Knowledge Base

OL98: (IMO) Managing a PST for Two Different Computers

Article ID: 181620

Article Last Modified on 1/10/2001

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Outlook 98 Standard Edition

This article was previously published under Q181620

NOTE: These procedures only apply if you have installed Outlook with the Internet Mail Only option. To determine your installation type, click About Microsoft Outlook on the Help menu. If you have the Internet Mail Only option installed, you see "Internet Mail Only".

For information about the differences between Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Outlook Express e-mail clients, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

257824 OL2000: Differences Between Outlook and Outlook Express

SUMMARY

Microsoft Outlook 98 does not provide for automatically synchronizing a Personal Folder file (.pst) between two different computers. This article suggests three workarounds.

MORE INFORMATION

There are three workarounds to synchronize a Personal Folder file (.pst) between two different computers.

Copy the Personal Folder (.pst) File

Copy only the Calendar, Contacts and Task Folders

Sharing Outlook items with Net Folders

Option 1: Copy the Personal Folder (.pst) File

You can use a Personal Folder (.pst) file and copy it from one computer to another. An issue with this technique is that a .pst file can become very large; it may be too large to copy to a diskette. In this event, you can use Windows Backup or another backup utility with the ability to write a file over multiple disks.

NOTE: When you can use the Briefcase utility included with Windows 95 to to synchronize the two computers, the .pst file is less than 1.44 megabytes (MB) in size. The Briefcase utility included with Windows 98 does not have this size limitation.

For more information on the Briefcase utility, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

142574 How to Install and Use Briefcase

130076 Briefcase Cannot Contain More Than 1.44 MB

Option 2: Copy only the Calendar, Contacts and Task Folders

A large .pst file is usually the result of e-mail stored in the Inbox Deleted Items and other mail store folders. You can share only your Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks, without sharing your mail folders by using the following procedure:

NOTE: These steps must be performed on both computers intended to share the .pst information.

Define a second .pst file.
1. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Personal Folders File (.pst)...
2. Type a unique name for the new .pst file such as, Shared.pst, and then click Open.
3. Type a display name for the Personal Folder, such as, Shared Folders and click OK.
4. Exit and Log Off Outlook.
Copy your existing Calendar, Contact, and Task items to the new folders.
1. Start Outlook.
2. Right-click your old Calendar folder, and then click Copy Calendar.
3. In the Copy Folder dialog box, click your Shared Folders and click OK.
4. Repeat steps b and c above for both your Contacts and Tasks folders.

You should now have Calendar, Contact, and Task folders in your new Shared Folders file.

IMPORTANT: Verify these new folders contain all the items in the old folders before you continue.

Remove the contents of your old Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks folders.
1. Click your old Calendar folder and in the Current View window, click Active Appointments.
2. On the Edit menu, click Select All.
3. Right-click the selected items and click Delete.
4. Click your old Contacts folder.
5. On the Edit menu, click Select All.
6. Right-click the selected items and click Delete.
7. Click your old Task folder.
8. On the Edit menu, click Select All.
9. Right-click the selected items and click Delete.

You should now have mail still being delivered to your original Personal Folder set while Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks are in your new Shared Folder set. This new Shared Folder set (Shared.pst) should be small enough to be conveniently copied to disk for transport between computers.

Option 3: Sharing Outlook items with Net Folders

You can use Net Folders to share Outlook 98 information with another computer that is running Outlook and connected using Internet mail. The Net Folders option does not allow you to share an entire .pst. You may, however, share and synchronize Contacts, Calendar, and Tasks between two computers connected using Net Folders.

For information on Using Net Folders, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

179509 OL98: How Do I Use Net Folders

REFERENCES

For more information on Exporting .pst files and Net Folders, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

182062 OL98: Working With Personal Folders

Keywords: kbhowto KB181620

Microsoft KB Archive/181620

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