Outlook troubles yet again. OST files?!?

[d3v]

Hi guys a business client that I've been working for the past two years has just tasked me to upgrade his core i5 laptop to as SSD which has been simple and easy for me to do and the performance increase is absolutely phenomenal however I've hit a bit of a wall when it comes to migrating his Outlook 2013 emails.

He has two OST files in his appdata/local/microsot/outlook and one PST archive file in this MyDocuments/Outlook folder. All three are loaded in his single business IMAP email account.

At first I tried simply re-creating his account then dragging dropping the OST files in the correct folders, but unlike with PST files, this did not work!

I tried following the microsoft help pages regarding this matter but didn't find them helpful other than making me aware that OST files are completely different to PST!

 

[hmig89]

Hi,

You may have to spend some money on a tool to convert the OST to a PST open the PST in outlook and then drag n drop back to his inbox.

I've got a tool which was not too expensive but I'm on my ipad at the moment, but should be able to give you the name of the tool later, if not google is your friend.

 

[anti]

OST is for exchange, but since it's IMAP why do you have to transfer anything?

It will automatically sync up.

 

[seedubya]

Why does he have OST files at all if he's using IMAP? Offline Store files are only generated by Outlook when it is connected to a Microsoft Exchange Server. Are the OST files older by any chance? Did he use an Exchange account in the past?

 

[glricht]

He has two OST files in his appdata/local/microsot/outlook and one PST archive file in this MyDocuments/Outlook folder. All three are loaded in his single business IMAP email account.

Something's not right here. OST files are used with Exchange, not an IMAP account.

Either he has:
1) two email addresses, one using Exchange and one using IMAP; or
2) he uses IMAP and the OST files are from a old Exchange account that's no longer in use.

 

[d3v]

Not sure to be honest. Yes it is syncing without having to import the OST however none of his contacts are being retrieved, I guess they are stored in the OST? What tool do I need to convert OST to PST?

 

[anti]

Make sure he's not confused between Contacts and NK2 auto complete lists.

 

[d3v]

Ok thanks for the tip. Going to swap back to his HDD and sort the outlook files up for transferring. Any ideas what i should be doing, lol?

 

[doubleohalex]

If you do end up needing to convert to PST, Stellar Phoenix's OST to PST conversion tool works really well.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Make sure he's not confused between Contacts and NK2 auto complete lists.

I bet 100 Quatloos that this is what is going on.

 

[Markverhyden]

Not sure to be honest. Yes it is syncing without having to import the OST however none of his contacts are being retrieved, I guess they are stored in the OST? What tool do I need to convert OST to PST?

Instead of using two data files, one for IMAP email and one for your calendar and contacts, Outlook 2013 uses an .ost file for IMAP accounts and stores appointments, tasks, contacts, and notes in the IMAP data file, in folders labeled "(This computer only)".

From - http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/2013/imap-accounts-outlook-2013/

 

[seedubya]

Great info Mark.

 

[d3v]

Hi guys I sorted it out, I didn't have to import any OST files as it was IMAP I simply had to export the contacts folder to a PST then import it in to the new PST and now it's working great.

 

[pceinc]

I bet 100 Quatloos that this is what is going on.

Yup. Get this all the time. I wish I had a quarter for each time I've had to explain this feature is not a contact list in Outlook.