Outlook data file not compatible.

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Burger - 14 Dec 2007 21:44 GMT

I put all of my emails on a .pst before replacing my hard drive. I have now
reinstalled Outlook and when I try to open the outlook data file, I get an
error messge "The .pst file is not compatible with this version of hte
Personal Folders information service. Contact your administrator." I do
not have an administrator as this is my home computer. Any ideas how to
restore my old emails?

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DL - 14 Dec 2007 22:33 GMT

What version of OL and how did you 'put the emails in a pst' and how are you
reconnecting that pst?

>I put all of my emails on a .pst before replacing my hard drive. I have
>now
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> not have an administrator as this is my home computer. Any ideas how to
> restore my old emails?

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Burger - 14 Dec 2007 23:20 GMT

Outlook 2002. I created a new PST file on a portable hard drive and put all
of my emails in it under different folders prior to changing out my hard
drive. I am trying to File/Open/Outlook Data File and then open it from the
portable hard drive. That is when I get the error message I deatialed
earlier.

> What version of OL and how did you 'put the emails in a pst' and how are you
> reconnecting that pst?
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> > not have an administrator as this is my home computer. Any ideas how to
> > restore my old emails?

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DL - 14 Dec 2007 23:26 GMT

So how did you 'put all' your emails in this new pst?

> Outlook 2002. I created a new PST file on a portable hard drive and put
> all
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>> > to
>> > restore my old emails?

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Burger - 14 Dec 2007 23:36 GMT

I created the pst and then did a right click on each message and did a move
to folder and chose the pst I had just created.

> So how did you 'put all' your emails in this new pst?
>
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
> >> > to
> >> > restore my old emails?

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DL - 14 Dec 2007 23:54 GMT

The msg you are giving is usually seen when you try to open a later, unicode
version of a pst, in an earlier version of OL (ie 2002)
Before you disconnected your external drive, you closed OL?
If you run scanpst.exe on the pst is anything reported?

>I created the pst and then did a right click on each message and did a move
> to folder and chose the pst I had just created.
[quoted text clipped - 32 lines]
>> >> > to
>> >> > restore my old emails?

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Burger - 15 Dec 2007 00:03 GMT

Yes I disconnected. I tried running a 2GB repair and scanpst and when I
opened that new.pst, it was empty. I did not see any errors.

> The msg you are giving is usually seen when you try to open a later, unicode
> version of a pst, in an earlier version of OL (ie 2002)
[quoted text clipped - 37 lines]
> >> >> > to
> >> >> > restore my old emails?

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DL - 15 Dec 2007 00:18 GMT

If you are able to open the origonal pst and it is empty, then something
went wrong in the copy process

> Yes I disconnected. I tried running a 2GB repair and scanpst and when I
> opened that new.pst, it was empty. I did not see any errors.
[quoted text clipped - 48 lines]
>> >> >> > to
>> >> >> > restore my old emails?

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Burger - 15 Dec 2007 00:26 GMT

I cannot open the original pst. I can only open the pst after it was
repaired by the 2gb something .exe and then the scanpst.exe.

> If you are able to open the origonal pst and it is empty, then something
> went wrong in the copy process
[quoted text clipped - 51 lines]
> >> >> >> > to
> >> >> >> > restore my old emails?

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DL - 15 Dec 2007 00:36 GMT

The 2gb process is used to truncate, remove data, to reduce the size of the
pst. It should not be used unless the pst is about 1.6gb or more.
Scanpst.exe is the repair tool and can be run on a pst if there is a problem
with it.
Run this tool on the origonal pst, or at least a copy of it (in explorer
copy the origonal pst to My Documents, run the tool on this)

>I cannot open the original pst. I can only open the pst after it was
> repaired by the 2gb something .exe and then the scanpst.exe.
[quoted text clipped - 63 lines]
>> >> >> >> > to
>> >> >> >> > restore my old emails?

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Brian Tillman - 17 Dec 2007 16:31 GMT

> I put all of my emails on a .pst before replacing my hard drive. I
> have now reinstalled Outlook and when I try to open the outlook data
> file, I get an error messge "The .pst file is not compatible with
> this version of hte Personal Folders information service. Contact
> your administrator." I do not have an administrator as this is my
> home computer. Any ideas how to restore my old emails?

It appears you were using Outlook 2003/207 when you created the PST and now
are trying to us it in Outlook 2002 or earler. You can't. Reinstall the
later version of Outlook and use it to create an Outlook 2002-compatible
PST.

Signature

Brian Tillman [MVP-Outlook]

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