First never create a PST file by exporting. There is a good chance you will
corrupt that file. Just copy the file using Windows Explorer.
Second, never copy Outlook files into the default directory. There is a
good chance you will overwrite other files and corrupt any existing profile.
Third, never import PST files. Just copy the files to some other location on
your hard drive. Remove their read only attribute. Then open the files in
Outlook: File Open Outlook Data File.

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"patrick" wrote in message
ups.com...
Dear Russ,

I have the following files. I will list them and give their history.
All of them are pst files:

archive; archive1, outlook, Outlookold, Personal Folders(1), Personal
Folders(2), pwe, pwemail.

All of these were copied to a cd from my harddrive after the bad
install of Win2k. I copied them all from the cd to Windows\local
settings\Microsoft\outlook etc.in my laptop. It is there where they
now reside. The origin of archive ones are obvious. The Personal
Folders were created when I loaded them to a disc so I could import
them into my desktop at work. pwe and pwemail were copied from my
network email files at work when I began to use my laptop at work. The
one labeled outlook is the one that outlook makes when it closes and
that is the one that contains the data for the last 30 days. I have
unchecked the read only box from all of them and have never been able
to view any of them using the open command. I have mail records dating
from September 20, 2006 to '04 and these were contained in the archive
files and loaded well into the outlook program.

Is this enough info? I followed the link provided by Millie and ran
the scan program and it says that the folder (outlook.pst) is fine.

What next?

Patrick


Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook] wrote:
Importing is never the correct way to transfer Outlook data.
You need to state clearly how you created and transferred these PST
files.
You need to provide more information. When you say you tried to open
these
PST files, "nothing" is not an accurate description of what happened.
State
what you tried and what happened.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"patrick" wrote in message
ups.com...
A windows 2000 install failed and I got an NTDLR message. I couldn't
get in so I copied the data files onto a CD. I reinstalled windows 98
and then imported the saved *.pst file into a newly installed outlook
2000. Everything came over except the last 3 months. Then I realized
that I had imported an archive file. When I tried to import other
*.pst files, none would come over except those labeled archive.pst. I
have tried everyting, like using the open command--nothing; I checked
each of the files and made sure the the read only box was unchecked. I
am flummoxed because when I go to import, the following happens, here
is the process: import\import from another program or file\personal
folder file\address to the *.pst file\select the folder to import
from--now here is the interesting point--the address that appears in
the the space is always Personal Folders in the outlook open window,
not the address I gave. When I click finish, I get the message that
tells me that I cannot import from the same file that the file is
destined for...Any ideas?

Patrick