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Upgrading MS Office- how does it affect Outlook? (1 Viewer)

John Wilson

Supporting Actor
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Jul 6, 1999
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Hi.
I have been asked by my wife to upgrade her MS Office from 2000 to 2003. I understand that I have to uninstall 2000 before installing 2003. What I don't understand is what this upgrade will do to all of her settings in Outlook. She uses Outllok for her email as well as all of her contacts, etc. She also syncs this info with her Dell X5 PDA. This info is critical to her home-based business. :emoji_thumbsup: :)

My main question is: will uninstalling Office 2000 and installing Office 2003 screw up her settings, data, etc? Is there a "how-to" somewhere that covers this issue in detail?

Okay, 2 questions. :b Thanks for your help with this.
 

SethH

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2003
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On a personal note, one of the things I like best about Office 2003 is Outlook. That's where I noticed the most change, though I was only moving from Office XP (2002).

You'll want to save all of her data in .pst files. This is an option under File-->Export. I would recommend password protecting this file, as sometimes that makes it easier to use after a new install.

I'm pretty sure you'll have to export the emails into one .pst file and the contacts into another one, but you may be able to do them all into one.

When you've got the new install up and running, just go to File-->Import and import you .pst files.

**Note: make sure you save the .pst files to the desktop or MyDocs, or somewhere you can find them. By default they are saved to a buried Outlook folder that can be difficult to dig up and that you may delete during a new installation.
 

Kimmo Jaskari

Screenwriter
Joined
Feb 27, 2000
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1,528
I'm not at all certain you need to uninstall anything. Backup stuff first to PST's, then just blast 2003 over 2000. If things go well, it will convert everything nicely and she'll be good to go.

Careful about what you use when making the PST's too, there are two options - export and archive (I think it was archive... something like that anyway.)

One copies stuff out to PST files, the other moves it out. The latter can come as a bit of a shock (but if you have done that successfully, you can always recover from the PST file.)

Assuming she has mail sorting rules too you can export those separately by going to the rules editor and exporting there. PST of inbox (make sure to check the box for exporting subfolders!) and then the rules export and you should get the important stuff out to a backup. This is a good idea to do periodically anyway purely for backup purposes on a home install.

Microsoft has documentation on upgrades. A quick google got me this link, for instance:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/as...402771033.aspx

You want to peruse the "Upgrading from an Outlook 2000 IMO installation" section.

Upgrading an Outlook in an Exchange environment is pretty painless, comparatively speaking, as the content is in the Exchange server and not the client. That is not the case in a "home install" (IMO).

Here's a Google search that should give you some good links.
 

Brian.P

Grip
Joined
Oct 27, 2005
Messages
15
you shouldn't have to uninstall anything. Just put in the 2003 CD and go. All of your setting should be ok. I upgraded at work to Office 2003 and the little improvements made to Outlook are quite nice.
 

Paul Padilla

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jan 15, 2002
Messages
767
Backup, backup, backup!! You are backing up your data, aren't you? Not just the E-mail you're worried about here, but everything....eh? Are you? ;)

When you run the setup there will come a point when it refers to "removing" the old versions but you do not have to un-install Office 2K. All of the settings will be moved over to the new versions when this takes place.

As for Outlook, again the settings and data will be migrated to the new version, but the previous posters are right. Export (not archive) everything into a PST file and from the mail settings, export the mail account information. Just in case something doesn't go smoothly, you'll have your data. If you're using the personal address book (as opposed to full contacts) you will be prompted to convert the addresses into contacts.

FYI...just in case you're on a 9X machine, Outlook 2003 only runs on NT based OS's...NT...2000...XP, etc.

Good Luck....(And by the way...backup, backup, backup :D )
 

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