Microsoft Office Outlook 2003

Personal Folders (.pst) Troubleshooting By Richard Troiano (RJTo@pge.com) How to create a Personal Folders File (.pst)
1) Open Microsoft Office Outlook 2003. a. If you dont have a shortcut on your desktop or in your quick launch bar, you can launch Outlook 2003 by going to the Start Menu > Core Applications > Microsoft Office > Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 2) Go to > . A window titled Outlook Data Files will open (See Example 1.1)

Example 1.1 Adding a Personal Folders file 3) Click on the button.

4) Choose the Office Outlook Personal Folders file (.pst) option and click (see Example 1.2)

Example 1.2 Choosing a .pst type 5) You will now be asked where you would like to store your Personal Folders file. The location of your Personal Folders file will depend on if you use a laptop or a desktop.

Instructions for users with laptop or notebook computers

1) Save your .pst to C:\Data\Mail\%username%.pst (See Example 1.3A) 2) Clients have an option to save to P:\Mail\%username%.pst (See Example 1.3B)

Example 1.3A Saving a Personal Folders (pst) file on a laptop or notebook

Instructions for users with desktop computers

1) Save your .pst to P:\Mail\%username%.pst (See Example 1.3B)

Example 1.3B

Saving a Personal Folders (pst) file on a desktop computer Replace %username% with the users first initial, full last name. For example, if your name were John Dough, your PST would be jdough.pst. In the example above, the Personal Folders file was named after the domain login. Some users will have multiple Personal Folders files. This may be due to recommended size limitations of a Personal Folders file, how you decide to organize

your email, etc. If you end up with more than one Personal Folders file, it is recommended you name the file in such a way that you can easily tell it apart from your other Personal Folders files (examples: NGC, Budget, etc.). When saving your Personal Folders, replace your name with the file name you would like: C:\Data\Mail\file name

After you are done naming your Personal Folders file, click the

button.

2) A window titled Create Microsoft Personal Folders will now open (See Example 1.6A or B). Change the highlighted Name: field to represent either 1.31 or 1.3b naming convention you chose in the previous step. Note the location shown right of the field. The directory in this field will differ depending on if you use a

desktop, and laptop users have either choice. After you are done naming your Personal Folders file, click the 3) You will now return to a window titled Outlook Data Files. Click the button. in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 You have successfully created a personal folders file button.

You will be able to see your personal folder you just created in the left Outlook window pane for All Mail Folders. You now can move email into folder, or create sub-folders by right clicking on personal folder name, select New Folder, enter a sub folder name and select enter.

Personal Folder Maintenance It is a good idea to check the size of your Personal Folders file in Outlook at least twice a month. Be sure your personal folders file is always less than 1 Gigabyte. If your Personal Folders file is greater than 1 Gigabyte, create a 2nd Personal Folders file to store mail in. Personal Folders that are over 1 Gigabyte in size will take much longer to retrieve from the server. You also greatly increase the chance of corruption (data loss) if you allow your Personal Folders file to grow past the maximum size of 1 Gigabyte. To check on the size of your Personal Folders file in Microsoft Outlook 2003, do the following:

Checking the size of your Personal Folder

1) In the left hand frame, find your

file and right click.

Now select

. 2) A window titled Personal Folders Properties will open. Now select

3) You should now see the total size of your Personal Folders file. (See Example 1.5) The maximum size for a personal folder is 1 Gigabyte (1,048,576 Kb or 1,024 MB). As previously stated, if a Personal Folders file becomes greater than 1 Gigabyte, there is a possibility that your personal folders file can become corrupted.

Example 1.5 Checking the size of your Personal Folders file