Which of my two *.pst files is being used by Outlook? 1

[melburstein]

I am using Outlook 2002. I notice that there are two *.pst files: one named outlook.pst (468,816 KB) and one named outlook1.pst (248,847 KB). How do I determine which one is being used by Outlook? Both files have the same date and time and it is a current date and time.

 

[carrr]

You've got multiple profiles set up.

 

[melburstein]

So both outlook.pst and outlook1.pst are being used? Where do I go to see the two profiles that you say I have setup?

 

[carrr]

I should have asked you first...do you log in every time you start Outlook?

 

[smah]

One could be the normal in-use pst and the other could be the archive pst.

To find the current (in-use) pst file, right click on the Outlook Today button, Properties, Advanced button, path

To find the archive pst, right click on the Inbox button, Properties, Autoarchive tab.

 

[carrr]

Yup...there you are.
I think smah's probably got it.
I may have jumped ahead from the get go...

 

[melburstein]

Thank you Smah. Outlook.pst is the current(in-use). Archieve.pst is the archieve pst. It would seem that outlook1.pst is not being used, but why does it carry the same date and time as outlook.pst?

 

[caddnima]

Also check the date.... as soon as you open and close your oulook.

 

[pari22]

like Carrr said, you might have or had multiple profiles. Or it could simply be a copy of your old *.pst file.
Or, you could have multiple "PERSONAL FOLDERS" setup.
Check your Outlook and see if you see 2 "Personal Folders".

 

[melburstein]

Pari22, I thnk it likely that outlook1.pst is a copy of an old *.pst file since my hard disk was recently replaced and I rebuilt everything from backup files. I still wonder why Outlook updates the date and time on both outlook.pst and outlook1.pst. (By the way, I do not have more than one PERSONAL FOLDER).

 

[smah]

It may not be outlook. It wouldn't be very hard to create a scheduled batch file to just copy oulook.pst to outlook1.pst on a daily basis. This would be a pretty easy way to have a backup - just in case.

Check the file properties closely, including the time. Are the time's exactly the same and do they change every single time you access outlook?

 

[melburstein]

Smah, at one time the properties (except for size) were exactly the same. At this very moment the outlook1.pst is several hours behind outlook.pst. Now several hours ago, I used the Outlook Export function to create a copy of my Contacts folder. That file has the same date and time as the outlook1.pst file. I do not have any batch program on my system that copies outlook.pst to outlook.pst1. Not that I am aware.

 

[mscallisto]

I realize this doesn't pertain to the problem you describe and I'm sure you know this already but I'll say it anyway.

You can have and display multiple personal folders, maybe one for each customer for example.