Can Outlook .PST import tool be used with a .zdb message store?

[SiliconJunkie]

Good morning.

One of my users with a large mailbox (9.5+ GB ) had some trouble because they took it upon themselves to install another version of Office on top of their existing version. It kinda trashed Outlook, but the local message store seems to be OK.

They also used Windows Mail and downloaded a lot of their messages off the server using POP. I discovered this after they complained that everything between November 2005 and June 2009 seemed to be missing when they used the web interface!

After taking many hours exporting from Windows Mail, and importing into Outlook, scanning and removing duplicate items in folders, pruning and compacting the .zdb local message store, and more logically storing old e-mail by date in a hierarchical folder structure, I think I've got their local message store well situated.

My question is, if I reconnect the machine to the network, will the local store sync with the server correctly? Would it be better to delete the mailbox from the server, re-create it, and then run the .PST import utility against the .ZDB file, and can that even be done?

I'm open to all suggestions, and thanks for reading!

[SiliconJunkie]

I found an old thread from 2006 that says you can rename a .zdb file with a .pst extension, and use the import tool.

Is this still valid?

How about backing up a .ZDB file in Outlook as a .PST, and use that - will it capture all calendar and contact information, or only mail messages - if I select "Zimbra - Personal Folders" and check off the Include sub-folders check box...?

Any/All comments welcomed.

[Amitabh Verma]

It is still valid and all data including messages, contacts and calendar appointments should be migrated.

[SiliconJunkie]

Outstanding... I'm running an import test to a test account right now.

Thanks for the confirmation.

[ewilen]

Incidentally, you may want to turn off POP access on your server, depending on how you intend your users to do their work. In my case I turned it off to prevent exactly the scenario you described.

[SiliconJunkie]

Yep, I disabled POP right after this happened.

Then, come to find out that I have two, maybe three users still relying on POP, so I had to turn it back on.

I'll get those users migrated over to IMAP soon enough, though.