I have created a bit of a problem: I work for several small co's and also
travel a lot and therefore use 4 different pc's or laptops using office
2000/2003 and 2007 - all thankfully are XP. When travelling I need to take
all my work with me (lots of Contacts in Outlook) and as they are scattered
about it is more than a mission to constantly update and export the data. I
am thinking it would be easier if I had a usb portable hard drive, how would
I ensure the Outlook contacts are saving on this drive - would I need to move
Outlook to the USB drive?

You would never use export and import to transfer Outlook data. The file you
need is your Personal Folders file (*.pst) It's where all the mail,
calendar, contacts etc are stored.

Take a look at these pages for info on Outlook data backup or transfer:
http://www.slipstick.com/config/backup.htm
http://www.howto-outlook.com/Howto/backupandrestore.htm
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/as...771141033.aspx

Note that some of the information on these pages is outdated and no longer
applies to Outlook 2003 or 2007. Specifically:
1. Ignore any advice to copy your PST file to Outlook's default location to
connect it to your profile. Doing so only corrupts your profile. Copy it
anywhere BUT the default location and open it within your Outlook profile.
2. Ignore any advice that tells you to use export or import to transfer
Outlook data. That has never been sound advice, but the process has become
too deeply flawed now to be of any use whatsoever.

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"lynn" wrote in message
news
I have created a bit of a problem: I work for several small co's and also
travel a lot and therefore use 4 different pc's or laptops using office
2000/2003 and 2007 - all thankfully are XP. When travelling I need to
take
all my work with me (lots of Contacts in Outlook) and as they are
scattered
about it is more than a mission to constantly update and export the data.
I
am thinking it would be easier if I had a usb portable hard drive, how
would
I ensure the Outlook contacts are saving on this drive - would I need to
move
Outlook to the USB drive?

Thanks Russ - I will see which is most helpful....

"Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

You would never use export and import to transfer Outlook data. The file you
need is your Personal Folders file (*.pst) It's where all the mail,
calendar, contacts etc are stored.

Take a look at these pages for info on Outlook data backup or transfer:
http://www.slipstick.com/config/backup.htm
http://www.howto-outlook.com/Howto/backupandrestore.htm
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/as...771141033.aspx

Note that some of the information on these pages is outdated and no longer
applies to Outlook 2003 or 2007. Specifically:
1. Ignore any advice to copy your PST file to Outlook's default location to
connect it to your profile. Doing so only corrupts your profile. Copy it
anywhere BUT the default location and open it within your Outlook profile.
2. Ignore any advice that tells you to use export or import to transfer
Outlook data. That has never been sound advice, but the process has become
too deeply flawed now to be of any use whatsoever.

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"lynn" wrote in message
news
I have created a bit of a problem: I work for several small co's and also
travel a lot and therefore use 4 different pc's or laptops using office
2000/2003 and 2007 - all thankfully are XP. When travelling I need to
take
all my work with me (lots of Contacts in Outlook) and as they are
scattered
about it is more than a mission to constantly update and export the data.
I
am thinking it would be easier if I had a usb portable hard drive, how
would
I ensure the Outlook contacts are saving on this drive - would I need to
move
Outlook to the USB drive?