Outlook Setup

[RodgerMac]

I know this is little of the subject but again this is my first time setting up a dual boot system. I have a dual boot XP and Vista system, using windows boot loader. I use Outlook 2003 for my email in my orignal windows XP setup. I installed Office 2003 in vista, I would like to use the same mail directory for both versions of outlook. So mail is seamless between the two OS's. Is that possible? Is there a good guide out there that will tell me how to set it up? thanks Rodger

[k0lo]

Rodger:

It would depend on how you have your dual-boot arrangement set up. Basically, you need a place to store Outlook's data store file (Outlook.pst) that is able to be seen by both operating systems. While I haven't done this, the following is the general idea. If you make a copy of your current Outlook.pst file in XP as a backup, then you can experiment. If all else fails, then just restore the backup.

Non-Isolated Dual-Boot Partitions
If you have a non-isolated dual-boot setup where you can see the Vista drive from XP and the XP drive from Vista, then you only need to use the same Outlook.pst file when running Outlook from either OS. For example, if you already have Outlook set up and running correctly in XP, then make note of the location of the Outlook.pst file. You can find this in Outlook by doing the following:

Tools > Account Settings > Data Files. Click on the mailbox in use and choose "Settings". Write down the path to the file, which will be displayed in the "Filename" section of the dialog box.

Then boot into Vista and open Outlook. Go to Tools > Account Settings > Data Files > Add. Navigate to the location of XP's Outlook.pst file as previously determined and add it as a data file. Then set it to be the default. You could then delete the data file that Vista was previously using.

Now both operating systems will share the same data file.

Isolated Dual-Boot Partitions
If you have an isolated dual-boot setup where Vista can't see the XP drive and vice-versa, then you will need to add a data partition that can be seen by both operating systems and put your Outlook.pst file there. You could use Acronis Disk Director to create a logical data partition, format it as NTFS, and then you'll have a place to put files that can be seen by both operating systems.