Copying over files to a new computer is pretty easy with an external hard drive as the medium; however, copying over Outlook e-mail takes a few more steps.  Outlook contains a database file called .pst which includes your e-mails, contacts, and calendar.  By bringing over your main .pst files and secondary .pst’s (i.e. archives), you’ll be bringing over all of your e-mails, folders and subfolders.

Here’s how to perform the Outlook transfer:

1. Search for any Outlook folders by going to Start->Search and type: *.pst
2. Then, copy all .pst folders to an external hard drive, thumb drive, DVD, network drive, or other medium.
3. Connect your external drive or other medium to your new computer.
4. Copy and paste your .pst folders to your Documents (or My Documents for Windows XP) folder.
5. Open up Outlook and click: File->Import and Export>Import from another program or file->Personal Folder File (.pst). 
6. Browse to your your copied over .pst in your Documents folder (or My Documents for Windows XP) and select it. 
7. Finally, keep selecting the defaults until completed.

This process will import your existing .pst from your computer onto your new computer.  The best part about the import process is that if any corruptions existed in your previous Outlook folders or subfolders, they are usually resolved by taking on the fresh Outlook folder.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 at 10:33 pm and is filed under Tech Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.