All accurate and well stated. Only point 4 requires some clarification.
Opening an older (ANSI) PST file in Outlook 2003 will not modify it or
change it in any way. It will remain in the older ANSI format and so will
remain fully compatible with all Outlook versions. Only PST files newly
created in Outlook 2003 and higher will have the newer UNICODE format and
will thereby lose backwards compatibility with older versions. If you want
to use files that will retain backwards compatibity while in Outlook 2003
and higher, you always have the option to do so in the File New Outlook
Data File dialog. The export dialog does not give you that option, which is
one of the many reasons it should not be used.

Outlook's handling of PST files has grown worse with each version. It is now
a disgrace. No one has complained more loudly about it than the MVP's.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"TreeDoctor" wrote in message
...
I want to reiterate a few of the key points from above, based upon years of
frustration and difficulty in dealing with this issue, with the hope that
it
might be of some help to others:

As a background, the challenge of transferring data from one computer to
another has been plaguing me since the very first time I had a secretary
create some new Contacts for me (from business cards I collected), then
tried
to export them from hers, and import them into my existing contact list.
This was probably 6 or so years ago, back in 2001. I recall spending
hours
with the secretary trying to figure out how to do it, and ultimately
failing.

NOTHING should EVER be so absurdly difficult and confusing. I feel
nothing
but rage toward Microsoft for the cumulative days of my life that I have
wasted trying to figure out how to do this, continuing up until the
present.
Understanding Microsoft's ambiguously worded instructions and "prompts" is
difficult enough, not to mention software malfunctions that you will
almost
inevitably encounter.

In any case, it's taken me a while to learn the following:
1) The one GOOD, clear piece of advice Microsoft provides is that you
should
make a backup copy of your .pst file before you do anything else. What
they
fail to explain is WHY this is advisable, which would be something like:
"As it is very likely that you will corrupt or otherwise screw up your
.pst
file in your futile attempt to follow our confusing, ambiguously worded
instructions, you should definitely make a backup copy first, that you
will
be able to revert back to after you've messed up your original file. If
you
fail to do this, don't say we didn't warn you!"

2) Per advice above in this thread, avoid exporting and importing at all
cost. It will almost certain give you the wrong results... which could
be
anything from the data ending up in the wrong place, to corrupting your
.pst
file so that you are no longer able to do simple things like move email
from
one folder to another. Follow the advice above of working with multiple
.pst
files that you can have open simultaneously in Outlook. However... do
NOT use this technique to move ALL your stuff from one .pst file to
another.
Per advice above, and for reasons known only to some insidious computer
programmer somewhere, this will lead to failure.

3) Do not try to transfer your folders from your original .pst file to the
new one, or you are bound for disaster. Rather, designate your original
.pst
(i.e. the one that was copied from your old computer and (re-)opened in
your
new one) to receive incoming mail, per instructions above. After closing
Outllook, and reopening, you can then "Remove" your new .pst file, using
"File Management". At some point along the way, your original .pst will
automatically become your "Outlook Today" folder. (If there's another way
to
do this, Microsoft is keeping it a secret.)

4) An additional detail not referred to above is that if you try to open
OR
import a .pst file that was CREATED IN Outlook 2003 into Outlook 2002, you
may encounter compatibility problems. The reason I know this is that I
was
not able to move directly into my new computer (where I eventually
reinstalled Outlook 2002), but had to set up temporarily in a borrowed
computer which had Outlook 2003 installed. I was able to open my original
Outlook 2002 .pst file into Outlook 2003; Then, incredibly, I was able to
open this same file in my new installation of Outlook 2002, even though it
had been modified in Outlook 2003. However, I was NOT able to import a
new
.pst file that I had created in Outlook 2003. Not sure why.

I've progressed from being 75% confident I know how to do all this stuff
to
~90% confident. For the time being at least, it appears that I have
successfully reinstalled Outlook 2002 on m new computer, and can access
all
my original Contacts, Emails, and Calendar items. I'm probably tempting
fate
by saying this, but so far, so good... and with only 6-8 hours of
effort,
including many failures along the way.

Finally.... to the team at Microsoft who designed the user interface and
"Settings" for Outlook... I'd like to tell you what I think of you and
your
program (which I am FORCED to use, for reasons of compatibility with
co-workers)... but it would NEVER pass the scrutiny of whoever monitors
this
message board, so you'll just have to use your imagination.

Good night, and good luck.

"Brian Tillman" wrote:

Bob Newman wrote:

It seems to have worked fine with a minor (I assume) problem. The
import created a separate folder tree entitled Bob's Folders as it
was on the other computer. It contains all my created subfolders and
data. Above that is still the default Personal Folders tree (which I
no longer need). How do I get rid of that section?

Now click ToolsE-mail AccountsNext and change the "Deliver new messaeg
to
the following location" drop-down to point to "Bob's Folders". Stop and
restart Outlook. If the "Personal Folder" set is empty, right-click
"Personal Folders" and choose Close.
--
Brian Tillman
--
Brian Tillman