For many corporate employees the Christmas season can be both a time of stress and joy as the push to complete projects on time goes into overdrive and employees look forward to year end Christmas bonuses. Likewise, the year end for many corporate computer users can be a source of both stress and cheer as end users learn about plans to upgrade their computers and laptops.

An upgrade can be as simple as adding more memory or as ambitious as replacing slower and less efficient computers. Or sometimes the upgrade is software. Whichever the case, end users and administrators will be facing many tasks, one of which will include migrations of data and software applications such as Microsoft Outlook.

For an administrator an email migration can involve different facets of email such as customizations of both graphical and non-graphical interfaces. Such customizations that will need to be migrated can include:  any personal folders files (.pst), shortcuts, toolbar or menu customizations, rules, nicknames, signatures, stationery, Personal Address Book, and custom categories.

One of the first things an administrator should do is a quick inventory of the email clients and versions that are currently in use on end users desktops and laptops. Ideally, an inventory will only involve confirmation of the last inventory performed and any noted changes since then. A quick visual inspection can be performed by clicking on the Help menu and then on the About Microsoft Outlook option. Some of the results can include: Internet Mail, Corporate or Workgroup.
Once an inventory has been completed you can begin your migrations.

Outlook program information is stored in a personals folders file and has the “.pst” file extention. Typical locations for “.pst” files are C:\Windows\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook. If your workplace environment is modeled on a virtual workplace then you may have more than one personals folder file on your corporate computers. If this is the case then there will be multiple locations that will need to be migrations and those locations can be found in the directory tree: C:\Windows\Profiles\User Name Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook.

Do not copy any offline folders (.ost) files if they are being used. New offline folders files will be created on your new computer when Outlook is installed.

If your end users are using any Outlook shortcuts then you will need to copy their Profile Name.fav files. The Profile Name.fav files can be found under C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook. And if there are multiple users on the same computer then their files can found under C:\Windows\Profiles\User Name\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook. Note that each Outlook profile will have its own respective “.fav” file (Profile Name.fav).

Menu or toolbar customizations can be found in and copied from the C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook directory. The file to be copied for each user is called the “Outcmd.dat” file. Again, if there is more than one user accessing this computer then the “Outcmd.dat” file will be located in the C:\Windows\Profiles\User Name\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook directory.

Any rules that need to be migrated can be copied from the “Profile Name.rwz” file. This file can be located in the C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook directory. If this is a multiple user computer then the directory structure will look like:  C:\Windows\Profiles\User Name\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook. Another file, Profile Name.rwz, will need to be copied when there are multiple profiles.

Along with rules and customizations that need to be copied there are also “nicknames”. Nicknames are more personalized names created by end users for known email addresses. Administrators can migrate the nicknames by copying over the “Profile Name.nick” file that can be found in the C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\ directory. If there are multiple users on the same computer then each user’s nickname file will in the C:\Windows\Profiles\User Name\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook directory. And if there is more than one Outlook profile then you’ll need to copy over the respective “.nick” files (Profile Name.nick) for each profile.

Any files with “.rtf”, “.htm”, “.html”, or “.txt” file name extensions that are located in the C:\Windows\Application\Data\Microsoft\Signatures directory will also need to be copied to the new computer. And if there is more than one user on the same computer then the C:\Windows\Profiles\User Name\Application Data\Microsoft\ directory will also need to be copied to the new computer.

Stationery is treated in the same manner. Copy all the files located in the C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Stationery directory. Multiple users on the same computer will have files in their respective C:\Windows\Profiles\User Name\Application Data\Microsoft\Stationery directories.

Of most importance are the users’ Personal Address Books. These are indicated by the “.pab” files in each user’s email profile. Locate their respective “.pab” files on the old system and then copy them over to the new system. Most often each user’s “.pab” file can be found in the C:\Windows\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook directory and is called “Mailbox.pab”.

Be on the lookout for multiple “.pab” files as each Outlook profile will also have a separate “.pab” file.

Performing Outlook Migrations

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