Migrating your PST
files
PST files usually contain items from Outlook that you have archived. PST files are usually stored outside of your mailbox and because of this, they make your mailbox smaller.
Some users choose to store their PST files on their computers local storage space, but most commonly PST files are stored in your home directory and accessed by Outlook.
During this phase of the Email Archiving project, all .pst files associated with your mailbox will be absorbed into a new folder called My Old Mail and the archiving policy applied to that folder. The messages will be stubbed and the full version including their attachments stored in a compressed format in the central document store. The folder structure of the pst files will be retained created in a folder with the same name as the pst name in Outlook. The contents of the My Old Mail folder will be available to you both on and off campus.
1.0 PST Migrations
In time for this work, you will need to attach the .pst files that you want to have available to you in the future to your profile. You do this by:
• Opening outlook and going to File, Open, Outlook Data File
• Browse to the folder with the .pst file and open it
• It will be added to your folder list
• You can add as many as you need to
If you do not want your .pst's to be imported by the policy, you will need to disconnect them from Outlook. You do this by:
• right clicking on the .pst
• Selecting "Close personal folder" then move them to removable media
When the archiving policy is applied to your mailbox the process will not begin until you restart Outlook and will only apply to machines that have had the EAS client already installed which should be all desktop machines. Don't worry if you don't get chance to attach your pst's we can allow you to do this at a later date.
After you have restarted Outlook:
• your .pst's will move into the new My Old Mail Folder - while this happens, you may notice that your email seems to slow down a little and you may notice that all messages in this folder become stubbed.
• your My Old Mail folder will have the same structure of sub folders that you had before
• Once this has completed, you will not be able to create any new .pst folders in Outlook but you will be able to move messages into the My Old Mail folder and use it as you would have previously used pst's.
• You can confirm if the process has completed by checking if there are any email's etc left in your original pst file.
• The old left over pst files will be automatically removed in a couple of weeks and any unprocessed pst files will be moved to a central store.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to the original PST files so if there is a import failure is that data damaged in any way?
Once the data is moved to the mailbox the original pst is left attached to outlook, during this period outlook will defragment the file in the background. After 2 weeks we will run a process to disconnect the PST from the mailbox, once this is done we will move all PST files from local and network drives to a central store so if anything was left behind we can retrieve it.
Even after the import is this data intact?
All mail will be moved to the mailbox from the PST and then stubbed, nothing is being deleted, all data will be retrievable from the archive.
Do the users get a choice about which PST files to import?
Only PST files attached to outlook will be imported so if the PST is not attached to outlook it will not be imported. The ability to create or add new PST files will be removed. However if a PST's data needs to be imported after the process is completed this will be possible.
It will be policy at NTU that PST files are no longer used. This is to improve our ability to backup and restore email's and allow access to all email from anywhere via outlook.ntu.ac.uk
How many PST files can it import?
All of them!
The imported files do they still count towards the email quota for each person if so what happens if this fills their quota?
Quotas are being increased to accommodate the influx of mail, it is not expected that anyone will go over quota but if they do accommodations can be made and quotas increased as necessary.
Quotas are necessary still to stop issues with runaway mailboxes. Users should still carry out Email housekeeping deleting email that is not needed, the "My Old Mail" folder can be used as a filing system as PST's were.
What about all of the archive PST’s that people have that are not attached as standard will they be able to attach them to read them?
The PST restrictions will be applied by group policy so we can add and remove people to allow them to add PST files in if they need to during the process. All PST files left behind after the process is completed will be moved to a central location and we will import them into peoples mailboxes if requested.
In the case of shared mailboxes with PST files that individuals access with their own profile, if it is attached will the information not then be mixed with their personal mail?
The short answer to this is yes. Ideally we would ask people with shared PST files like this to have a resource mailbox and then the PST contents can be moved to this, we will up quotas as
necessary to accommodate this.
In the event that a shared PST is imported to a persons mailbox we can export the contents back to other users mailboxes or to a resource mailbox as necessary.
Can I move my mail once it’s been migrated?
Yes you can move it to any where you want in your mailbox, ideally we would like you to use the
“My Old Mail” folder as you would a PST as anything that is put in this folder or below it will be automatically archived no matter what size or age it is every night.
What will happen if my personal folder names are the same and what do you mean by personal folder names?
If the Personal folders files have the exact same names in outlook then the data will be merged into one folder under MY Old Mail. For example if you have two PST’s named “Personal Folders”
the data inside will be merged to one folder under My Old Mail. But if you have further subdivided them into folders called 2008 and 2009 then these separate folders will be retained.
• Before PST Migration, There are two PST folders with the same name. “Personal Folders”
Both contain sub folders.
• During PST migration a folder called “My Old Mail” is created. Under this is created folders with the names of the PST’s. In this case both are called “Personal Folders”
• Folders with the same name at the top level will be merged, for example Messages in
“Deleted Items” have been merged into one folder.
• Items in folders with different names are still kept in separate folders, for example “some stuff 1” and “some stuff 2”
• After migration the folder structure is left behind in the PST but the folders are empty.
Can I change the name of my Personal Folders?
Yes, please ensure you do this BEFORE migration begins as we are unable to unmerge folders once they have been migrated.
• By right clicking on the personal folder name and selecting ‘Properties for “Personal Folders”…’
• Click on the Advanced Button
• You can now change the personal folder name in the Name: field, then ok back to outlook.
• The Personal folder name will now have changed.
How can I check there is nothing left in the PST file after migration?
• By right clicking on the personal folder name and selecting ‘Properties for “Personal Folders”…’
• Click on Folder Size
• The folder Size should display all items as 0KB
If anything is left behind you can select and drag and drop the items to your mailbox.
