Archiving E-Mail (Outlook 2000)

[Meradel Romain]

We are archiving to prevent mailbox overload. Our folders for archiving are .pst files and go above our network mailbox so they do not count against our mailbox limit. We set up the archive file default and then make a new file for any new archive files. We choose File, Open and Personal Folders File.pst. A list of the files comes up and we double click. Most of the files show up with Archive Folder, and a subfolder with the name of the archiving file and a deleted items folder. But--sometimes even though all variables are correct the actual name of the Archive Folder does not show up and it will not archive. When you look into the properties, the name of the folder is correct. I hope this is not too confusing. It actually looks like it might be a Microsoft bug. Has anyone else had this problem of a file refusing to archive. <img src=/S/hairout.gif border=0 alt=hairout width=31 height=23>

[Charity]

I'm not sure wether this answering your question but I had a problem with archiving recently that may be related. I have a user who was setting his archive up correctly but when he ran the archive it did nothing this was due to below:

Apparently the settings for archiving have no relationship to the sent/received time of the message the date for archiving is set by the last time the message was accessed. Thus if you set archiving to run on messages older than three months and then read a message that was sent to you six months ago it will not archive until another three months have passed without the message being accessed. I'm not aware of any way you can display the "message accessed last" date but there may be one. I also don't think you have to read the messages, you could just move them or print them etc... I hope this helps

[Meradel Romain]

Thank you Charity, however, my problem does not have to do with AutoArchiving itself, but rather with making the initial folder show. We are archiving to the Exchange folder above our mailboxes in Outlook. When I create a folder, most show up, but occasionally, one hangs back and does not show up. I thought it might be a Microsoft bug. Thank you for the information, however, because that is valuable.

[rsmith]

As an attorney with assignments that may turn into litigation, I use Outlook Email with a lot of folders in keeping track of "projects." Notes and phone calls that come into my office are made into a note and emailed to myself -- which dates and stamps it. When I email about a project to a third party, I use the bcc line to create a copy that goes in the folder. By looking back at the emails, I get a sense of what is happening without keeping major paper files.

I also keep extensive "task" notations and have need to retain the information for when I sent something to someone, which is a journal function.

The problem is archiving or, more accurately, backing up the email, task and journal Outlook functions. I need to keep emails that go back four or five years. In contemplation of a recent move to another state building, I "archived" folders when I probably should have backed them up. Then, due to different advice, I reimported the archived information twice (I know I know....).

Anyway, the long and short is that to backup all of the information in my email files would require 17 zip diskettes. 1.7 gig.

I am confident that there are many duplications in that 1.7 gigs. QUESTION: does anyone have any suggestions how to redo the back up of the information and eliminate the duplications? (I still have everything on my "C" drive and could start from scratch. However, our I.T. people are puzzled over how to do this. (I'm about the only one use Outlook in this fashion.). Any ideas?

[jscher2000]

First, I hope you are spreading that 1.7 gig among a number of .PST files. Once a .PST file hits 2 gigs, apparently it becomes a black hole from which data is irretrievable at any cost.

I keep mail in folders in several .PSTs (open all at once) and although I don't keep tasks or notes that way, I don't think there is any reason you could not do so. This keeps the file sizes more manageable and isn't much more complicated than keeping the folders all in one .PST file.

Multiple .PSTs still will become larger than any removable storage medium. Is there a place on the network that you could back them up (daily, using a batch job to copy them)? This is fastest and more robust than ZIP or floppy.

[rsmith]

I need more coaching than I have gotten.

1. How do you spread the 1.7 gb among multiple PST files?
2. How do you implement the concept in your second para?
3. I have an AS400 machine we can use for backing up Word and EXcell files. Our I.T. prefers local backup of Outlook files. I am considering a CD burner for backup rather than the zip drives. Would that work as an alterantive to network backup?

[rsmith]

Additional Q to my previous this date:
You indicate once a PST exceeds 2 gigs it becomes difficult to retrieve data. Is there a way to import the archived backup -- all 1.7 gigs -- and THEN export to excel file for editing (removing duplicates), reiimporting to the Outlook program, then rearchiving? Or would I have more fun shooting myself in the foot?

[jscher2000]

1. Create numerous .PST files using File, New, Personal Folders... and drag folders from the original .PST to the new one.

2. The new .PSTs should automatically attach themselves to your main profile so that they open together with your original .PST. If not, you can open them using File, Open, Personal Folders. When you need to move a message from the Inbox, Sent Messages, etc. to an archival folder, you drag it to the new folder in the separate .PST. (This will show in the tree view.)

3. All removable media is relatively slow. Maybe they will buy you a second hard drive? Not that expensive, low theft/breakage risk, fast and reliable.

[other post]

4. You should be able to delete the duplicates in Outlook. If they are mail messages, you can sort your current view by Date/Time Sent, and control-click each one to delete, then press Shift-Delete (this will kill them immediately without first moving them to the Deleted Items folder). If they are items that don't have such precise identifiers, you'll have to improvise. Exporting to Excel would be worse than a nightmare. (Also, I would have no idea how to avoid losing information.) Finally, 2GB is not a speed bump, it's total .PST death, so don't even get close.

[rsmith]

In reviewing the latest WOODY's I ran accross the article where Outlook files were made larger when the were rec'd and so I ran a test. I put a one sentence email to myself and put on the usual signature that I use. the size of that document was 1 kb. I sent it to myself. When it came into the INBOX it was the same message now registering as 3 kb. Since, in my work, I often send messages to third parties with a bcc to myself, is it possible that the actual number of messages is remaining the same but what is happening is the ballooning of the size of the Outlook file (currently 1.7 gigs) due to this unexplained size increase when sending an Outlook email?

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Ron Smith
Kansas Department of Commerce & Housing
rsmith@kansascommerce.com

[jscher2000]

I think that an extra 2K here and there is less significant than a few large attachments (the smallest Word2000 document is 19K), but this would depend on volume, I suppose.