Can I add an existing .ost file to a mail account?

[tcarp]

First, I can't find the thread that was helping me with a hidden file problem
while trying to find a .pst file. The advice was great and solved the
problem.

What we're trying to do is move the email from an old laptop to a new one.
The old laptop is from an environment that had Exchange so the bulk of the
email is in an .ost file (the .pst contains no data).

The new laptop has never been part of an Exchange environment so the data is
in a .pst file.

One way to get the email moved over is, from inside Outlook on the old
laptop, copy folders from the .ost to the .pst. It's a bit tedious but it
seems to work. Once the .pst is ready it's simply a matter of copying the
file to the Local Settings area on the new laptop and telling Mail to include
it.

The question is: can we simply copy the original .ost file to the Local
Settings area on the new laptop and somehow tell Mail to include it? There
will be no reason to ever use the data in the .ost other than to read it.
Eventually the email will be deleted and sooner or later the old .pst file
can be removed and deleted.

When you add a file in Mail it wants to know whether its a .pst (or whatever
that old Outlook format was). So if you select .pst but select the .ost will
the data be included the next time Outlook is opened?

Sure would be faster....

Thanks

Tom

[Ronald Nissley]

"tcarp" wrote:

> The question is: can we simply copy the original .ost file to the Local
> Settings area on the new laptop and somehow tell Mail to include it?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. You would need to setup an Exchange-based
profile on the new notebook.
If you have access to the Exchange Server, you could try using Microsoft's
ExMerge utility to export mailboxes to Personal Folders Files (.pst).

ExMerge:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=429163ec-dcdf-47dc-96da-1c12d67327d5&DisplayLang=en

There are several third-party and generally expensive utilities available
that purport ability to convert .ost files to .pst format. I have not tried
any, so I won't make a recommendation. If interested, try this google search:

http://www.google.com/search?q=convert+ost+to+pst

HTH,

Ronald Nissley

[tcarp]

> Unfortunately, the answer is no. You would need to setup an Exchange-based
> profile on the new notebook.
> If you have access to the Exchange Server, you could try using Microsoft's

Thanks for the note. I kinda expected that after dabbling around in Outlook
and Mail.

I also did look at some of the conversion tools but they are way too
expensive for a one-time, small job. We'll just continue copying the folders
in the ost to folders in the pst and then move the pst when done.

Thanks again for the help.

Tom

[kjoerden]

On the old machine open outlook: file>import export>export to a pst>select
mailbox(what the ost shadows/caches)>select all sub folders>finish. copy this
pst to the new machine and attach/open in the new outlook. Good luck. ken

[tcarp]

"kjoerden" wrote:

> On the old machine open outlook: file>import export>export to a pst>select
> mailbox(what the ost shadows/caches)>select all sub folders>finish. copy this
> pst to the new machine and attach/open in the new outlook. Good luck. ken

Thanks

It looks like it will work fine.

Tom

[JNPT]

Surely No. Either you need to convert ost file to usable pst file which
could be directly imported in outlook or setup an exchange based profile.
To Convert ost to pst: http://www.convert-ost-pst.com/

[VanguardLH]

JNPT replies to an ancient thread:

> tcarp wrote back on 23-Feb-2007:
<snip - something dating back almost 3 years>

<snipped JNPT's reply since the thread is long dead>

The site-spamming boob returns who cannot look at datestamps BEFORE
replying.

[dwanes...@gmail.com]

For OST to PST Conversion Problem you have two option, First one isthe Manual method and another one is the Professional method. Of course,the manual method is free of cost you just need to use the Export OST file to new PST file or Move the Item to New PST file. This seems easy but sometimes these method doesn't give a successful result. For better output, I would suggest you should download the OST to PST Converter OST to PST Converter from the Internet.This tool can recover the encrypted emails and repair your corrupted OST file too, This tool has multiple saving options like-PST, MSG, DBX, EML, MBOX, and Archive. for more details http://www.datavare.com/software/ost-to-pst-converter-expert.html

[manojk...@gmail.com]

Being an Outlook user, I would like to suggest a smart and intelligent software that can save you from the situation when your Outlook mailbox gets corrupted. All the folders like emails, contacts, calendar, journal, task, drafts, notes, and attachments etc. become inaccessible. To overcome this situation, you can use OST file exporter Visit http://www.osttopstapp.com/

[Julie Joseph]

Get perfect OST to PST file exporter program to know how to recover OST data mailbox and export OST file to PST file instantly. Program of OST file to PST file exporter easy to import oST file to PST, Office 365, Zimbra, MBOX, EML, EMLX, MSG, VCF, ICS & HTML File.

More Info :- https://www.jsltools.com/ost-to-pst-converter.html

[glenn maxwell]

With the help of this OST to PST converter software, you can safely remove any errors of OST and convert OST emails to PST outlook with its contact, calendar, task, journal, etc. This tool will convert OST files to the following formats like PST, EML, MSG, MBOX, etc. Try the demo version to convert few items from each file without spending any money to learn more about the product conversion process. You can download this software from here:-https://www.sametools.com/convert/ost/