The December 2004 issue of OutlookPower Magazine featured a solution by Francine Otterson and the OutlookPower Answer Team addressing a question on how to move personal folders from one system to another. This month, in a Letter to the Editor, reader Andrew Konstantaras has a follow-up response to the Answer Team's solution...

Andrew's suggestions
Francine definitely got the right answer, but I think there's another aspect of the problem that deserves a mention. As Francine pointed out, for Outlook to open a PST as a message store available through the Outlook UI, it must have write access to the PST.

In most circumstances, when a user copies a file to a CD, they're usually using a CD-R and not a CD-RW, therefore, Windows automatically sets the access rights to all files as read-only. If the CD is finalized (which is very, very, very likely given the scenario mentioned in the initial question), the user won't be able to change the access rights to the file on the CD.

When they copy the file to the new hard drive, the access rights will be copied as well. That's when they have to click on the Properties option of the PST file (accessible by right-clicking on the file, or through the File menu in Windows Explorer). They can then clear the appropriate check box so the file is no longer read-only. Outlook can then use the file like any other PST.

I'd also like to use this opportunity to mention the value of providing unique names for PST files, especially when migrating machines. I've had more than one client think they lost all of their mail because they dropped their mailbox.pst file in the wrong directory, and Outlook just created a new (and empty) one for them. I also tell clients to consider changing the default location for mail files so it's more readily backed up.

I've found few people who believe c:\documents and settings\user\local settings\application data\microsoft\outlook to be an intuitive place to look for their mail files. This is made more confusing by the fact that the directory ...\user\local settings is set by default to be a hidden file, so it won't show up unless the user has tweaked their settings for Explorer.

To make matters worse, I've had users go to the misleading c:\documents and settings\user\application data\microsoft\outlook directory (which is NOT hidden by default) and report that their mail files are missing. When I'm setting up a new user, I create a directory off the root called c:\current mail, (provided it doesn't conflict with their local IT policies) which can easily be accessed through Explorer, making back-up much easier.

Finally, I suggest that users include their name and at least one other piece of unique information in their pst file names so they'll know where it comes from and what's in it. I also have the custom of adding the word "active" to the file name that receives new mail.

James Booth is Editor-at-Large at ZATZ Publishing. In addition to writing for Computing Unplugged and Connected Photographer, he's the author of Do-It-Yourself Wedding Photography. A self-taught photographer, James also dabbles in digital graphics and has learned to be a PC and handheld specialist through personal trial and error. James can be reached at jbooth@zatz.com.