:\ root directory, they all installed just fine.

This makes no sense. Can anyone explain why?

 

[Diane Poremsky]

I did the usual import process

As in, you imported into the IMAP account or a new pst? Don't import. Just open the PST in the profile. File > Open > Export > Open Outlook data file.

I got an uninformative error message

Do you recall what it said?

 

[PhilBurton]

Diane,

I wanted to import these 5 PST file as PST files for my one and only email account.

As in, you imported into the IMAP account or a new pst? Don't import. Just open the PST in the profile. File > Open > Export > Open Outlook data file.

I'm not sure I understand. For 2 of the 5 PST files, I followed the same File > Open and Export > Open Outlook Data File (pst) and then I selected each of my 5 PSTs, one at a time.

Two were imported successfully into d:\Outlook on the new system. The other 3 were not. I should mention that I ran scanpst repeatedly on each of these 3 "problem" PST files

Do you recall what it said?

Something like "the xxx.PST file could not be opened.

I feel almost embarrassed to say that when I repeated these steps this evening for the 3 "problem" PST files, they were imported no problems.
I'm kind of gobsmacked here. All I did was open and close Outlook several times in the course of normal usage. I don't think there were any Microsoft updates to Outlook

 

[Diane Poremsky]

I'm not sure I understand. For 2 of the 5 PST files, I followed the same File > Open and Export > Open Outlook Data File (pst) and then I selected each of my 5 PSTs, one at a time.

This is not importing, its opening the pst files.

Something like "the xxx.PST file could not be opened.

I feel almost embarrassed to say that when I repeated these steps this evening for the 3 "problem" PST files, they were imported no problems.
I'm kind of gobsmacked here. All I did was open and close Outlook several times in the course of normal usage. I don't think there were any Microsoft updates to Outlook

The pst files are not in a cloud service, correct, just stored on the D drive? If they are in a cloud service and are not fully synced, you'll get that error.

Updates are installed when you reboot or restart outlook... so it's possible an update was installed but my guess is there was something accessing it (like an AV scanner).

 

[PhilBurton]

FYI: Microsoft will sunset all Win 10 versions in Oct. 2025. (my error with the original post). Win 11 continues to be supported.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

Sunsetting doesn't mean they won't work - and I'm sure they will still be a lot of win10 users long after that. But new computers and clean installs should have the newest builds.

 

[PhilBurton]

Sunsetting doesn't mean they won't work - and I'm sure they will still be a lot of win10 users long after that. But new computers and clean installs should have the newest builds.

True. I should have been more clear. There will be no more security patches after this coming October. If someone (like a friend of mine) uses his or her Win 10 PC entirely offline, there is nothing to be concerned about. But for Outlook users, and all others who use their systems online, they will become increasingly vulnerable to new security threats. Good security software cannot completely compensate for this issue.

I have begrudgingly upgraded two of my systems to Win 11, which has an awful UI compared to Win 10. I will have to upgrade one more system before October. Begrudgingly.

It's offtopic for this forum, but I'd like to mention two utilities I have used that bring the Win 11 Ui back to Win 10. Winaero and Explorer.Patcher. A search will come up with many more such utilities.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

True. I should have been more clear. There will be no more security patches after this coming October. If someone (like a friend of mine) uses his or her Win 10 PC entirely offline, there is nothing to be concerned about. But for Outlook users, and all others who use their systems online, they will become increasingly vulnerable to new security threats. Good security software cannot completely compensate for this issue.

I have begrudgingly upgraded two of my systems to Win 11, which has an awful UI compared to Win 10. I will have to upgrade one more system before October. Begrudgingly.

It's offtopic for this forum, but I'd like to mention two utilities I have used that bring the Win 11 Ui back to Win 10. Winaero and Explorer.Patcher. A search will come up with many more such utilities.

A lot of my clients use winaro....

Most people who still with win10 will be fine for a year, maybe two, as long as they keep the AV updated. The big issue is a serious, unknown exploit that is discovered - and if one is, I expect Microsoft will break their policy and release a fix (they will release updates for businesses with extended support)