Knowledge Base

How to set the location of an archive .pst file in Outlook

Article ID: 836755

Article Last Modified on 8/5/2004

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager
Microsoft Outlook 2002 Standard Edition
Microsoft Outlook 2000 Standard Edition

INTRODUCTION

This article describes how to set the location of the Microsoft Outlook archive personal folders (.pst) file by modifying the Outlook profile file (.prf).

MORE INFORMATION

There are two methods that you can use to set the location of the archive .pst file. The first method uses the Microsoft Office 2003 Custom Installation Wizard (CIW) to create the .prf file. The second method shows you how to create a basic .prf file that includes a custom setting for the archive .pst file.

Note You cannot set the following options for the archive .pst file by using a .prf file. You must use system policies to configure the options for the following properties of the archive .pst file:

Set the AutoArchive feature to run every x days, where x is the number of days that will pass before the AutoArchive feature initiates.
Configure the AutoArchive feature to prompt you before it archives your files.
Configure the AutoArchive feature to delete expired items in e-mail folders only.

Method 1: Modify an existing .prf file

The CIW is included with the Microsoft Office Resource Kit 2003. The following steps describe how you can create an Outlook profile by using CIW that includes an archive .pst file. In this example, the name of the archive .pst file is Archive.pst and the location is set to use the C:\FolderName folder. You can change the path and the file name to the location and the file name that you want.

Note The folder path for the archive .pst file must exist for this method to work correctly.

Start the Microsoft Office 2003 CIW.
On the Custom Installation Wizard page, click Next.
On the Open the MSI File page, specify the Microsoft Windows Installer package file (.msi) that you want, and then click Next.
Click Create a new MST file, and then click Next.
Continue to click Next until you reach the Outlook: Customize Default Profile page.
On the Outlook: Customize Default Profile page, click New Profile, type a name for the profile in the Profile name box, and then click Next.
Add the settings that you want, such as the name of the Microsoft Exchange Server and the user name, and then click Next.
Repeat step 7 to add the settings that you want to the pages that follow until you reach the Outlook: Remove Accounts and Export Settings page.
On the Outlook: Remove Accounts and Export Settings page, click Export File Settings.
In the Save As dialog box, type the path and the file name that you want, and then click Save.
Click Finish, and then click Exit.
Start a text editor, such as Notepad, and make the following changes to the .prf file that you saved in step 10:
1. Under Section 2 - Services in Profile, type ServiceX=Microsoft Outlook Client in the [Service List] section.
2. Create a [ServiceX] section under Section 4 - Default values for each service by typing the following information:
  
  [ServiceX]
3. In the [ServiceX] section that you created in step 12b, type AutoArchiveFileName=c:\FolderName\archive.pst under Section 4 - Default values for each service.
4. In the [Microsoft Outlook Client] section, type AutoArchiveFileName=PT_STRING8,0x0324 under Section 6 - Mapping for profile properties.
Import the .prf file by using Outlook, or deploy the .prf file by using one of the supported installation methods.

Method 2: Create your own .prf file

You can create your own .prf file that contains the default settings. To do so, follow these steps:

Start a text editor, such as Notepad.

On the File menu, click New, and then type or copy the following text:

; Sample PRF file for creating Outlook profiles with archive .pst location.
;
; The following PRF file is included as an example of how to create a PRF file that will 
; configure a profile with the following services: Microsoft Exchange Server, Outlook 
; Address Book, and Personal Folders. Sections 1 through 5 may be modified
; DO NOT MODIFY SECTION 6. It will most likely prevent the profile 
; from being correctly created. Be very careful when editing to make sure the property values 
; match their property types. 

; Note that sections 2 and 3 are similar. Section 2 determines the kind and number 
; of MAPI services, while Section 3 determines the number of accounts. Sections 4 and 
; 5 are also similar. Section 4 determines specific settings for each MAPI service, 
; while Section 5 determines specific settings for Internet accounts. Finally, Section
; 6 displays the possible settings for MAPI services.
; Section 1 – Profile defaults.
; ************************************************************************

[General]
Custom=1
; -- Required.  Indicates that this is a customized .prf file.
ProfileName=Microsoft Outlook
DefaultProfile=Yes
OverwriteProfile=Yes
DefaultStore=Service2

; ************************************************************************
; Section 2 – Services in profile.
; ************************************************************************
; The list of MAPI services that will be added to the profile.

[Service List]
Service1=Microsoft Outlook Client
Service2=Microsoft Exchange Server
Service3=Outlook Address Book
Service4=Personal Folders
;Service5=Internet E-mail
; If you add an Internet E-mail service, you must also add an Account in
; Section 3.

; ************************************************************************
; Section 3 – List of Internet accounts.
;*******************************************************************
; The list of accounts that will be created.

[Internet Account List]

; ************************************************************************
; Section 4 – Default values for each service.
; ************************************************************************

[Service1]
;   No settings configured.

;----Outlook AutoArchive------
DoAutoArchive=True
AutoArchiveFileName = “c:\temp\archive.pst”


[Service2]
ConversionProhibited=TRUE
HomeServer=<enter server name>
MailboxName=%username%

[Service3]
Ben=TRUE
;   --  Dummy property.  Do not delete or modify.

[Service4]
PathToPersonalFolders=c:\outlook.pst
; The directories in the path of the personal folders must already exist

[Service5]

; ************************************************************************
; Section 5 – Values for each Internet account.
; *******************************************************************
; The settings for each account that will be created. The available
; account settings are listed in Section 3, below.



; ************************************************************************
; Section 6 – Mapping for profile properties.  DO NOT MODIFY.
; ************************************************************************

; ************************************************************************
; Outlook settings stored in the profile
[Microsoft Outlook Client]
SectionGUID=0a0d020000000000c000000000000046

DoAutoArchive=PT_BOOLEAN,0x0320

AutoArchiveFileName=PT_STRING8,0x0324


FormDirectoryPage=PT_STRING8,0x0270
;   -- The URL of Exchange Web Services Form Dir

If you use Notepad, click Save As on the File menu.
In the Save As dialog box, type the file path and the name you that want, and then click Save.

Note Save the file with a .prf file name extension.
Quit Notepad.
Import the .prf file by using Outlook, or deploy the .prf file by using one of the supported installation methods.

For additional information about how to deploy Outlook 2003, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

828377 Supported installation methods for deploying Office 2003

For additional information about how to deploy Microsoft Outlook 2002, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

308383 How to create an Administrative installation point for deploying a customized version of Office XP

For additional information about how to create a .prf file with CIW, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

308300 How to create a PRF file for configuring MAPI profiles during a customized Outlook 2002 installation

For additional information about how to import a .prf file from Outlook, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

296192 Additional command-line switches

Additional query words: OL2003

Keywords: kbhowto kbinfo KB836755

Microsoft KB Archive/836755

Contents

How to set the location of an archive .pst file in Outlook

INTRODUCTION

MORE INFORMATION

Method 1: Modify an existing .prf file

Method 2: Create your own .prf file