Hi,
I see that there are several questions similar (but not identical) to the one I have, so I have been advised to ask my question publically:

My surge protector did not do it's job. My power supply and mother board were cooked. I have a new computer on the way but I was wondering if I would be able to recover my Outlook files and structure (including contacts etc) by simply connecting my OLD drive to the new computer as a slave device simply copying the PST file?

Is there anything else I would have to do?

Thanks,
Ed


PS: The new computer will also be Windows XP and I will be installing Office 2000...

This post has been edited by Chief_Ed: Apr 24 2008, 02:07 PM

You'd have to import the PST file into Outlook, but apart from that it should all be transferred.

Even if the PST file was not the result of an EXPORT? The source system just died, so the state of the PST file is the way it was when I last logged out...

thanks in advance!

Even if you don't export it in the first instance, it should still import into the new Outlook on the new machine.
Strange thing about Outlook is that it refuses to do anything with a PST file unless you import it. You can't just dump a PST file in a folder somewhere and have Outlook pick it up and use it (which is the default behaviour for most other email clients) - you have to tell it about the new file otherwise it doesn't want to know.

This post has been edited by Neil Jones: Apr 25 2008, 05:19 AM

Thanks everyone!
This seems pretty straightforward...
(famous last words!)

This post has been edited by Chief_Ed: Apr 25 2008, 06:22 AM

Chief_Ed,

With all due respect to Neil Jones, who is quite knowledgeable about Office and many other things, I beg to differ. If for some reason it won't import, I have in the past been able to copy .pst files directly and have them work. When you set up Outlook on the new PC, it creates a profile and a .pst file. You can then delete or rename that file and copy your old .pst file into the same directory. When Outlook opens, it will automatically look for the .pst file in that location, and it will find the one that you copied. Importing is preferable, as I think it will pick up all your settings more successfully, but this way does work without losing your contacts, etc. If you have any archive.pst files, you'll have to copy or import them as well.

I see.
So I can either just drop the PST into the appropriate directory
or import it, with the import option being the preferred method.

Will this also maintain my filters and rules for handling incoming messages?

I did a little research on the 2000 version - I only have 2003 or 2007 now, and I haven't worked with 2000 in a while. I did find this link. See if that helps.

Thanks again!