How to export contacts from Windows Mail to Outlook?

In my previous article titled ,”Migration from Windows Live Mail to Outlook”, I have discussed various scenarios when you would like to migrate from Windows Live Mail to Outlook or you would like to use your Windows Live Mail mailbox items into Outlook. You might like to export all your mailbox items or some selected items, it depends on your requirements.

If you want to use your Windows Live Mail contacts to Outlook then, this article is surely going to help you. 

Before adopting the discussed method to export Windows Live Mail contacts to Outlook, you need to check two things that:

• Outlook is properly installed and configured with your mail account 
• and it is located on the same computer as Windows Live Mail. 

Follow the given steps to Export Contacts from Windows Live Mail:

1.Go to File-> Export-> Windows Contacts.

2.Select; CSV (Comma Separated Values). 

3.Click 'Export'. 

4.After clicking the 'Export' button, you will get an option to choose the name and desired location to save your export file.

5.Click 'Next'. 

6.Select the desired fields to be exported. 

7.Click ‘Finish’. 

Once you have done with the export process, you need to import the exported file in MS Outlook application to access your contacts.

Follow the given steps to import Contacts into Outlook:

1.Go to 'File' menu then, start the 'Import and Export wizard'.

2.Select the option 'Import from another program or file'. 

3.Click 'Next'. 

4.Then, Select 'Comma Separated Values'. 

5.Click 'Next'.  

6.Browse and choose the csv-file that you exported from Windows Live Mail. 

7.Click 'Next'. 

8.Choose your 'Contacts folder' as the destination folder. 

9.Click 'Next'. 

10.Click 'Finish'. 

Now, you can access all your Windows Live Mail contacts into MS Outlook.

The above discussed procedure is simple though, if you don’t want to perform the export process manually, then choose some software that can convert your Windows Live Mail files to PST file format that can be imported into Outlook. The Windows Live Mail to PST converter software provides you a wide variety of features to export the Windows Live Mail mailbox files to MS Outlook.

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The five import options in MS Outlook for Mac 2011

In my previous articles, I have discussed about Outlook for Mac 2011 and various factors that makes Outlook 2011 for Mac preferred over the previous email clients such as Apple mail.

Apple Mail uses mbox (for Mail Version 1.x ) and .emlx file( for Mail 2.0 and later versions) format for storing the mail files.

If you need to use the Apple Mail files in Outlook 2011 for Mac then, you need to import your apple mail files to Outlook 2011.Can you import your apple mail files to Outlook 2011 using the import export wizard?...

Let’s see,’ what are the various import options in MS Outlook for Mac 2011.’

There are five import options in Outlook for Mac 2011:

1. The first import option let you import Outlook data files.

Using this import option, you can easily import Outlook data files i.e. Outlook for Mac data file (.olm) as well as outlook for windows data file (.pst). 

Thus, it let you migrate from MS Outlook for Windows to MS Outlook for Mac 2011 without need of any third party tool.       

2. The second import option let you import information from an entourage archive or earlier versions of entourage application.

Using this import option, you can import the data files from an Entourage archive (.rge) as well as from Entourage 2008 and Entourage 2004.

While importing the Identity data folder from Entourage application, the import wizard also provides you the option to select the items (i.e. Messages, contacts, accounts, rules, signatures, preferences, calendar events, tasks, notes, custom, views, scrapbook and clippings.) that you want to import.

3. The third import option let you import Information from another application.

4. The fourth import option let you import contacts or messages from a text file 

Using this import option, you can import .csv, .ics and an MBOX- format text file using this import option.

Note: Contacts from a tab are saved in .csv format and .ics format is used for saving Internet Calendar data.

5. The fifth import option let you import holidays to Mac Outlook.

Using this import option, you can import the holiday sets from other Microsoft Office applications to Mac outlook and add them to the Mac Outlook calendar. 

After going through all of the import options provided by Outlook for Mac 2011, you can easily conclude that you can't import the apple mail files to Mac outlook directly by using Mac Outlook import wizard as there is no such option given to accomplish this task. 

So, if you want to import your Apple Mail files to Outlook for Mac 2011, you need to convert the Apple Mail files to a file type that can be imported into Mac outlook. Here, comes the need of Apple Mail files to ‘.RGE’ file converter software. ‘.RGE’ file can be easily imported into Outlook for Mac 2011.If you want to migrate from Apple Mail to Outlook 2011 for Mac, You just need to choose a powerful Apple Mail files to ‘.RGE’ file converter software that suits your needs and your budget.

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How to restore deleted Exchange account?

I am using Exchange Server mailbox in my office.Yesterday, I was screwed when I found that my Exchange mailbox got deleted accidentally, I have lost access to my account. I created new account and used Exchange in cached mode but still, I was not able to access my previous Outlook mail data that was in OST file stored in my local system.

I was totally unaware of the thing that, If we want to open an OST file we need to open it by the same account that created it. Later on, I came to know that the exchange account can be restored.

Steps to restore deleted Exchange account:

• Firstly, you need to open the system restore application. It may vary from one operating system to another operating system. Go to Start Menu>Programs>Accessories>System Tools.
• You can also perform the same action by using command prompt:
• Enter %systemroot%\system32\rstrui.exe in the prompt window and execute 
• Better if, you remember the exact date when your exchange  profile was deleted, as now you need to pick a date just before the deletion date to restore the system.
• Restart the system.
• After that your Exchange account will be back.

Now, you can export the OST File to a PST File. After completion of Export process, you can either delete the Exchange account or you can run the restore process again, if you want to return to the point made before the restore.

The above restore process will be successful, if there is some restore point available and your operating system supports system restore. If it has been a long time, when your account got deleted or If you no longer have access to the computer that was used to create the OST then, it’s almost impossible to recover  your data with help of the restore procedure.

In such situation, you need an OST to PST converter software to convert your OST file to PST. You can easily access the mail data stored in the OST file after importing the converted PST file into Outlook.

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How to Import Data from another program or file into Entourage?

In my article, “Is your entourage database inaccessible?” I have already discussed about Entourage database structure and file format.

In this article, I am going to discuss the various compatible programs and file formats that can be imported in Entourage Email Client.

You can import either Tab or comma delimited text files or .mbox files to Entourage, other type of file import is not supported by Entourage.

You can import data in Entourage from another email client or PIM programs. 

Below is the list of supported Email programs:

• All versions of Microsoft Outlook Express.
• Netscape Communicator 4.0 and later versions.
• Claris Emailer (version 2.0v3).
• All versions of Qualcomm Eudora.

List of supported PIM programs: 

• Now Contact
• Now Up-To-Date
• Claris Organizer
• Palm Desktop

There can be two ways to import data in to Entourage:

1. Import data by ‘Entourage Setup Wizard’ when you start Entourage for the first time.

2. Import data manually with the help of ‘Import Wizard’ given within Entourage.

Import data by Entourage Setup Wizard

1. Start Entourage program (i.e. for the first time).

2. Type the user information using ‘Entourage Setup Wizard’.

3. Choose one of the following import options:

• Import information from my e-mail program.
• Import information from my personal information manager.
• Import information from both my e-mail program and my PIM.

  4. Click ‘Next’ to proceed.

Import data manually with the help of Import Wizard

To manually import data in Entourage: 

1.Go to the ‘File’ menu

2.Click ‘Import’, to begin the ‘Import dialog box’.

3.Click the program or file from which data is to be imported.

4.Click ‘Next’ to precede import process.

5.Click the items that you want to import. 

6.Click ‘Finish’ to complete the import process.

With the help of above steps you can import data from other Apple Macintosh application or some personal information management (PIM) software. You can easily import messages, signatures, addresses, rules, and accounts to your Entourage application. I hope this article will help every user to import data to Entourage from another email client or personal information management software. Your feedback is valuable to me. Be in touch.

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The most required features of an efficient DBX to PST Converter Software

As, I have discussed in my previous article,”when is it required to convert DBX to PST ”, there are various scenarios in which you would like to convert your DBX File to PST File format. If you want to migrate from Outlook Express to Outlook you need to convert DBX File to PST File so, that the converted PST files can be easily imported and accessed Outlook.

To perform the DBX to PST conversion, you will need a DBX to PST converter software. There are a number of DBX to PST converter software available in the market. The feature set may vary from software to software, however the basic feature set is similar in all DBX to PST converter software.

Some salient features of DBX to PST converter software:

• It let you perform efficient DBX to PST conversion.

The DBX to PST software provides you various options for performing efficient DBX to PST conversion process and let you export all your mail items as well as the attachments along with the mails.

After the conversion of DBX File to PST File, it provides you saving options either you can save the converted files in a new PST file or append it to an existing PST at your desired location. 

• It provides interactive and easy-to-Use Interface.

The DBX to PST converter software provides an easy to use and self-explanatory interface that makes the conversion process easy to handle. Even a novice user can accomplish the DBX to PST conversion process without need to any technical expertise or any extra assistance.

• It let you make an Advanced Search for DBX files in your system.

The DBX to PST converter software provides eminent search feature to let you search all DBX files in your system that eliminates the need of going through each and every subfolder. You can also select the DBX files manually if know their exact location.

• It provides the Preview of converted Mail Items.

Before actual conversion saving the converted items to PST format the DBX to PST tools provide you the preview of all converted mail items so, that you can verify the converted items before actually saving them to PST file.

• It let you convert Multiple DBX Files simultaneously.

The powerful and conspicuous algorithms of the DBX to PST converter software let you convert multiple DBX files to PST format at the same time. You can either select a single DBX or a single identity folder containing multiple DBX files for conversion. These converter tools perform simultaneous conversion of a group of DBX files in few minutes thus, saves your valuable time and effort. 

• It let you save the Log Report of the DBX to PST conversion Process.

The DBX to PST converter software provides you an option to save the history of the entire DBX to PST conversion process which includes the path of the scanned DBX file, Date & Time etc.

If you want to convert your Outlook express DBX files to Outlook PST files then, try some DBX to PST converter software that suits your needs. There are numerous DBX to PST converter software available in market.  Some software also provide the demo and trail version. So, find the suitable DBX to PST converter software and enjoy a hassle free DBX to PST conversion.

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Prevent Lotus Notes corruption by using Transaction logging

In my previous articles, I have already discussed about Lotus Notes email client, its database file format and various reasons that lead to Lotus Notes database corruption.

Lotus Notes database corruption may turn the Lotus Notes Mail items inaccessible and totally unusable. To Access the database items from a corrupted Lotus Notes file you need to repair the corrupt NSF with the help of some Lotus Notes recovery software. Thus, any kind of database corruption can adversely affect the budget as well proper functioning of the business organization. So, it’s better to adopt preventive measures that may protect the database from corruption.

How to prevent Lotus Notes database corruption?

Common preventive measures to avoid Lotus database corruption:

1.Enable transaction logging

2.Perform scheduled database maintenance tasks.

3.Backup the Lotus Notes files.

The most common preventive method to avoid Lotus Notes database corruption is to enable transaction logging for all connected servers in the Domino server domain; it will let you recover the data, if server crashes or database corruption occurs.

What is transaction logging?

The Transaction Logging  is  an automatic record process in which all changes done to the Domino database are sequentially stored to the Transaction log file before actually writing them to Lotus Notes. 

Transaction log: It’s a binary file where all transactions to Domino database are written.  

The transaction log file stores all transactions in form of log extents.

A log extent has the extension ‘.TXN’ and allocates 64 MB of memory space. Once the log extent is full then, new Log extent is generated to store further transactions.

Transaction logging provides two types of recovery:

1.Restart recovery – This type of recovery is useful in case of server crash.

This helps in bringing the database to a consistent state by completing all the transactions that couldn’t be loaded to disk due to server crash.  

2.Archival Logging – This type of recovery is useful if some Lotus Notes data is lost. It includes ‘Restart recovery’ and ‘point in time recovery’ to recover lost data. 

Benefits of transaction logging: 

• It improves the performance of the Domino server.
• It provides better data integrity in Domino server database.
• It helps in maintaining consistency within Domino server database.
• It helps in preventing the data corruption by recording transactions that are done to Lotus Notes database.
• It provides efficient data recovery in case of server restart or crash.
• It provides ‘roll back' option to restore data up to a restore point or undo any change made to the database.

Transaction logging avoids database corruption by maintaining consistency and integrity within the Domino server data base; it also let you recover the data in case of server crash or any other data loss situation. So, it’s better to enable transaction logging for all servers in the Domino server domain. In case, you don’t have any recovery or restore point available then, you will require Lotus Notes recovery software to recover the corrupted Lotus Notes files. These Lotus Notes recovery software efficiently repair corrupted NSF files and provides access to the inaccessible mail items.

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What is the need to backup Mac Outlook?

In my previous articles, I have discussed the salient features of Mac Outlook that makes user switch from their previous Email clients to Outlook 2011. In this article, I am going to discuss Mac Outlook database structure and the need for archiving  Mac Outlook Database.

Mac Outlook Database
Identity Folder: All Mac Outlook database and other files are stored in Identity Folder. Identity folder is located within Microsoft User Data (MUD) folder. If you try to move MUD folder form this default location, a new blank identity with the name 'Main' will get created.

Due to the database corruption or due to any problem with the Outlook 2011 application, you may experience a slow functioning and several issues such as:

• Unable to open or view the database items.
• Emails in your Inbox, Sent Items, and other folders are shown as blank.
• Unable to delete the database items.
• Outlook application freezes or crashes while opening.

You can manage with these problems up to some extent but What if you completely loose access to your Mac Outlook Database?

Here, comes the need to backup your Mac Outlook data items (i.e. mails, tasks, notes, contacts, journal, attachments, project, and appointments etc.).The format for Mac Outlook Backup file is .olm. If the Outlook database gets corrupt due to any reason  then, you can access the mail items through this backup file. So, to avoid any kind of hazardous or data loss situation take regular backups of your Outlook database. 

To know in detail about the Mac Outlook data backup procedure read the article “How to backup Outlook 2011 for Mac?” This article will let you know the step by step illustration of the Backup process.

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What is the need to eliminate duplicate Emails from outlook?

In my previous articles, I have discussed the common reasons that cause email duplicates in Outlook and ways to avoid them. In this article, I am going to discuss the hazards caused by Email duplicates in Outlook and the need to eliminate them.

Why do we need to delete duplicate mails from Outlook?

• Duplicate Emails cause wastage of disk space.
• Duplicate Emails increase the PST file size: In MS Outlook 97, 2000 or 2002 versions the increased PST size may cause the 2 GB file size limitation and can lead to PST file corruption.
• The later versions of Outlook offer an increased size limit for PST storage so, the later versions are less prone to corruption due to increased PST size but the increased PST size may slow down the Outlook application
• Increased count of duplicate Emails can also slow down your system. Your system may hang down or become unresponsive for a long time while sending receiving or opening mails in Outlook.
• Increased count of duplicate Emails leads to increased disk input/output activity: Outlook application maintains tables for each user account that stores the data related to each mail that serves useful for finding the location of the mails whenever access to mail is required.
• Increased number of duplicate mails in Outlook will lead to a bigger table and Outlook has to load the table into memory each time an access operation is performed. Also, the traverse operation will take more time and CPU resources.
• Email duplicates causes the increased emails count in user mailbox that will add extra headache for user in Email management and access. More time will be consumed for locating or searching a mail.
• Increased count of duplicate Emails leads to poor and slow Outlook performance that might hamper the communication within the organization and thus, adversely affects the business.

To avoid this type of troublesome situations caused by Email duplicates in Outlook, its better to search and eliminate email duplicates from user mailbox on time to time basis. This can be done either by using manual method or by using an automatic method. Read my previous article, “how to delete the duplicate mails in MS Outlook” if you want to know in detail about the manual mail deletion process.

But if you are looking for an automatic method to eliminate duplicates from your mailbox then, you require duplicate remover software. The Email duplicate remover software provides various advanced search options that eliminates a number of duplicate mails from multiple mailboxes in few minutes thus, saves the user time and efforts.

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Introduction to Zarafa Server database

What is Zarafa?
Zarafa is a client server application that is designed to work in integration with Microsoft Outlook application. It provides AJAX based email client web access and works on Linux based machines.

Zarafa Database Structure:
Zarafa stores emails as well as other information such as personal address, contacts, notes, appointments etc. on server side.
It uses MySQL database to store the user mailbox data and information. The SQL database in Zarafa contains multiple tables stored in hierarchal order to store and manage the data.

Common tables used in Zarafa Database are:
1. Properties table: It is used for storing the set of properties of all data Items
2. Lob (large objects) table: It is used for storing attachments of e-mails and pictures of contacts.
3. Users table: It is used for storing all the users and groups
4. Usergroup_acl table: It is used for storing relations between users and groups.
5. Acl table: It is used for storing the access rights
6. Outgoingqueue table: It is used for storing the link to message (created by server) before its being actually sent.

Zarafa database files:
Zarafa uses different kind of storage engines for  data storage and management purpose.The most notable storage engine used by Zarafa server is InnoDB, it stores all the data in .ibadata and .frm file format.

Any kind of corruption in the .ibadata and .frm files turns the Zarafa server database inaccessible. Whenever you try to access the data you might get some error messages such as “Delivery in Zarafa mail fails" or "unsupported file format". To overcome such data loss situations, you will require an efficient  Zarafa repair tool to repair the corrupt or damaged Zarafa Server database. The Zarafa repair software let you repair the corrupt .frm and .ibdata1 files and thus, you can access the inaccessible  mail data from the recovered files.

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How to convert NSF File to PST File with Migration Wizard?

In my previous articles, I have discussed about the Lotus Notes Email Client and several scenarios in which a user would like to switch from Lotus Notes to Outlook. If you are also willing to migrate from Lotus Notes to Outlook then, you will need a tool that can convert your NSF Files to PST File format that can be accessed in Outlook. There are several NSF to PST software available in market that let you perform hassle free NSF to PST conversion.
If you don’t want to purchase any conversion software then, you can use Migration Wizard (MAILMIG.EXE) that is a free utility given by Microsoft.

Some prominent features of Migration Wizard:

• It lets you migrate from foreign email platform to Exchange.
• It lets you migrate from older versions of Exchange to Exchange 2003.
• It supports migration from Migration Files, cc:Mail, MS Mail for PC Networks, Lotus Notes and Internet Mail (IMAP4) etc.

Before running the Migration process keep in mind that:

• Exchange services must be running
• Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) must be active (If you are using Exchange 5.5 as the source server).
• Migration of mailboxes from the source server is not possible, if the source server and the server running the Migration Wizard are parts of the same Exchange 2003 organization.

How to Run Migration Wizard?

• Click Start
• Go to Microsoft Exchange
• Then, Go to Deployment –-> Migration Wizard
• Start the Migration Wizard --> Select the type of migration
• You can choose to migrate users, mail or schedule information from your Lotus Notes or Domino server.
• Now, choose the destination computer to which you want to migrate your Lotus Notes data.

The benefits of using Migration Wizard
While converting NSF File to PST then, you will observe several benefits of using Migration Wizard such as:

• It lets you Migrate embedded document links in messages: When you convert the Lotus Notes NSF File to Outlook PST File then,  the document links embedded in messages are converted to URL shortcuts, RTF attachments or OLE attachments so, that the embedded links can be accessed in Outlook.
• It lets you Migrate group scheduling (i.e. the calendar and to-do list functions) from Lotus Notes to Outlook.
• It lets you perform an easy migration of regular emails as well as emails with attachments without any issue.

For those, who want to convert NSF file to PST file for free, Migration wizard is a good choice but there are some limitations of the Migration wizard utility where an efficient migration process couldn’t be performed or the Migration tool fails. In such cases, you will require a third party NSF to PST converter to enjoy flawless migration from Lotus Notes to Outlook.

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How to backup Microsoft Entourage message Data?

In my previous articles related to Microsoft Entourage Email Client, I have already discussed the Database and File format in Microsoft Entourage. Microsoft Entourage uses MBOX file format to store its all mail data. In this article, I am sharing ‘how to backup the message folders in Microsoft Entourage?’ The procedure that, I am going to discuss here can be used to create backup of message data only, you can’t apply this procedure for creating backup up of Address Book, Calendar, Tasks, or Notes folders.

You can create backup of your Entourage message data by using ‘Drag and drop method’ to create MBOX Files.

The step by step process is given below:
1.Open Microsoft Entourage application.
2.Resize the Entourage program window so, that Your Mac desktop is visible.
3.Go to View menu.
4.Click Folder List
5. Then, Go to Folder  List Pane of  Entourage
6.Click the folder that is to be  archived 
7.Drag the desired folder to your Mac desktop.

This will automatically create a file with the same name as the selected folder. Thus, now you have created archive of your message folder as a separate MBOX File.

Whenever, you apply these steps to backup a parent folder, the subfolders are excluded in the generated MBOX file. You need to repeat this procedure for all folders that you want to be archived as a MBOX file. Thus, by using these simple steps you can create archive of your Entourage message folders. These MBOX archive files can be easily imported by using the Import Wizard of Entourage application whenever needed and can prove to be helpful in case of any disastrous or data loss situation.

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