.pst files: how to determine duplicates

[thinthinker]

I have "old" Outlook 2003; I have old Dell XPS acquired back when OUTLOOK 2003 was "new"!
My problem:
I have multiple .pst files, each exceeding 2 gigs. I "know" I don't need them all. BUT....
how do I determine which .pst files are duplicates in the various "backup" "archive" "Outlook" etc. .pst files? And please: if the only answer is to "read" them in OUTLOOK, I don't want to know. I'm too old to spend that much time. Thanks for any insights, tips, you may have.
THINTHINKER

[jwitalka]

Unless you manually copied .pst files, none of them are duplicates. They are archive files that contain the oldest data at the time they were written. Once an archive .pst is written the data it contains is removed from the active .pst file. If you look at the modified dates on the .pst files with Windows Explorer, you can tell which file is the current one and the order in which the archive files were written.

Jerry

[thinthinker]

Jerry:
I really appreciate somebody who knows what they're doing giving me a hand--that's probably everybody on WS.
I'd done what you suggested and found:
Outlook Backup 2.11 G created 2008 to date
Outllook backup 2.24 G created 2008 to date
Archive 5.21 G created 2008 to date.
Is it likely that there is no "overlap" in these three files? I'm looking to rid my hard-drive of files that are resident in multiple locations and it just "seems" to me that one or more of these files is likely to "duplicate" all or part of the others. Is it possible that I am saving stuff in "back-up" that already has been archived? Thanks for any further insights you may have.
Thinthinker.

[jwitalka]

What program are you using to backup your Outlook files?
Assuming the first two files are backup files, they would contain all your Emails and Contacts among other things that were in your active .pst file (probably Outlook.pst) at the time they were written as indicated by the date and time shown in the Date Modified column of Windows Explorer. Anything modified afterwards will not be included.
The archive files will contain older data that is removed from your active .pst file. How old is dependent on your archive settings in outlook. In any event, it shouldn't duplicate anything in your active files or each other.

Jerry