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

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Outlook 98

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

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. A problem 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: You can use the Briefcase utility to synchronize the two computers if the PST file is less than 1.44 megabytes (MB) in size.

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

Q142574 How to Install and Use Briefcase

Q130076 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.

1. 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 click Open.
3. Type a display name for the Personal Folder, such as, Shared Folders and click OK.
4. Exit and Log Off Outlook.

2. Copy your existing Calendar, Contact, and Task items to the new folders.
1. Start Outlook.
2. Right-click your old Calendar folder 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 continuing.

1. 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:

Q179509 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:

Q182062 OL98: Working With Personal Folders