Outlook 2003 Exported Calendar.pst file size

[hlewton]

I really have no way of knowing if that small file had appointments other than to look at the calendar on my original computer would I?

[hlewton]

I was just wondering about this. If you recall in a different thread I had problems with importing the Contacts.pst file. On the original computer I edited the Contacts folder by deleting old unused contacts and adding a few new ones. I then exported the Contacts folder to a Contacts.pst file and imported it on other computers. It had the new contacts but also still had the old deleted ones as well and we never did correct that. So I am wondering, but am a bit leery to try, if I were to delete the Contacts.pst file on the original computer and see if Outlook would recreate one like it did with the Calendar.pst file then export the Contacts folder to a new Contacts.pst file do you suppose that would eliminate the contacts I want deleted?

[HansV]

I really have no way of knowing if that small file had appointments other than to look at the calendar on my original computer would I?

You can open the file in Outlook and view its Calendar in a list view.

[HansV]

So I am wondering, but am a bit leery to try, if I were to delete the Contacts.pst file on the original computer and see if Outlook would recreate one like it did with the Calendar.pst file then export the Contacts folder to a new Contacts.pst file do you suppose that would eliminate the contacts I want deleted?

Instead of deleting Contacts.pst, you could move it to another folder or rename it (while Outlook is closed, of course).

[hlewton]

I really have no way of knowing if that small file had appointments other than to look at the calendar on my original computer would I?

You can open the file in Outlook and view its Calendar in a list view.

I'll have to try and remember this the next time I delete that pst file. I did look a year ahead to see if there were appointments and they were there. Does that do the same as looking at it in the list view?

[hlewton]

So I am wondering, but am a bit leery to try, if I were to delete the Contacts.pst file on the original computer and see if Outlook would recreate one like it did with the Calendar.pst file then export the Contacts folder to a new Contacts.pst file do you suppose that would eliminate the contacts I want deleted?

Instead of deleting Contacts.pst, you could move it to another folder or rename it (while Outlook is closed, of course).

Thanks, that is actually what I did, renamed, the Calendar.pst file just in case I needed it.

Do you know if each time you close out of Outlook if it updates the Calendar.pst and the Contacts.pst files? If that is the case is there really any need for me to export these files? Couldn't I just use the ones that already exist if they are, in fact, updated?

[Leif]

Do you know if each time you close out of Outlook if it updates the Calendar.pst and the Contacts.pst files?

You could close Outlook and see if the file times and dates match the time you closed Outlook.

[hlewton]

Do you know if each time you close out of Outlook if it updates the Calendar.pst and the Contacts.pst files?

You could close Outlook and see if the file times and dates match the time you closed Outlook.

Good idea. The Calendar.pst does but the Contacts.pst did not. BTW I closed Outlook without making any changes to either folder.

[Leif]

Thinking about it, whether or not Outlook updates these files as it closes or at an earlier time is probably immaterial. If you can close Outlook, and then reopen with the previously entered Calendar and Contacts data intact, I suspect you can safely assume that after you close Outlook, these .pst files are up to date.

[hlewton]

Thinking about it, whether or not Outlook updates these files as it closes or at an earlier time is probably immaterial. If you can close Outlook, and then reopen with the previously entered Calendar and Contacts data intact, I suspect you can safely assume that after you close Outlook, these .pst files are up to date.

No argument except let me throw this into the mix. Each time I exit Outlook a file called Outlook.pst also updates. When I have had to create Outlook profiles on a new or rebuilt computer I have always only imported the Outlook.pst or the Outlook Backup.pst file onto the new or rebuilt computer and still have had all my calendar entries and contacts. So it seems, at least to me, a bit confusing which of these files Outlook actually uses. I never paid any attention, after importing the Outlook.pst file and then exiting Outlook if Outlook did indeed create a Calendar.pst and an Contacts.pst file on that new computer.

The next time I make a change to either the Contact or Calendar folder I will then send the appropriate pst file that is there when I exit Outlook to another machine, import it, and see if it has my latest changes. I believe that would be conclusive proof one way or the other as to if I actually have to do an export first to get the latest changes to a different machine.

Thanks.

[HansV]

Outlook.pst is your "main" Outlook file, containing your e-mail messages, appointments, contacts, tasks and notes.
Apart from the main Outlook file, you can have one or more .pst files being opened automatically each time you start Outlook. These are listed in the Navigation pane on the left hand side of the Outlook window.
Each .pst file that you open is updated the moment it is opened (for example when you start Outlook) and again the moment it is closed (for example when you quit Outlook), and possibly in between.
If the last modified date of a .pst file doesn't change when you start or quit Outlook, it is probably not opened by Outlook.

[hlewton]

Thanks Hans, that makes sense.

[hlewton]

I have been experimenting and paying close attention to what pst files update to the current date when I exit Outlook. My Outlook.pst file and the Calendar.pst file do update to the time when I exit Outlook but the Contacts.pst file does not even if I make a change to it.

I sent the Calendar.pst file that updated to the current time and date to another computer to see if importing it to that computer would reflect the changes I had made to the calendar. I did not export the calendar on the original computer, just used the updated file as it was created when I exited Outlook. It did not update the other computer with the calendar changes I had made on the original computer. So I draw from this that I must use the "Export" feature to get the calendar changes onto another computer. Even though the Calendar.pst file does show a changed and current date when exiting Outlook it doesn't seem capable of transferring those changes to another computer without using the "Export" feature.

[HansV]

The Calendar.pst file is updated because it's opened in Outlook, not because anything is changed in it.
In fact, it isn't necessary to open Calendar.pst in Outlook since you use it for export purposes.

[hlewton]

Thanks Hans but I am not sure how I would go about not opening it. Since I now know that deleting it occasionally will keep it at a decent size I'll just continue along that route.