Outlook 2003 to 2010

[tekjunky]

All of our users are using Office 2003. We have one user that has a large Outlook .pst file. It has been archived and it is still almost 4 gigs. Before we archived it, it was 18 gigs. Outlook has crashed several times and we have had to reinstall it and then open up his .pst file and set up all of his email accounts. We are looking at buying a new laptop for him with Office 2010. My question is will Outlook 2010 handle this large of a .pst better 2003? Will there be issues importing everything in to 2010 from 2003 like the .pst file? Will there be any issues interacting with word documents and spread sheets from the other users using 2003? Will the users be able to open his 2010 documents using Office 2003? Thank you for your input!

[Guts3d]

Nope, the .PST file can corrupt after only 2 gigs in size. I have never heard of one getting to be 18 gigs and still working! The file size limitation is a function of the file system, not Office itself.

[tekjunky]

He is using windows XP now. Do you know if Windows 7 has the same limitations of the file size?

[Guts3d]

I stand corrected! And I don't believe that there is any significant difference between Windows XP with Office and Windows 7 with Office in file size usage.

[Zonie]

In regards to Office 2003 being able to open the Office 2010 documents, download and install this Compatability Pack and there will be no problems.

[Ferrit]

Anything above 2 gigs in XP is absolutely asking for trouble and frankly i have never seen a outlook file above 2 gigs that works. Windows XP especially has a 2 gig file limit and it would be a miracle that it worked above that

[yesenialitzy]

Upgrading to Office 2010 is like you have the solution for all your issues. I have my Pst with 10 to 22 GB of sizes each and have 12 Psts attached to my mailbox.

http://www.techyv.com/blog/outlook-data-storage-and-pst

Get an idea from this OS has nothing to do with the size its the outlook itself.
best way to stop it from crashing and solve the issue temporarily is.

Attach the pst to a office 2007 or 2010 Outlook and then start archiving into smaller Pst's and then get the latest 1 month mails of so back to the user.