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<TITLE>Re: [ale] Exporting M$ Express mail files (MacOS -> ???)</TITLE>
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<FONT FACE="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:14.0px'>The most common (I would suspect) is users hitting their mail quota and archiving to a PST on their personal machine. Another variant is copying all of their mail on the server to their personal computer. I did this so I could look up information in my email when disconnected from the company network. <BR>
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Outlook will archive and move stuff via their GUI. Most simple backup programs tout backing up the PST file specifically as it’s one of the more important files for the majority of people.<BR>
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When I went from a Windows Outlook mail solution to a Mac Entourage solution I just bit the bullet and bought a small $15 or so program to do the conversion as I had data other than mail to convert. Given the time it would have cost doing it manually I came out ahead big time. When I looked at manually scripting the PST formatted mail it was a nightmare. For just grepping stuff or looking for a simple conversion script, the PST format is rather convoluted to say the least.<BR>
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For those who might need to move mail from one system to another I would advise using a more “universal” format on any OS (Linux / Mac / Windows) and that does **not** include Outlook (well, some advocate an IMAP solution on MS’s mail server). Of course , Outlook Express is another beast entirely. And trying to fix the problems when the Outlook data files are corrupted is not something I want to repeat. For some problems there are no suitable solutions ... you are just another victim of MS and their proprietary formats.<BR>
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- Greg<BR>
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On 5/7/08 8:27 AM, "Jim Kinney" <jim.kinney@gmail.com> wrote:<BR>
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I am consistently surprised how many end-users actively manage their<BR>
PSTs. ie. Name them specifically. Move messages between them for<BR>
proper segregation. Move their PSTs on to corporate file servers.<BR>
Make backups. Burn them to DVD, etc.<BR>
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My impression is about 50% of users actively work with their PSTs.<BR>
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Do they move things around at the filesystem level or are they simply using the Outlook gui to create and name files and move messages between containers? I train all of my people to do just that and stop leaving everything in the stupid inbox! Filters and folders mean they can find their email.<BR>
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I can't see why anyone the computer status outside of sysadmin/guru would ever consider using filesystem tools to manipulate mail files (on any platform! Linux included!). The thought of anyone in the 90% of non-admin users (and a vast majority of admins as well) editing a PST file to extract a mail message and put it somewhere else is almost laughable.<BR>
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