Where the heck is the data?

[Paull L]

I'm an old retired mainframe engineer. I do volunteer work for several charities. I just got a donated Office Pro 2013 from TechSoup.org and microsoft but it doesn't include support. I installed it and activated it but Bill Gates has me confused.

The boot record on my old XP box failed. I had Office 2000 on it. My outlook pst files going back into the 1990s were on drives D: and E: so I have them. I have a new Win7 box on which I have installed Office2013. Now I want to make sure I get Outlook2013 pointing to the right data files before I start it up again.

PROBEM 1

In ControlPanel>Mail>DataFiles I have 2 entries as follows:

1. check mark, outlook, D:\Outlook\outlook.pst

2. no check mark, Personal Folders, c:\Users\XYZ\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\outlook.pst

I started outlook to see if it would run and it added the line 2 entry. I added the line 1 entry myself. I can't remove the line 2 entry. I says the entry is associated with an email account, to remove it use the email tab. On the email tab I had added the five email addresses my ISP gave me, but I don't see how they are associated with the data file on line 1. Line 1 points to this directory which doesn't contain an outlook.pst file.
Directory of C:\Users\XYZ\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook

08/25/2012 08:28 PM 57,238 Microsoft Outlook Internet Settings.FAV

12/19/2012 12:00 AM 2,560 Microsoft Outlook Internet Settings.srs

12/19/2012 12:01 AM 1,594 Microsoft Outlook Internet Settings.xml

08/25/2012 08:48 PM 2,056 outcmd.dat
3 File(s) 63,448 bytes
2 Dir(s) 1,781,903,224,832 bytes free

How do I get rid of the bogus line 1 entry, or can I just leave it there????

PROBLEM 2

Once I get Outlook2013 pointing to the D:\Outlook\outlook.pst data location should I import all of my old Outlook2000 data files or should I just open the latest one?

I have seven .pst files from Outlook2000. One contains current 2012 data, the older ones are exported archives built over the decades. All are just under 1GB in size.

Will the current 2012 pst file contain all my contacts? When I exported archives in the past I would just export the mail folders so I guess the archive pst files will not have any contacts in them.

Thanks from an old, confused mainframer.

Paul L in Poughkeepsie, NY

 

[Diane Poremsky]

Did you restore a profile created in outlook 2000 or did you let Outlook 2013 create the profile? Because you are moving up several versions, I would create a new profile in Outlook and let it create the data files. Import your old data files into the new one.

Data file #1: The checkmark says that this your default data file, where new mail is delivered and where Outlook Today gets the appointment and tasks from.

Data file # 2: a second data file in your profile. I'm not sure what created it because Outlook 2013 only uses pst files for POP3 accounts, archiving, or user-created data files and puts them in My Documents\Outlook Files by default.

Outlook 2013 does not use the FAV file or outcmd.dat. Those are for older versions of Outlook.

To see what account is using pst #2, go to File, Account Settings and select each account in the profile then look at the Change Folder button on the bottom. Do any accounts use it? If they are using it, select a folder in the other data file.

On importing - it's up to you. Outlook is no longer limited by file size so it could hold all the old archived data but if you aren't using it, it's not necessary to import it. I would only import the pst files containing data you actively need to access - the current 2012 data and maybe the most recent archive. Your calendar and contacts should be in the one that has current data. The old pst files are ansi format, which Outlook 2013 can read, but it will be better to use it's native Unicode format for day to day access.

 

[Paul Lepkowski]

Hi Diane,

Thanks for your quick reply. I had to register again due to login difficulties. It wouldn't send me a password reset link.
> Did you restore a profile created in outlook 2000 or did you let Outlook 2013 create the profile?<

I started 2013 to see if it would run, then shut it down. I then went to ControlPanel>Mail and found the pointer to the c:\users\... file. I added the d:\outlook\outlook.pst file, marked it as default, and then tried to remove the pointer to c:\users\ but it wouldn't let me. It said that email accounts were associated with it but I had not yet added any accounts. Then I started outlook and imported the contents of my most recent outlook2000 pst file. All my email folders appeared and a spot check showed many old emails. Then I went back to ControlPanel>Mail and entered my isp data for 5 email addresses and pointed mail delivery for each to separate IN folders from my old folder list. I still can't remove the c:\users\....\outlook.pst file.

Should I remove all this and start over? Should I continue importing data from the older archive files?
> Outlook 2013 does not use the FAV file or outcmd.dat. Those are for older versions of Outlook.<

Agreed! Those files are dated 8/2012. Only the .srs and .xml files are from 12/12. But shouldn't they reside in the d:\outlook\ directory? Should I move them there? Should I delete them and let Outlook build new ones?
> To see what account is using pst #2, go to File, Account Settings...<

ControlPanel>Mail>eMail tab shows all email accounts are pointed to folders in d:\outlook\outlook.pst.
> On importing - it's up to you.<

I imported the most recent pst from outlook2000. I see all my folders and many emails. But I can't find my contacts. Where are they in that blankety blank ribbon?? How do I convert my old ANSI pst files to the newer UNICODE pst files?? I saw nothing in the import routine to specify this.

Finally, I still can not remove the pointer to c:\users\........\outlook.pst.

Do I need to remove it? It insists that email accounts are linked to it.

Paul Lepkowski, Poughkeepsie, NY

 

[Paul Lepkowski]

Hi again Diane,

I just started Outlook. It said "Outlook has stopped working. We will check for a problem and notify you if we find anything." Then it went byebye.

Paul Lepkowski, Poughkeepsie, NY

 

[Diane Poremsky]

> Agreed! Those files are dated 8/2012. Only the .srs and .xml files are from 12/12. But shouldn't they reside in the d:\outlook\ directory? Should I move them there? Should I delete them and let Outlook build new ones?

No, they belong in the C:\users path. %appdata%\Microsoft\Outlook\

To find your contacts, press Ctrl+2 or is it Ctrl+3... I can never keep them straight (Ctrl+1 is Mail pane, 2 and 3 are calendar and contacts).

You can't "convert" ANSI to Unicode, you import, archive, or move the contents to a new Unicode pst. Convert an ANSI PST to a Unicode PST - Slipstick Systems

You can continue to import the old pst files if you want, even if you need to make a new profile to get rid of the one you don't want to use, you can point the new profile to this pst when you create it. I'm still not sure why outlook put a pst in that path - it doesn't use that path as the default for pst files anymore.

As for the error message, it's hard to say why it went bye-bye.

If you want to start over with a new profile now instead of waiting to see if Outlook decides to let you close the unwanted pst, follow the instructions at Moving Outlook 2010 to a new Windows computer - Slipstick Systems - specifically Step 3 and 5 to create the accounts and select the delivery pst for each account.

 

[Paul Lepkowski]

Hi Diane,

After two weeks of fiddling with this thing I still can't get Outlook 2013 to run. In the mail applet I have added several new mail profiles, marked each of them in turn has the default, and then tried unsuccessfully to remove the original profile which was apparently created by Outlook itself.

I have tried starting Outlook in safe mode, and reinstalling Outlook. Nothing works. I also tried installing my old office 2000 on a Vista machine only to find out that Vista does not support the Windows address book.

Could it be that Outlook 2013 is buggy? Do you think I should try to remove office 2013 and rollback to office 2007? I know that Office 2000 13 is very new and that it has not yet been released to the public. Help!

Paul Lepkowski in Poughkeepsie, NY

 

[Diane Poremsky]

Well, Outlook 2013 is not totally bug free... but I'm not sure this is an Outlook bug or just something goofy with your machine. You're using Vista? It's supposed to work, but sometimes there are bugs on old OS that are not present on new ones. (Same thing happens with old office on newer os's.)

If you want to use Office 2013, I would not reinstall 2007. If you don't plan on upgrading, then yes, going back to 2007 now might be worth it. It should fix the problem only because Outlook 2013 has its own profile keys. I would only do this this if you are sure you won't be upgrading.

Outlook 2013 keeps the profile at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook\Profiles - if you can't delete a profile from the control panel, Mail applet, then you can delete it from this key.

And to make sure were on the same page - I'm talking about this list of Accounts.

 

[Paul Lepkowski]

We're not quite on the same page. I'm trying to make Outlook 2013 work on a Win 7 box. I tried to make Outlook 2000 work on a Vista box but it failed to access the windows address book. It was an XP box that crashed starting this whole mess.

The screen shot you attached is the one I'm dealing with in Win7.

I was looking at the profile key you referenced in RedEdit. It has a lot of entries. I guess I'll export it first, then delete it. Will the mail applet recreate it?

The crash report references the PSTPRX32.DLL. Could there be something wrong with this dll?

The last crash report follows:

Log Name: Application

Source: Application Error

Date: 1/8/2013 2:43:56 PM

Event ID: 1000

Task Category: (100)

Level: Error

Keywords: Classic

User: N/A

Computer: PWP3

Description:

Faulting application name: OUTLOOK.EXE, version: 15.0.4420.1017, time stamp: 0x506734e2

Faulting module name: PSTPRX32.DLL, version: 15.0.4420.1017, time stamp: 0x506732a1

Exception code: 0xc0000005

Fault offset: 0x0001a73e

Faulting process id: 0x1250

Faulting application start time: 0x01cdedd870754779

Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15\OUTLOOK.EXE

Faulting module path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15\PSTPRX32.DLL

Report Id: bcbd6427-59cb-11e2-9f93-386077ec1ab1

Event Xml:

<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event"
<System
<Provider Name="Application Error" /
<EventID Qualifiers="0">1000</EventID
<Level>2</Level
<Task>100</Task
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2013-01-08T19:43:56.000000000Z" /
<EventRecordID>25754</EventRecordID
<Channel>Application</Channel
<Computer>PWP3</Computer
<Security /
</System
<EventData
<Data>OUTLOOK.EXE</Data
<Data>15.0.4420.1017</Data
<Data>506734e2</Data
<Data>PSTPRX32.DLL</Data
<Data>15.0.4420.1017</Data
<Data>506732a1</Data
<Data>c0000005</Data
<Data>0001a73e</Data
<Data>1250</Data
<Data>01cdedd870754779</Data
<Data>C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15\OUTLOOK.EXE</Data
<Data>C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15\PSTPRX32.DLL</Data
<Data>bcbd6427-59cb-11e2-9f93-386077ec1ab1</Data
</EventData
</Event>

 

[Diane Poremsky]

Ok... now I understand the Vista reference.

Yes, PSTPRX32 could be the problem. The usual fix for PSTPRX32 errors is a new profile...

Yes, when you delete (or rename) the profile key, outlook will recreate it.

 

[Paul Lepkowski]

Hi Diane, that worked. I now have a PIM profile with no e-mail addresses and I am moving folders from the archive files into the active file. The mail applet created an empty PST in the D:\Outlook\ directorywhich was 245 kB.

I am moving the folders rather than copying or importing them because I understand the copy and import operations will reset the last modified time and date. Moving folders this way is kind of awkward with the mouse and the Ctrl+Shift+V keystroke will not work to move a folder.

I also find that Outlook 2013 will not export TXT, CSV or DBF files. When did they cut that out?

Paul Lepkowski in Poughkeepsie New York

 

[Diane Poremsky]

The eliminated all except CSV and pst for export - CSV is universal format and outlook uses pst.

Unless you are going to archive, the last mod time is unimportant, and now outlook 2010 and 2013 can archive on the received date, so it is even less important.