Hi,

I exported the messages from Outlook Express to Outlook, then exported to a
..pst. Reformatted the laptop, now Outlook gives me a error when I try to
import the pst. The error is "the file is not a personal folders file.".
Anybody that can help I appreciate it.

Thanks,

Steve Katz wrote:
Hi,

I exported the messages from Outlook Express to Outlook, then
exported to a .pst. Reformatted the laptop, now Outlook gives me a
error when I try to import the pst. The error is "the file is not a
personal folders file.". Anybody that can help I appreciate it.

Thanks,

The step of exporting to a pst was redundant - unless you are on Exchange,
Outlook uses a pst file and the best way of backing it up is just to close
Outlook and make a copy of it.

I presume you are trying to "restore" a pst file from a CD? Copy the file to
your HDD (do NOT overwrite the existing pst file and remove any read-Only
attribute. Then in Outlook, go to File-Open-Outlook Data File and navigate
to where you copied it to.

HTH

Import/Export is not reccommended.
With OL closed simply copy the pst ('Export')
Presumably your pst is located on the hd and the read only flag is off?
In OL File/Open/Data File browse to the location ('Import')
If still err, try scanpst, the inbox repair tool

"Steve Katz" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I exported the messages from Outlook Express to Outlook, then exported to
a
.pst. Reformatted the laptop, now Outlook gives me a error when I try to
import the pst. The error is "the file is not a personal folders file.".
Anybody that can help I appreciate it.

Thanks,

DL wrote:

Import/Export is not reccommended.
With OL closed simply copy the pst ('Export')

True.

Presumably your pst is located on the hd and the read only flag is
off?

I don't believe that's the problem. If it were, he'd have received a "no
permission" message instead of the one he received.

If still err, try scanpst, the inbox repair tool

If Outlook says "not a personal folder file", scanpst will say the same.
--
Brian Tillman

Steve Katz wrote:

I exported the messages from Outlook Express to Outlook, then
exported to a .pst. Reformatted the laptop, now Outlook gives me a
error when I try to import the pst. The error is "the file is not a
personal folders file.". Anybody that can help I appreciate it.

You're probably out of luck. Whatever method you used to copy that PST
damaged it in such a way as to render it unusable. First, you should never
export to a PST. There's no need. Second you should never copy a PST that
Outlook can see while Outlook is still open. There may be a commercial tool
you can buy that may be able to repair that PST or recover some of the data,
but I don't hold out a lot of hope.
--
Brian Tillman

i guess so,

thanks anyways
"Brian Tillman" wrote in message
...
Steve Katz wrote:

I exported the messages from Outlook Express to Outlook, then
exported to a .pst. Reformatted the laptop, now Outlook gives me a
error when I try to import the pst. The error is "the file is not a
personal folders file.". Anybody that can help I appreciate it.

You're probably out of luck. Whatever method you used to copy that PST
damaged it in such a way as to render it unusable. First, you should
never export to a PST. There's no need. Second you should never copy a
PST that Outlook can see while Outlook is still open. There may be a
commercial tool you can buy that may be able to repair that PST or recover
some of the data, but I don't hold out a lot of hope.
--
Brian Tillman