outlook 2003 to thunderbird

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newmarket2
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Joined: December 30th, 2005, 9:58 am

outlook 2003 to thunderbird

Post by newmarket2 »

I'm trying to move to Thunderbird. I've got a LOT of email saved on my PC (windows 7) in the outlook.pst file.
When I try to use the IMPORT function, a window opens and a progress bar (green) moves to the end. So, it seems to finish but the window doesn't show any message; and the only active button is CANCEL; and while an OUTLOOK IMPORT local folder was created in thunderbird, and there is a PERSONAL FOLDER showing beneath it, when I click on that folder, a process is runs (spinning circle of dots), but nothing happens and task manager doesn't show any CPU activity for the Thunderbird process. My outlook .pst file is big (335 MB).

Anyone know what's wrong? Or, is there another way to more my mail over?
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DanRaisch
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Re: outlook 2003 to thunderbird

Post by DanRaisch »

Did you compact that data in Outlook before attempting the import?
See if this article is helpful -- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Import_.pst_files
José
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Re: outlook 2003 to thunderbird

Post by José »

newmarket2 wrote:? Or, is there another way to more my mail over?

no way
newmarket2
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Joined: December 30th, 2005, 9:58 am

Re: outlook 2003 to thunderbird

Post by newmarket2 »

Dan,
No, I did not. I'll give it a try.
Read also that if I download the trial Outlook 2010 and sucked mail into that and then imported to thunderbird, that might work well.
Thanks
Michael
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DanRaisch
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Re: outlook 2003 to thunderbird

Post by DanRaisch »

You're welcome, and good luck.
newmarket2
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Re: outlook 2003 to thunderbird

Post by newmarket2 »

Dan, I did compact and ran again and the same problem. But, I was wondering.....my .pst file is rather large. In Thunderbird, after I've done the import, I see the "processing" icon (the turning circle) and it seems to go on forever, but maybe it's working and I'm being impatient?
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DanRaisch
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Re: outlook 2003 to thunderbird

Post by DanRaisch »

That's a possibility but there may also be corruption in the PST file that is blocking import. Let it run longer and see if it completes.
newmarket2
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Joined: December 30th, 2005, 9:58 am

Re: outlook 2003 to thunderbird

Post by newmarket2 »

Dan, how long would you suggest?

Someone suggested that I do a free upgrade to Office 2010; import my mail files and then try the import. Does that sound like it's worth the time if this doesn't work?
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DanRaisch
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Re: outlook 2003 to thunderbird

Post by DanRaisch »

I have no way to gauge the time required, never having used Outlook for more than about 4 hours and thus never having run an import from it. If you can, perhaps let it run over night.

I'm not sure about using Outlook 2010 because I don't know if there have been any changes in the file formats for that new version. Although it seems that the Knowledge Base may be off-line right now, I believe I've seen reference to using Outlook Express as some sort of intermediate tool for importing from Outlook. You might check back later and see if this link ( http://kb.mozillazine.org/Importing_and ... _your_mail ) provides any worthwhile information.
bedrock445
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Re: outlook 2003 to thunderbird

Post by bedrock445 »

Hi!
I am trying to get from outlook 2003 to thunderbird too. It is proving to be nearly impoossible.
I have a very large PST (Several, in fact). I am on windows 7-64. Microsoft dropped outlook express from Vista and replaced it with windows mail. Then, they dropped windows mail from win 7. So I cannot use the "outlook express" approach and most new win 7 users will not be able to either.

Some have suggested if I upgrade to Outlook 2010, I could migrate from there. Seems like a lot of work. If I go thru that, I would probably stop at 2010.

Others suggested "downgrading" to XP, Installing outlook 2003, con\vertine outlook 2003 to outlook express, installing thunderbird and converting to that, then moving the whole mess back into win 7-64. Are you kiddding??

Is there a sane way to move from outlook 2003 under win 7 to thunderbird in win 7?
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DanRaisch
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Re: outlook 2003 to thunderbird

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