Back to Useful Information Page

Ever want to set up a new computer and move your e-mail in Microsoft Outlook to the other computer or just back up the files? We here at Flow Dynamics are continually working with computers and are happy to share what we have learned. The conventional method for moving Microsoft Outlook information from one machine to the other is to transfer the files holding the data using a CD or USB thumb drive.

First, you need to find the data files for Outlook, which are tucked deep into the computer innards at addresses such as C:

\Documents and Settings
\Administrator
\Local Settings
\Application Data
\Microsoft
\Outlook
Outlook.pst “PST” is the format used for Outlook data.

A quick way to find them is to open Outlook, then click on File in the tool bar and select “Open” and then Outlook Data File (Outlook 2000 users can click Start, then Search t find *.pst files) This opens a box showing all the PST files on the computer and thus points to a way of retrieving them. To get the address of the folder, give the PST file a right-click and then look for the item called Location under General in tabbed menu that appears. Use the mouse to paint the words next to Location and then type Control+C to copy the long address into memory.

Now click on the Windows start button and select Run. Click the cursor in the box alongside Run, type Control+V and tap Enter. This will open the folder holding the PST files, making it possible to drag them into an external storage device. On the new machine, to find the best folder to output the PST’s in, backtrack the steps used to find those files and copy that location. Now just drag the PST files into that folder from the USB drive or CD where the copy is situated.

Windows will designate these PST files as read only files. To make them useable on the new machine, give each file a right click and remove the “read only” check mark. A much easier but a tad less exacting method is to simply use Windows’ drag and drop tool. Open Outlook and use the Maximize/Minimize box in the upper right corner to make the display small enough that the desktop is visible. Now open your contact list and click to highlight the first contact entry. Now tap Control+ A to select the rest. You can now use the mouse to drag copies of all the entries into a folder on the desktop or better still, onto a thumb drive connected to your USB port.

You can now open your email and use Control+A to select all the messages in the Inbox. These too, can be dragged and dropped for transfer. Once the contacts and e-mail messages are on the new computer, you can backtrack to drag and drop the information into the new outlook window.

This is just another way that Flow Dynamics and Automation helps you our customers with their problems and offers useful information to make your job easier.