Office365 Outlook  

I eventually had a chance to try and move the .ost file from the C drive to the D drive today.
Followed the instructions as perthe link Caledon Ken post but came to an issue with the Create new email from within Outlook > File > Account Settings as Outlook insisted in creating the .ost file in the C drive as the Browse button in the Outlook Data File Settings dialog was greyed out and I could not direct it to the D drive folder. Eventually I added the email again and used the Control Panel > Mail > E-Mail Accounts settings to add the email again and this time I was able to Change account settings > More settings > Advanced tab > Outlook Data File Settings > Browse and directed Outlook to the new location for the .ost file.
Only this time Outlook displayed a message and had to delete the file I copied in the first instance closed Outlook and reopened it again. This time the .ost file was saved in the new location. Success!




Just have to do it again when I'm given the password for two more emails to add to Outlook.

On a different issue if you Caledon Ken can help if not I'll open a new thread is that I moved the Data files Contacts, Documents etc. to the D drive using the Properties > Location > Move method and Office show that the Save destination is D:\Users\username which is as it should be BUT I also made the changes in Windows > Settings > Storage method and I now have two folders in

D:\Users\username for Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures and Videos

these folders do not have an icon just a plain folder picture and I assume they are the ones from the

Windows > Settings > Storage method. My question is can they be deleted or would there be issues?

tfwul said:

Please allow me to step in here.

@scopio
Yes ... I would also like how things went.
Reason is that I prefer the use of .pst files over .ost, specifically because when using .ost files and should your pc or laptop be serviced, then, basically, all email is accessible. In case of using .pst files, they can be stored within a password protected area.
Office 365 is more or less forcing you to use .ost

If synchronizing is not important, I believe one can still setup an email account using .pst on the desktop pc (and .ost on laptop).

Otherwise one has to use this registry 'patch'.
In case of any -new- Windows install, I guess this registry change should probably first be applied, prior to installing Office 365.

I appreciate your input but synchronizing in this case is important as the person using Office 365 is not that savvy and we would like to be able to use the email account from the web if necessary should the office pc goes belly up. In this case it is better to be save.

scopio said:

I appreciate your input but synchronizing in this case is important as the person using Office 365 is not that savvy and we would like to be able to use the email account from the web if necessary should the office pc goes belly up. In this case it is better to be save.

Okay, I understand. BTW, did you apply the registry patch? Seems to be important.

Frankly, I have been considering 365 regularly, but these .pst and .ost uncertainties have been holding me back so far.
In case of .ost being located on C:\
What happens with your mail in case of a fresh install? (or need to restore an older image)
What if you buy a new pc and want to transfer all old mail?
etc.

Anyway, I am really looking forward to reading your, let's say, 'experiences' with this new setup!

I did not apply the registry patch on advice from Caledon Ken. As there will be three emails accounts in use with the registry patch I would have had to add three new string values, one for each email account.
In our case we will be using three email accounts, one will only be used as the Microsoft Office 365 Personal Account and not use for emails or anything else, a second Outlook.com account again will not be used for emails but only used so that the Administrator can enter appointments in the calendar so that the Minister can sync them with his iPhone and the third email, the most used one is unfortunately a BTMail account that is used for all correspondence with many other people and organisations. Had I been consulted many years ago when the church first set up an email account I would have advised them to invest in a domain but now with their own email account and they wouldn't have to rely on their ISP email account but they do not wish to change it now as it would cause many problems letting people know of their new email address.
As for what happens in the case of a clean install? You would have to do it all again as Windows settings would be in the default settings! Just as installing all your applications and configuring them. Same as if you buy a new pc, which is why I am having to change it now as this is for a new pc.

I will post back when I have finished adding the other two emails and transferring all the data from the old pc which I can only do when I visit the office.

The Contacts folder above is Windows Contact folder not Office Outlook contacts! I am aware that the Outlook Contacts are a different animal altogether.
I know that

an Outlook.com account, or hotmail, MSN or live.com accounts would sync with Office Outlook.
As for third party IMAP accounts I'm not sure I will find out when I add the third party account to Office Outlook hopefully this week time permitting and post back with the results.
I remember having to export contacts from a third party email IMAP account from Windows XP with Outlook Express machine and having to import them into a Windows 7 with Office Outlook 2010 which worked fine except Outlook Express did not export group contacts and had to manually enter them in Windows 7 Office Outlook 2010 again!

Hopefully sometime this week I will be able to add the third party IMAP account and will post back with the results.

tfwul said:

Okay, I understand. BTW, did you apply the registry patch? Seems to be important.

Frankly, I have been considering 365 regularly, but these .pst and .ost uncertainties have been holding me back so far.
In case of .ost being located on C:\
What happens with your mail in case of a fresh install? (or need to restore an older image)
What if you buy a new pc and want to transfer all old mail?
etc.

Anyway, I am really looking forward to reading your, let's say, 'experiences' with this new setup!

Hi there

why not always use IMAP and problem is solved since mail is stored on the server rather than local PC files whether .ost or .pst (note outlook 2010 uses .pst files and supports IMAP so the .pst or .ost thing is irrelevant for IMAP).

You can also copy files to local PC too if you want - just create new folder called outlook or whatever you want to call it and copy files from the IMAP folders to your local one.

Not sure why on earth you'd need all these registry patches to fix what seems to me an easy problem.

Also IMAP means email accessible also from phones / tablets etc etc.

I though really hate web browser type email solutions --usually horrible, slow and can be riddled with ads.

You are much better off using a sensible email client such as outlook or thunderbird (although thunderbird now has copied outlook in making it almost impossible to set up email accounts manually )

Those automatic things (auto config mail accounts) fail miserably if you have non standard type email servers, different passwords / user names on in and outbound mail servers and the email (especially if you are using your own domains) address doesn't exist in the setup database.

Not sure if you can avoid automatic setup with Outlook/365. For Outlook 2010-->Outlook 2019 easily enough done -- you have to go into control panel and choose the applet Outlook Mail (note for Office 2019 it's still in control panel as Outlook 2016 !!). That gives the classical manual setup screens again.





Cheers
jimbo

jimbo45 said:

Hi therewhy not always use IMAP and problem is solved since mail is stored on the server rather than local PC files whether .ost or .pst (note outlook 2010 uses .pst files and supports IMAP so the .pst or .ost thing is irrelevant for IMAP).You can also copy files to local PC too if you want - just create new folder called outlook or whatever you want to call it and copy files from the IMAP folders to your local one.Not sure why on earth you'd need all these registry patches to fix what seems to me an easy problem.Also IMAP means email accessible also from phones / tablets etc etc.I though really hate web browser type email solutions --usually horrible, slow and can be riddled with ads. You are much better off using a sensible email client such as outlook or thunderbird (although thunderbird now has copied outlook in making it almost impossible to set up email accounts manually )Those automatic things (auto config mail accounts) fail miserably if you have non standard type email servers, different passwords / user names on in and outbound mail servers and the email (especially if you are using your own domains) address doesn't exist in the setup database.Not sure if you can avoid automatic setup with Outlook/365. For Outlook 2010-->Outlook 2019 easily enough done -- you have to go into control panel and choose the applet Outlook Mail (note for Office 2019 it's still in control panel as Outlook 2016 !!). That gives the classical manual setup screens again.

Cheers
jimbo

I did not patch the registry, I am not fond of altering registry keys and for adding/moving the .ost file is not necessary if you use the Control Panel > Mail > Add E-Mail Accounts which gives you more options to change the settings.
“Not sure if you can avoid automatic setup with Outlook/365.”
As I pointed out in an earlier post, adding an email account within Outlook automatically Outlook insists to place the .ost file in C:\Users\AppData\...folder which is not what you need with a small capacity SSD.
I prefer as I said before the Control Panel > Mail >Add E-Mail Accounts because of it allows you to make changes to your settings.
With web based Exchange or IMAP email accounts it does not make much sense to backup emails, Calendar, Contacts, Tasks etc. as all that data is copied to Outlook from the web server and anything that is changed in Outlook will be replicated in the web server and anything changed in the web server will be replicated in Outlook, what is known as syncing!

jimbo45 said:

Hi there
why not always use IMAP and problem is solved since mail is stored on the server rather than local PC files whether .ost or .pst (note outlook 2010 uses .pst files and supports IMAP so the .pst or .ost thing is irrelevant for IMAP).

@jimbo45
because one can not password protect .ost files, whereas one can store .pst files within a password protected container. Anyone having access to your pc (a bit earlier in this thread I mentioned your laptop/pc being serviced)
have access to your mail.