Message Interface Error When Importing Pst Contacts

[Chris Nicola]

I have Office 2010 Home and Student installed and I had to uninstall the trial of Outlook 2010 as it expired. I installed Outlook 2000 so I can manage my pst contacts. At the moment there are no mail accounts installed and no contacts. When I try to import my pst contacts I get the error message," The messaging interface has returned an unknown error if the problem persists restart outlook.

Does anyone know if there is a solution to this problem with Outlook 2000 running on Windows 7?

Kind Regards

Chris

 

[Russ Valentine]

Outlook 2000 is not supported on Windows 7, so you may be out of luck. You will need to configure Outlook 2000 with at least one type of mail transport so it has the transports necessary to handle a data file. You never import Outlook data files. You open them in Outlook after you have a profile fully configured.

You'll find some other tips for trying to get Outlook 2000 to work on Windows 7 here:Using Outlook on Windows 7 (or Vista)

Russ Valentine

 

[Chris Nicola]

Thanks Russ. I configured an e mail account and got it to syncronise OK. I tried to open my psd contacts store but it failed with the same error message. ," The messaging interface has returned an unknown error if the problem persists restart outlook" . I tried to apply the suggestion about " Allow Upgrades to Large Tables Extends Limit of PST" but could not understand the instructions as I could not find the Services option on the tools menu.

On the Tools menu, click Services. On the Services tab click to select the Personal Folders service and click Properties.On the General tab click to select " Allow upgrade to large tables." Click OK.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/175406/

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/283175

I tried the outlook repair tool but still no joy.

http://www.olfolders.de/Lang/English/OLfix/

I tried deleting the profile as suggested here but still no joy:

http://www.office-outlook.com/outlook-forum/index.php/t/49412/

I would like to try my best before giving up and instaling Outlook in XP virtualisatuion mode.

All suggestions welcome.

Kind Regards

Chris

 

[Russ Valentine]

Most likely you neglected to create a PST file in the format that is compatible with legacy versions of Outlook. If so, your file can only be opened in Outlook 2003 and higher.Russ Valentine

 

[Chris Nicola]

Russ, thanks for this suggestion. I tried opening an older version of a pst file made by Outlook 2000 on XP and I still get the same error.

Its quite possible though that the previous installation of Outlook 2010 has interfered with things. I already uninstalled and reinstalled Outlook to no avail. Do you know if Is here any way I can do a clean uninstall of just Outlook 2000 and manually remove all registry settings without affecting the rest of office 2000? That may be my last hope before considering an XP virtualisation install. I have read that some individuals actually got Outlook 2000 working on Win 7 so that's what gave me some hope. I can manually add contacts to outlook 2000 and it works fine that but I can't open my large pst store.

Having said the above, I use live mail for my mail services. The only reason I need Outlook is to keep a record of all my valuable old phone contacts and when necessary to syncronise with my Nokia phone. If there is another free programme available that can manage and export pst files contacts I would have no need for Outlook. Do you know of any?

Kind Regards

Chris

 

[Russ Valentine]

If you had a valid PST file in the older ANSI format, it would open in Outlook 2000. If Outlook 2010 were interering with anything (and it probably is), creating a new Outlook profile from scratch should fix it.http://support.microsoft.com/kb/829918&Product=out2003Russ Valentine

 

[Chris Nicola]

Thanks again. Sorry for the delay in replying. I tried to follow the instructions to make a new profile as suggested here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/829918&Product=out2003

The instructions say

In the Mail Setup dialog box, click Show Profiles.On the General tab, under When starting Microsoft Office Outlook, use this profile, clickPrompt for a profile to be used, and then click Add.In the Profile Name box, type the name that you want to use for the new email profile, and then clickOK. In the E-mail Accounts dialog box, click Add a new e-mail account, and then clickNext. Click the appropriate server type for your new email account, and then click Next. Type your account information in the required boxes, and then click Next.Click Finish, and then click OK.

However in the mail setup dialogue box from Control Panel in Win 7 I can't see a tab " Show Profiles" or a " General" tab. I can only see add, remove, properties, import, export and close. What am I doing wrong?

Kind Regards

Chris

 

[Russ Valentine]

Did you follow the instructions in the article for Windows 7? If Control Panel is in either Large icons or Small icons view, click Mail. The Mail Setup dialog box appears. If Control Panel is in Category view, under View by, click to select eitherLarge icons or Small icons, and then click Mail. The Mail Setup dialog box appears.

You seem to be describing the next dialog box where you would select " Add..." to create a new profile.

Russ Valentine

 

[Chris Nicola]

Thanks. In Win 7 when I click the Mail icon in large icons view I can only see the settings for the account I set up in Outlook 2000. There is no other intermediate window showing the other functions tab showing profiles or a General tab. There is only add, remove, properties, import, export and close.

My only conclusion is that since I uninstalled Outlook 2010 and installed Outlook 2000 that perhaps it did not install the modules necessary for the full Mail settings to work properly on Win 7? I can syncronise my account and add contacts manually but cannot import my pst contact store that was previously created in Outlook 2000 on a Win XP machine. It seems there are no profiles actually set up on Win 7 according to the Mail icon in control panel.

Is there anything else I can try? Is it possible to make a clean uninstall of Outlook 2000 and delete the registry entries without disturbing the rest of office 2000 and trying to reinstall Outlook 2000?

Kind Regards

Chris

 

[Russ Valentine]

If you installed the " Internet Mail Only" version of Outlook 2000, then you do not have the full version and you do not have the ability to create profiles. IMO is not supported on Win 7.Russ Valentine

 

[Chris Nicola]

Thats interesting. I have Microsoft Office 2000 professional so I assumed that it included the full version of Outlook 2000. I really don't know what version it is. I did install Outlook 2000 in Win XP mode and although I can't open the pst files using file/open it will import the pst files which is something so at least I can see the contacts now. Maybe thats my only work around for the time being. Interestingly in the XP control panel there are no profiles listed by clicking the mail icon and it apears exactly the same as in the Win 7 control panel. The disadvantage of running Outlook in XP mode is it is slow to start and uses system resources which makes a difference on an old P4 machine. I was rather hoping I could open pst files in Outlook running on Windows 7 but so far there seems to be no solution. I don't know if others have succeeded. Do you think making a clean uninstall of Outlook 2000 and reinstalling might help just in case the older uninstalled outlook 2010 trial is intefering?

Kind Regards

Chris

 

[Russ Valentine]

Outlook 2000 came with 2 separate mail support modes: " Corporate/Workgroup" which contained full MAPI support and transports and " Internet Mail Only" which contained only simple MAPI and lacked the full transports of Corp/Workgroup. It was your choice which mode you installed. IMO did not permit creation of separate profiles.

This has nothing to do with Windows compatibility mode which has no bearing on any of this and which you should _never_ use. I think you should give up completely on running Outlook 2000 on Windows 7. If you want to try it you'll have to use Corp/Workgroup mode. Read the details: Using Outlook on Windows 7 (or Vista)

Russ Valentine

 

[Chris Nicola]

Thank you Russ for your continued support. The link you kindly directed me to provided the solution.

Using Outlook on Windows 7 (or Vista)

Here's what I did. I went to the Outlook.exe file, right clicked it and unchecked compatibility mode.

" C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\OUTLOOK.EXE"

Then I set Outlook in corporate workgroup mode using the instructions here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/195507

http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/choosingmode.htm

After rebooting I am glad to say I can now import my old pim contacts list!

Thank you again for all your help.

Kind Regards

Chris

 

[Russ Valentine]

Glad it worked. Corp/Workgroup is a pretty cumbersome program for people who need only Internet mail transports, but it's the only mode that will work on Win 7.Russ Valentine