mgross333
asked on
Import Outlook Express DBX files (XP PC) to Outlook 2007 on a Windows 7 PC
This if for my customers two PCs; I fix PCs for a living.
How can I get Outlook Express (OE) email (and Address book) on an XP PC over to Outlook 2007 on a Windows 7 PC.
Note: Windows 7 does not include Windows Mail (as Vista did) so PLEASE no solutions that use Windows Mail as an itermediary to achieve the final goal.
Please provide an answer OTHER THAN what is between the lines below; I already know about THAT one (and think it is ridiculous that I have to go thru something so absurdly convoluted) i.e IS THERE SOMEWAY TO GET OUTLOOK 2007 TO IMPORT OE "folder.dbx" files directly (i.e Inbox.dbx, Sent.dbx and so on) and also *.wab files (used in OE) DIRECTLY?? I mean they are both widely used MS email products so you would think...........APPARENTLY
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Install Outlook 2003 on the XP PC (For reasons I do not want to go into, I prefer to not install Outlook 2007 on the XP PC). Also I create no Outlook account. Then move the OE email to Outlook using the standard MAGIC procedure that ONLY WORKS if both OE and Outlook are installed and you do an File>export>messages from OE BUT export from OE does NOT REALLY CREATE exported files like it almost always does in most PC apps of any kind. It MAGICALLY moves them to Outlook email with no intermediary files being seen.
For the OE address book, I run OE and File>export>address book to Comma Separated Values (CSV formt) (and now DO GET a real intermediary file) and then in Outlook 2003, File>Import>From a file and specify CSV format and import the address book into Outlook 2003.
NOW, spot-test Outlook 2003 and make sure all the emails AND all the addresses are there that were in OE.
OK, then I close Outlook 2003 and put the Outlook.pst file on my USB stick or external HD and move it to the Windows 7 PC. I install Outlook 2007 there and set up an account and then click Send/Receive or similar in Outlook 2007. Then I Import the saved Outlook.pst file from the XP PC and specify NO DUPLICATES at the appropriate option and we are done.
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IS that the only way??
If there is a way to do it using Windows Live mail as an intermediary on the Windows 7 PC, please describe it in some detail (not just say "Import the dbx files or folder with the dbx files into Windows Live mail" BUT a detailed step by step instruction NOTING that I have never used Windows Live mail and KNOW NOTHING about setting it up.
Also IF that would work IS IT REALLY SIMPLER than what is between the dotted lines above noting again that I know how to do everything that is between the dotted lines (although it will be time consuming for sure) AND DO NOT know how to set up Windows Live mail. i.e I am not looking for ten different ways to do this, I am looking for the EASIEST way to do this of the available options.
Regards,
Mike
How can I get Outlook Express (OE) email (and Address book) on an XP PC over to Outlook 2007 on a Windows 7 PC.
Note: Windows 7 does not include Windows Mail (as Vista did) so PLEASE no solutions that use Windows Mail as an itermediary to achieve the final goal.
Please provide an answer OTHER THAN what is between the lines below; I already know about THAT one (and think it is ridiculous that I have to go thru something so absurdly convoluted) i.e IS THERE SOMEWAY TO GET OUTLOOK 2007 TO IMPORT OE "folder.dbx" files directly (i.e Inbox.dbx, Sent.dbx and so on) and also *.wab files (used in OE) DIRECTLY?? I mean they are both widely used MS email products so you would think...........APPARENTLY
--------------------------
Install Outlook 2003 on the XP PC (For reasons I do not want to go into, I prefer to not install Outlook 2007 on the XP PC). Also I create no Outlook account. Then move the OE email to Outlook using the standard MAGIC procedure that ONLY WORKS if both OE and Outlook are installed and you do an File>export>messages from OE BUT export from OE does NOT REALLY CREATE exported files like it almost always does in most PC apps of any kind. It MAGICALLY moves them to Outlook email with no intermediary files being seen.
For the OE address book, I run OE and File>export>address book to Comma Separated Values (CSV formt) (and now DO GET a real intermediary file) and then in Outlook 2003, File>Import>From a file and specify CSV format and import the address book into Outlook 2003.
NOW, spot-test Outlook 2003 and make sure all the emails AND all the addresses are there that were in OE.
OK, then I close Outlook 2003 and put the Outlook.pst file on my USB stick or external HD and move it to the Windows 7 PC. I install Outlook 2007 there and set up an account and then click Send/Receive or similar in Outlook 2007. Then I Import the saved Outlook.pst file from the XP PC and specify NO DUPLICATES at the appropriate option and we are done.
--------------------------
IS that the only way??
If there is a way to do it using Windows Live mail as an intermediary on the Windows 7 PC, please describe it in some detail (not just say "Import the dbx files or folder with the dbx files into Windows Live mail" BUT a detailed step by step instruction NOTING that I have never used Windows Live mail and KNOW NOTHING about setting it up.
Also IF that would work IS IT REALLY SIMPLER than what is between the dotted lines above noting again that I know how to do everything that is between the dotted lines (although it will be time consuming for sure) AND DO NOT know how to set up Windows Live mail. i.e I am not looking for ten different ways to do this, I am looking for the EASIEST way to do this of the available options.
Regards,
Mike
SOLUTION
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ASKER
THIS IS FROM THE QUESTION POSTER.
There is one part of the solution between the lines above that I do NOT know. When I export messages from OE to Outlook on the XP PC, does Outlook need to be open OR must it be closed or the export will fail OR does it not matter; ie the export to Outlook will work in either case.
Mike
There is one part of the solution between the lines above that I do NOT know. When I export messages from OE to Outlook on the XP PC, does Outlook need to be open OR must it be closed or the export will fail OR does it not matter; ie the export to Outlook will work in either case.
Mike
You can do it either way, push to Outlook from Outlook EXpress, or pull from Outlook Express using Outlook, in both cases, only the instigator needs to be open :)
SOLUTION
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ASKER
lancepurcell:
Thanks for your SECOND post in this thread. Regarding your first post, regrettably I need a FREE solution and your link leads to a $69 solution. Also thru Google Search I found a competing NOT-FREE product from SysTools. Both the products have a Demo version but clearly state that the Demo version will ONLY convert 10 emails from each folder (each dbx file) so that is USELESS. If I pay $69 for the SW that reduces my profit by $69 and I would rather go thru the lengthy convoluted solution between the lines in my question vs loosing the $69.
Do you know any Freeware or trial version that works for a limited time period BUT converts ALL the emails in each OE email folder? I realize that a trial version probably does not exist as this is not a long-term need BUT is a ONE TIME need so no company is going to give away a fully functioning version for even a day.
Regards - Mike
Thanks for your SECOND post in this thread. Regarding your first post, regrettably I need a FREE solution and your link leads to a $69 solution. Also thru Google Search I found a competing NOT-FREE product from SysTools. Both the products have a Demo version but clearly state that the Demo version will ONLY convert 10 emails from each folder (each dbx file) so that is USELESS. If I pay $69 for the SW that reduces my profit by $69 and I would rather go thru the lengthy convoluted solution between the lines in my question vs loosing the $69.
Do you know any Freeware or trial version that works for a limited time period BUT converts ALL the emails in each OE email folder? I realize that a trial version probably does not exist as this is not a long-term need BUT is a ONE TIME need so no company is going to give away a fully functioning version for even a day.
Regards - Mike
ASKER
akhan
Does Aid4Mail convert OE email to a Outlook.pst file on a PC that does NOT have Outlook installed. The PDF help file is hard to understand because the product does so many things and the trial version is limited to 50 emails so that is not useable but $25 is OK if it will do what I want.
Mike
Does Aid4Mail convert OE email to a Outlook.pst file on a PC that does NOT have Outlook installed. The PDF help file is hard to understand because the product does so many things and the trial version is limited to 50 emails so that is not useable but $25 is OK if it will do what I want.
Mike
ASKER
akahan
I have investigated further and find that ONLY the professional version of Aid4Mail (at $49.95) can convert OE emails to PST files, the standard version at $25 can not do that and again $50 is too much for me to loose on the job.
Mike
I have investigated further and find that ONLY the professional version of Aid4Mail (at $49.95) can convert OE emails to PST files, the standard version at $25 can not do that and again $50 is too much for me to loose on the job.
Mike
SOLUTION
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>> put the Outlook.pst file on my USB stick << once you have this, just copy the pst file file in the outlook folder for pst :
C:\Documents and Settings\user_id\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
when you open outlook, everything will be there..
C:\Documents and Settings\user_id\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
when you open outlook, everything will be there..
ASKER
johnb6767,
Why can't I use Outlook 2003 as the intermediary? Does XP support Outlook 2003, YES, Does Windows 7 support Outlook 2007, YES. Can Outlook 2007 import a Outlook 2003 pst file, YES. DONE !! No need to use Outlook 2010 at all, right. I happen to have Office 2003 and 2007 CDs and not a Office 2010 CD.
If you disagree with this approach, please reply. And yes I could install a trial version of Office 2010 from the internet (ie. your link) but the CDs install faster.
I do not want to use Office 2007 as the intermediary due to activation issues on the XP PC AND maybe I would not need to activate for my purpose but I am not sure. There are limits on what you can do if Office is not activated; I can activate the Office 2003 if need be on the XP PC.
nobus,
MS support on the phone disagrees with your post. They recommend that one always import (although this can take much longer than simply switching in the pst file from the XP PC) because Outlook Import checks EVERY email for corruption and will NOT import corrupt emails. Now to be fair, I called them in a situation where there WAS reason to believe there WAS corruption in the PST file to be moved to the new PC. SUMMARY: If time is short, I WILL start up Outlook for the first time (so it creates a small pst file), close Outlook, then switch in the PST file from the other PC and restart Outlook. But if I have the time, I always import.
Mike
Why can't I use Outlook 2003 as the intermediary? Does XP support Outlook 2003, YES, Does Windows 7 support Outlook 2007, YES. Can Outlook 2007 import a Outlook 2003 pst file, YES. DONE !! No need to use Outlook 2010 at all, right. I happen to have Office 2003 and 2007 CDs and not a Office 2010 CD.
If you disagree with this approach, please reply. And yes I could install a trial version of Office 2010 from the internet (ie. your link) but the CDs install faster.
I do not want to use Office 2007 as the intermediary due to activation issues on the XP PC AND maybe I would not need to activate for my purpose but I am not sure. There are limits on what you can do if Office is not activated; I can activate the Office 2003 if need be on the XP PC.
nobus,
MS support on the phone disagrees with your post. They recommend that one always import (although this can take much longer than simply switching in the pst file from the XP PC) because Outlook Import checks EVERY email for corruption and will NOT import corrupt emails. Now to be fair, I called them in a situation where there WAS reason to believe there WAS corruption in the PST file to be moved to the new PC. SUMMARY: If time is short, I WILL start up Outlook for the first time (so it creates a small pst file), close Outlook, then switch in the PST file from the other PC and restart Outlook. But if I have the time, I always import.
Mike
I am not aware of any free application that will perform the same work as these for sale applications. The only free method is to do it how you outlined in your original post.
Yes you will "lose" 69 on the job, but that is up to you to make a profitable fee/business structure. Every tech needs to buy tools, whether it be a screwdriver or an application. Why don't you just charge a flat-rate for DBX to PST conversions. Or just charge a minimum 1 hour for the conversion. You could cover your cost with the fee, and use this tool in the future , hassle-free .
Good luck on your search for a free application .
Yes you will "lose" 69 on the job, but that is up to you to make a profitable fee/business structure. Every tech needs to buy tools, whether it be a screwdriver or an application. Why don't you just charge a flat-rate for DBX to PST conversions. Or just charge a minimum 1 hour for the conversion. You could cover your cost with the fee, and use this tool in the future , hassle-free .
Good luck on your search for a free application .
ASKER
lancepurcell:
Regarding
> You could cover your cost with the fee, and use this tool in the future , hassle-free .
My fee for the job was set before knowing I would have to pay $69 for the tool and as they say "a deal is a deal" so I can not change the fee.
Also regarding "use this tool in the future ", that is not what the seller says, they say it is for one activation on one PC. Now MAYBE there is a way around that but I would have to figure that out after purchase.
Mike
Regarding
> You could cover your cost with the fee, and use this tool in the future , hassle-free .
My fee for the job was set before knowing I would have to pay $69 for the tool and as they say "a deal is a deal" so I can not change the fee.
Also regarding "use this tool in the future ", that is not what the seller says, they say it is for one activation on one PC. Now MAYBE there is a way around that but I would have to figure that out after purchase.
Mike
Ok , fair enough. That's not very nice of them to be so inflexible with the time required to do the job. (Would have been nice to quote by the hour in this case) I suppose as techs we need to do our due diligence before we quote a job. I ran into a very similar situation where we were setting up a new workstation with Outlook, but the user had been using Win 2000 with Outlook Express . The system was a Pentium 3 . The DBX files were, in total almost a GB . It took FOREVER!
Long story short - we knew we were going in there to migrate the email from one client to another, but we didn't plan on it being Outlook EXpress! On top of that, because it was only a P3, the Export process was INCREDIBLY slow. The process was taking over 6 hours and still didn't appear to be near done. I had to leave for an emergency, but another guy went in an used that 3rd party app to just get it over with much faster on the new machine.
From now one we always make sure we are well aware if its a propietory or DBX email database before we do any kind of estimate or SOW .
Regarding the $69 fee, yes you are right, its by the year - Sorry its been awhile since we used it. The Systools one might be better if its a permanent purchase - but I haven't tried that one.
All the best,
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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"Install Outlook 2003 on the XP PC (For reasons I do not want to go into, I prefer to not install Outlook 2007 on the XP PC"
FYI, reason I was suggesting 2010, is due to the size limits of 2003 PST files, versus 2007+... Also, I assumed it was a licensing issue for not wanting to go that route.....
"My fee for the job was set before knowing I would have to pay $69 for the tool and as they say "a deal is a deal" so I can not change the fee."
Personally, I wouldnt work with this customer again. Thats a bit wrong for them to do you like that....
FYI, reason I was suggesting 2010, is due to the size limits of 2003 PST files, versus 2007+... Also, I assumed it was a licensing issue for not wanting to go that route.....
"My fee for the job was set before knowing I would have to pay $69 for the tool and as they say "a deal is a deal" so I can not change the fee."
Personally, I wouldnt work with this customer again. Thats a bit wrong for them to do you like that....
if you suspect corrupt mail - you can always run scanpst; does the same.
ASKER
THIS IS NOT AN OBJECTION and is from the Question Poster. It is a continuation of the technical discussion.
johnb6767,
Regarding > ...reason I was suggesting 2010, is due to the size limits of 2003 PST files, versus 2007+..
I do not understand. Outlook 2000 (and maybe Outlook XP) had a well known PST file size limit of 2 GB. Outlook 2003 had a much greater max size so I do not understand your comment. As far as I know Outlook 2003 has NO **PRACTICAL** PST file size limit problems. I mean something that would impact users in the Real World.
Please clarify your comment.
Mike
johnb6767,
Regarding > ...reason I was suggesting 2010, is due to the size limits of 2003 PST files, versus 2007+..
I do not understand. Outlook 2000 (and maybe Outlook XP) had a well known PST file size limit of 2 GB. Outlook 2003 had a much greater max size so I do not understand your comment. As far as I know Outlook 2003 has NO **PRACTICAL** PST file size limit problems. I mean something that would impact users in the Real World.
Please clarify your comment.
Mike
if you doubt the pst is corrupt, you can always run scanpst on it - it does the same..
Actually, my bad. It was 2002 I was thinking of with the PST size limit..... Apologies...
ASKER
See my last post in this thread for the best FREE solution.
ASKER
Please ALSO review my solution between the dotted lines in my question above and IF YOU THINK anything there (including the details) will NOT WORK, it is important to me that you reply to that effect and explain why BECAUSE unless someone here comes up with a better solution, I will probably end up doing all that stuff.
Also in this regard, please review my plan to BOTH move the emails AND THE address book. i.e if my plan to move the emails passed your review it does not necessarily mean that my plan to move the address book will work too. Please review both plans.
Regards-Mike