How to import from Outlook Express to Outlook?

In my previous posts, I have discussed few flaws of Outlook Express that makes MS Outlook comparatively a better choice. There might be many cases in which you would like to migrate from Outlook Express to Outlook. If you are a home user Outlook Express is okay for you. But there can be some scenarios in which you have to switch to Outlook.
Such as, if you have changed your Operating system from Windows XP to Windows 7. Then, you need to change your Email client from Outlook Express to Outlook as Windows 7 doesn’t ship Outlook Express. So, in that case you need to get all your Outlook Express mails to Outlook.

Let’s consider a similar case, if you have Outlook Express installed on your old machine and MS Outlook on the new one. If you want to access your Outlook Express mails from old machine to MS Outlook machine on new machine then, how can you do this?...
I am describing this case in my article.

How to Import Outlook Express to MS Outlook?       
If you want to switch from Outlook Express to MS Outlook and need to access your Outlook Express files to MS Outlook. How can you access those mails in Outlook as there is no direct import option by which Outlook can access your Outlook Express.

Follow the given steps:

1. Firstly, install Outlook on your previous/old machine.
2. Open your Outlook Express application on the old machine
3. Use the Export command to get your Outlook Express messages into Outlook. In this way your outlook express mails are being accessed in MS Outlook.
4. Now, Backup the PST file that has been created in Outlook.
5. This Backup file can be now restored on the new machine.

The above steps easily let you import your Outlook Express data  to MS Outlook however, if you find these steps cucumber some, you can use some  proficient DBX to PST conversion tool. There are a number of DBX to PST converter tools available in market. These tools help you perform a hassle free DBX to PST conversion in few clicks and thus, provide an easy way to access your Outlook Express mails in Outlook.

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Export Lotus Notes Mail Files to Outlook

Lotus notes is a proprietary of IBM, in my previous articles, I have discussed in brief about Lotus notes and its file format. Lotus Notes supports NSF file format.MS Outlook is a popular Email Client developed by Microsoft, it comes with Microsoft Office suite.The file format supported by Outlook is PST.

Consider a situation that you want to access your Lotus Notes Mails in Outlook. Both Email clients’ i.e. Lotus Notes and Outlook support different file formats. In such situation you need to export your Lotus Notes Mail Files to Outlook.

This can be done in two steps:   
1. Export Lotus Notes Mail Files.
2. Then, import the exported mail file in Outlook.

The step by step process is described below:

1. Export Lotus Notes Mail Files
1. Open Lotus Notes Application.
2. Click the "Mail" tab
3. Go to “File" option from the menu bar.
4. Then, Click "Export" option to start the "Export" wizard.
After the "Export" wizard starts, you will get several options to choose the format for the exported file from Lotus Notes.
5. Choose "Tabular Text" or "Structured Text;" Both of these formats are supported by Outlook
6. Click “Continue” to go through the export process.
7. Click "Export" to end the wizard and export the mail file.

 2. Import the exported mail file in Outlook.
1. Open Microsoft Outlook application.
2.Go to “File" menu then, click "Import and Export option.
3.Click "Next" after the "Import and Export" wizard gets opened.
4.Choose the format you chose to export the file as. Either Choose "Comma Separated Values (Windows)" or "Tab Separated Values (Windows)"
5.Click "Next."
6.Continue through the "Export" wizard, Select and Browse the file exported from Lotus Notes.
7.Click "Finish".

This will end the "Import and Export" wizard and the Lotus Notes file will get imported into Outlook. If you want to avoid long sequence of steps then you can convert your Lotus Notes files to importable Microsoft Outlook files using a NSF to PST converter software. These tools let you perform selective conversion of the Lotus Notes mailbox items; Some Conversion software also let you save your NSF file into MSG or EML format.

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Export Windows Live Mail Files to Outlook PST

In my previous article “migration from Windows Live Mail to MS Outlook” I have discussed some robust and advanced features factors that make Outlook a better choice as compared to Windows Live Mail. Windows Live Mail possess a limited set of features that makes it suitable for home users but if you are a professional then, you need an Email Client with wider set of functionalities. If you are a Windows Live Mail user and want to avail the robust feature set of MS Outlook, you can migrate from Windows Live Mail to MS Outlook.

How to access Windows Live Mail Files in Outlook?  

Windows Live Mail and MS Outlook both Email Clients are Microsoft application. Outlook supports PST file format and Windows Live Mail supports EML file format. So, if you want to access Windows Live Mail Files in Outlook, you need to convert the EML file to PST file format.

Steps to export the Windows Live Mail files to MS Outlook:

1.Open Windows Live Mail.

2.Go to File -> Export -> Email messages.

3.Select ‘Microsoft Exchange’ in the format tab.

4.Click Next.

After clicking next a new message screen will appear saying “all the emails will be exported to Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft Exchange.”

5.Click Ok

6.If you want to export only selective email folders then, go to ‘Select folders’ option to make the desired selections.

7.Click Ok.

8.Click ‘Finish’ when the Export gets completed.

These steps effectively helpful to convert your EML file to PST file. But, sometimes it may lead to an errors and data loss while converting EML file to PST file. If you are a naive user then, its better to use some EML file to PST file conversion utility that provides you a lot of ingenious features. These tools provide a comprehensive and interactive user interface as well as a set of options such as selective conversion that makes the conversion process easy to handle.

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How to fix Error: "Database is corrupt; cannot allocate space"

I have been working with Lotus Notes from last 4 months. It’s an indigenous application by developed by IBM Software and Systems Group; it’s suitable for business users as a personal information manager as well as a multi-featured e-mail client.

Yesterday, I upgraded my Domino server from a prior Domino release. But after the server upgrade, I was unable to access my mail file on the server, each time, I was trying to access my mail file the following error message was displayed.

"Database is corrupt; cannot allocate space".

The error troubled me as I didn’t know what to do in such situation.
After a diminutive online search, I was able to find the solution for my problem.

Error:
“Database is corrupt; cannot allocate space”.

Symptoms:
If you are facing the above problem then, the Lotus Notes application will not be able to read your NSF file. This is a clear indication that your NSF file has become corrupted or got damaged.

Cause:
This error indicates the NSF file (Lotus Notes Database File) corruption. There can be several reasons for the corruption of NSF file such as: System Failure, Unexpected System shutdown, Virus Attack etc.
It may also happen due to up gradation of the Domino Server.

Solution:
You just have to “restore the Files from Backup” to resolve it easily. But it is possible only if you have backup copy with you. So, What If you there is no backup?

In such situation below steps can be helpful:

• Run  Fixup command line tool(fixup -f )
• Load fixup -i mail\xxx.nsf
• Fixup command line tool checks all documents in the database.
• Run Compact command line tool(compact -i -c -d -K)
• Load compact -c -i mail\xxx.nsf

Compact command line tool is used to set large UNK table, it ignores errors, copy-style and delete view indexes while creating the UNK table.

• Run Updall command line tool(updall -R)
• Create copy of your Lotus Notes Database
• Access your files on another machine.

If you are still unable to restore your data then you can try Lotus Notes Recovery Software.  These tools possess advanced features and proficient algorithms that can help you to recover from critical corruption situations.“Stellar Phoenix Lotus Notes Recovery Software” is great software to restore your valuable data.

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Zarafa v/s Microsoft Exchange

In this article, I am going to compare the basic features of Zarafa and Microsoft Exchange server.
Zarafa is an open source groupware application developed by Connectux (or Zarafa). It’s a groupware platform that can be used for various purposes such as email, calendaring, collaboration and tasks. Microsoft Exchange Server is developed by Microsoft. It’s a server side collaborative application that is used for electronic mail, calendaring, contacts and tasks etc. Both, Zarafa and Microsoft Exchange server are similar in many aspects.

I have spotted some similarities and differences on the basis of feature comparison between Zarafa and Microsoft Exchange server.

Comparison on basis of client side features:
Similarities:
•Both support Outlook sharing features for versions 2000-2010.
•Both support Outlook caching mode. 'Offline Public Folders' are not supported by Zarafa
•Both support resource booking feature through Outlook and web client.
•Both support Categories for contacts and  tasks
•Both support integration feature with the BlackBerry Enterprise Server.
•Both support Smartphones including iPhone, Android and Nokia etc.

Differences:
•Both support MS Outlook.
Exchange (except Exchange 2010) supports Mac Outlook2011 through Webdav but Zarafa supports Mac Outlook only through IMAP and POP thus, the access to calendar information is limited in case of Zarafa.
•Exchange supports an integrated conversation view but it’s not supported by Zarafa .Thus, while using Exchange you can view the information form inbox, sent items, deleted items and all other folders that is not possible in case of Zarafa.
• Zarafa doesn’t support Unified messaging feature to Access to voicemail messages but it’s possible in case of Exchange.

Comparison on basis of Web Client specific features:
Similarities:
•Both products have some common features such as Drag & drop of items, Right Mouse click, calendars, Multi-user calendar, Keyboard shortcuts etc.

Differences:
•Exchange provides limited data sharing as compared to Zarafa. With Exchange it is not easy to open shared folders through the web client.
•Advanced Find feature is not supported by Exchange but Zarafa web client does.
•Today view is  available with Zarafa in the web but its missing in case of Exchange
• Exchange provides a limited Delegation wizard functionality as compared to Zarafa.

Comparison on basis of Architectural features:
•Zarafa is used for Linux OS and Exchange is built for Windows
•Mail storing functionality is limited in case of Exchange and some additional backup tools (such as Veritas) are required for this purpose but Zarafa possess a default backup tool to handle the Mail storing functionality
•Antivirus Scanning costs more if you are Exchange user as it requires an exchange plug-in a long with antivirus software. In Case of Zarafa you can use all default Linux virus scanners on MTA level.
•Zarafa provides unlimited database size but Exchange gives a database Size limit that vary from version to version.
•There is no direct option in Exchange to import pst files it needs to use Exmerge  but if you are using Zarafa, you can migrate  directly from Exchange and import or export pst files.
•Exchange 2007 and later version supports only 64bits servers but Zarafa supports both   32 bits servers as well as 64bits servers.
•Exchange Enterprise edition offers integrated archiving but Zarafa (Zarafa Professional and Enterprise edition) offers modular archiving.
•Exchange offers limited Indexing and searching. Zarafa enhances this functionality with the use Lucene. Zarafa index all data including the public folders that is not possible in Exchange .
•Exchange lets you search in other people’s mailboxes, in Zarafa you can also search in public folders.

Comparison on basis of Administrative aspects:
•Exchange provides limited user management  as compared to Zarafa
◦In case of Exchange it is done with the help of Active Directory.
◦Zarafa provides flexible user management by integration with Active Directory, e-directory, openLDAP and other.
•Web based administration is possible in both cases. Exchange supports the feature by its 'Exchange Control Panel' and Zarafa posses an LDAP-based tool (Z-admin tool) for the administration purpose.

Comparison on basis of policy and model related aspects:
•Exchange provides limited ‘Open standards compatibility’ as compared to Zarafa, though both supports Multiple browsers.
•Microsoft directly offers Exchange; you can get Zarafa through various partners that host it.

I hope this article is going to be helpful for those who are searching for the feature set, similarities and dis-similarities between the two servers i.e. Zarafa and Microsoft Exchange. Please do share if you have some more worthy comparative points between the two. Your comments are welcome.

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How to Back up Outlook 2011 for Mac?

Emailing for Mac users has been made easier and relished as the Outlook 2011 for Mac has been released. Being a Mac user, I was using apple mail as my email client from a long time now; I have switched to Mac outlook 2011. Its multifarious set of features that makes is suitable as an Email client as well as a personal information manager. To avoid the fear of loosing my important mail data in any data loss situation, I usually prefer to backup my Mac Outlook Data.

Generally, you need to backup Mac Outlook Data in two situations:

• Either you need to create a local file archive of your Outlook 2011, so that the data can be restored if the database gets corrupted or the Mac outlook doesn’t function properly.
• Or you need to transfer your mail data form one Mac Systems to another Mac Systems. You can choose to transfer either all Mac outlook data or only selected individual items based upon your requirement.

Mac Outlook 2011 Backup File:

The format for Mac outlook 2011 backup file is OLM.

An OLM file contains the archive for Mac Outlook Data such as e-mail messages, contacts, calendar events and other related information.

Ways to backup Mac Outlook Data:

There are different ways to backup your Outlook 2011 for Mac data:

1. Backup using Export Feature
2. Backup using drag and drop
3. Quick backup

1. Backup using Export Feature:

This backup method is generally used in the case if you want to backup all your data into a single file, the possible situation might be if you want to transfer to another Mac Systems. The folder hierarchy remains intact in the back up file.

Steps:
1.Go to File >Export option.

2.Go to "Outlook for Mac Data File (.olm)" option.

3.If you want to save all items, then check all of them.

4.Go to "No, do not delete items" option. 

5. “Archive.olm” is the default archive file name for Mac Outlook.

You may choose to save the backup file by default file name or rename it using the “save as” option.  

6.Now, you have got the backup file which can be copied to any desired location wherever, you want.

2. Backup using drag and drop: This method is generally used in the case if some particular mail folder is more important and you want to create a copy of it.

Steps:

1. Go to Mac folder list.
2. Drag the messages of a particular folder on the Mac's desktop.
3. Use finder to create a folder of the same name as of the selected folder.
4. Go to folder list and Select the desired folder in Mac Outlook.
5. Select the messages that are to be copied and then drag them to the desktop to create a copy.

3. Quick backup: If you want to have a quick backup all your Outlook 2011 for Mac then, simply

Drag "Microsoft User Data" folder from the "Documents" folder to an external drive, it will get copied itself.

Which Backup method is to be chosen when?

The use of Finder in the drag and drop method sometimes, makes it cumbersome for the user to organize the messages. And involves extra headache for user to create folders with the same name so, I usually backup my Mac Outlook Data using Export Feature; it’s the best way to backup your Mac Data. With the help of this backup method you can easily backup your desired folders or mail data.  However, if you want to backup all your Outlook 2011 for Mac then, quick backup method suits you best.

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What is the need for PST File Compaction?

As you know, PST file stores Outlook data such as email, contacts, calendar, attachments files, folders, posts, appointments, meeting requests, distribution lists, task requests, journals, notes etc. Increasing PST file size may degrade your outlook performance. It slows down your system as well Outlook application. It might cause troubles while sending and receiving mails. It may also lead to PST file corruption.

Sometimes, you delete unnecessary mails from your mailbox to reduce the number of items in your mailbox. The deleted mails go to the Deleted Items folder. You can recover the item from the  Deleted Items folder, so you can easily make a sense that it still exist in your PST File and occupies space otherwise , how could it be recovered. Well you are thinking the same, you are absolutely right.

But have you ever thought, “What if you delete the item permanently from the trash. Where does it go, what happens to the space that it allocated on your drive?”
The answer is that they get disappear from the trash but they still exist in your PST file and occupies space as well.

Thus space is getting wasted in the background and is unavailable for other uses. Thus, your .pst files size will get increased over time, even if you see fewer items in the Outlook.

After deleting the items from the Deleted Items folder you need to shrink the PST file size.
To eliminate deleted item space and recover room on your hard disk. I would like to suggest that you can compact PST files once or twice in a year. To conserve space on your hard disk, you can delete unwanted items from the various .pst and .ost files, and then compact the files to make them smaller.

To be compacted, a .pst or .ost file must meet the following requirements:

• The file must be 16 KB or larger.
• The file must have at least 16 KB of free space since the last time that you compact it.

You can start the Outlook file compaction manually, or run it automatically in the background.

The compacting process does not remove all the free space from the file. It leaves either 16 kilobytes (KB) or 4 percent (%) of the file size (before compacting) whichever is greater.

In this article, I have discussed the need for PST File compaction. In my next post, I will discuss the detailed steps that will let you know how to compact the PST file manually.

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Is your Entourage Database Inaccessible?

Microsoft Entourage was developed by Microsoft; it is used as an e-mail client and personal information manager for Mac OS 8.5 and higher versions.

Entourage database:

• Identity folder stores all user accounts information each user account has separate Identity folder.
• The backup file of Microsoft Entourage database is stored in RGE format. The Entourage backup file is also known as Entourage Archive File.

Maximum Size limit for Entourage database:
Entourage database size ranges from 2GB to 12GB.
However, the recommended maximum size limit is 4GB.

Reasons for Entourage database corruption:

• The mailbox size was too larger than 4 GB.
• Virus Infection
• Application Malfunction
• Improper System Shutdown
• Database Header Corruption
• Entourage Identity Corruption
• Database Structure Corruption
• Due to accidental deletion of files.
• Due to damaged header.
• Due to corruption in different file headers.
• Due to incorrect installation of the application.
• Due to corruption in any entourage files.

Errors messages indicating Entourage database corruption:

• Entourage fails to launch
• Can’t send via entourage, action could not be completed. An unknown error occurred
• Framework errors
• An error occurred while rebuilding the database – in cases database is damaged severely to be rebuild
• Network settings changed by another program- supposed due to a apple security update, yet not established
• Entourage cannot connect to the exchange public folders server. Please verify that the public folder settings are correct.
• Error when trying to send from remote location: None of the authentication methods are recognized
• “Mails could not be received at this time” “logon failure: unknown user name or bad password” with email account connected to exchange server.
• Bad recipient address syntax 5.1.3 – associates when sending group of contacts, usually syntax error for one or more malformed messages
• “Entourage cannot read the data in this .rge file”

What if Entourage Database gets corrupt or damaged?
If the Entourage database gets corrupt then entire database becomes inaccessible.
If you have Backup of the Entourage database then, you can easily restore the data through backup.
But if you don’t have Entourage database backup then you need to Microsoft Database Utility to rebuild your identity database.

Types of Rebuilds:

• Typical Rebuilds: This type of rebuild solves minor problems only such as incorrect sorting. It also helps you to reduce the database size by compressing it.
• Advanced Rebuilds: An Advanced Rebuild clears server (IMAP, Exchange and news) caches; If typical rebuilt cannot solve your problem then, try Advanced Rebuild for solving more serious problems.

Sometimes, it might be possible that Entity Rebuild don’t work well to solve your problem in that case you need some Entourage recovery software to recover your corrupted Entourage database.

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Benefits of Migration from Apple mail to Outlook 2011

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From a long time, I was using Apple Mail 5 with my Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion". I was planning from a long time to switch to some other Email client, I was happy to find that Mac Outlook 2011 has been launched.

Now I have switched to Outlook 2011 and really I have found the experience worth sharing.

I am enjoying the set of features given by Outlook 2011; it is jam-packed with a lot of interesting features and customizations. It has really made my Emailing experience joy able. As, I was previously using Apple mail, I found Outlook 2011 far much better than Apple mail in many areas.

I am sharing some of distinctive aspects that bounded me to use Outlook 2011:

• It offers increased E-mail sending speed.
• It offers integrated support for various applications such as E-mail, Calendar, Contacts, Tasks and Notes. It also offers various keyboard shortcuts to switch between these utilities
  • E-mail: ⌘+1
  • Calendar: ⌘+2
  • Contacts: ⌘+3
  • Tasks: ⌘+4
  • Notes: ⌘+5
• It offers a better and advanced search to locate your message as compared to Apple mail even, you can also write your own raw query
• It offers better grouping of Conversations. You can easily find the original message along with all associated replies, besides these you can find the other relevant data too, such as the last person to reply.

• The features that made my user experience awesome with outlook 2011 are the adjustable reading pane, better Meeting Scheduling based on an E-mail and preview of “My Day” tab and a lot more.

You must try it yourself too. If you are also willing to switch to Outlook 2011 then, give it a chance.

I will be happy to hear from you about your experiences with the Outlook 2011 application. Your comments are welcome.

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Read this: Before you decide to Migrate Apple Mail to Mac Outlook

Apple mail comes as default Email Client with Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X. From a long time, I am using Apple mail as Email client in my Mac OS x. It’s simple to use but sometimes its limited functionality and flaws make me rip my hairs off. I am looking for an email client that possesses better functionality. It’s nice to hear that Outlook 2011 for Mac has been launched. I am unable to decide whether to migrate from Apple Mail to Mac Outlook or not.

I have gathered some information from web regarding the set of features provided by both Email clients so, that I can have a comparative study. I am sharing the summary of my findings; it will prove useful for those who want to migrate from Apple Mail to Mac Outlook 2011.

Prominent features of Apple Mail

• It provides you a clean and easy-to-use interface.
• It provides you support for multiple POP, IMAP, Exchange as well as iCloud accounts
• It offers you various types of mail filters.
• Separate ".mbox" files are generated for storing different email folders thus, in case of corruption to any particular folder; rest mail archive will not be lost.
• It doesn’t handle calendars and contacts. Address Book and iCal applications handle all these features.

Prominent features of Outlook 2011

• It provides a better look and feel. You will find it as a combined mixture of the interface provided by Entourage, Outlook 2010, and Apple Mail.
• It provides ribbon interface that helps you manage different functional groups.
• It offers various improved functionalities such as calendar, appointments, meetings schedules, and events etc.

Similarities between Apple Mail & Outlook 2011

• Both Apple Mail and Outlook 2011 supports “Overlay multiple calendars”
• Both Apple Mail and Outlook 2011 provides Faster “Time Machine backups”
• Both Apple Mail and Outlook 2011provides the option to “Create a meeting from a message
• Both Apple Mail and Outlook 2011 provides “Calendar preview in meeting requests”
• Both Apple Mail and Outlook 2011 supports “Read receipt” feature.

Apple Mail v/s Outlook 2011

• Apple Mail does not support Categories but Outlook 2011 does.
• Resend email features is supported by Apple Mail but it is not present in   Outlook 2011
• Favorites bar option is present in Apple Mail but not present in Outlook 2011
• Apple Mail provides Safer email storage as compared to Outlook 2011
• Outlook 2011 Displays photos of your contacts in email, contacts, calendar but  Apple Mail  displays photos in case of email, contacts only
• Outlook 2011 synchronizes calendar, email, tasks, notes, categories, contacts with Exchange server but Apple Mail synchronizes calendar, email and contacts only.
• Apple Mail doesn’t Display contacts, tasks, calendar at a glance when program is closed but Outlook 2011 does.
• In Apple Mail “Remove attachments” option is provided but it is not present in  Outlook 2011
• Apple Mail provides better email archives as compared to Outlook because in case of Outlook all the email data is stored in a single file. In case of corruption the whole database file needs to be rebuild and it might be possible that the rebuild will not help you to recover all your data, some data may turn unrecoverable.
• Outlook 2011provides you the option to create and use categories but Apple Mail does not possess such feature.

As far as my findings say, Outlook 2011 seems to be astounding in feature set as compared to Apple Mail. I am going to give it a try, Let’s hope it’s going to make my Emailing experience better than before.

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