Installing MS Outlook on new PC

[loveisagirlnameddaisy]

We gave my FIL a laptop for his bday to replace his ancient desktop PC. He's been happily using Outlook to view and manage emails (on a sky email account). I'm helping set the PC up and am not 100% sure what the procedure is with Outlook. I know how to install it but do I need to copy all his emails over from the Outlook application on the old PC?

You only need to copy emails if he wants to keep them. If the emails he wants to keep are already in an Outlook data file (.pst) you simply need to copy that file.

Yes, he wants to keep everything as if there had been no change of computer. I need to move everything over. So how do I do this?

The simplest approach is to create an Outlook data file, copy the stuff you want to keep to that file, copy the file to the new PC then open it using Outlook.

If you want more detailed instructions you'll need to say which version of Outlook he is currently using.

Thanks. He's using outlook 2003 and it's possible I'll have to reinstall this on the new laptop as he when buying new software for the laptop he got Office Home & Student 2013 which doesn't have outlook!

Click on File, New, Outlook Data File. Make sure the type of storage is set to "Office Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst)" and click Ok. Select the folder where you want to store the file and change the name if you don't like the default then click Ok. In the next dialog just click Ok.

The folder list should now be updated. You will see a new item, "Personal Folders", at the bottom. Right click on it to create a new folder. The dialog that appears will allow you to select the type of items you want to store in this folder. The default is Mail and Post items which is fine if all you want is emails. Give the folder a name and click Ok. Depending on what your FIL wants transferred you may need to create several folders, e.g. one for his inbox, another for his sent items and so on.

To copy all the emails from the inbox to a folder in Personal Folders go to the inbox, type CTRL+A to select all emails then CTRL+C to copy them, go to the destination folder and type CTRL+V.

Once you've copied everything you need right click on Personal Folders and select Close "Personal Folders". You will then need to close Outlook down before you try to copy the file.

You are now ready to copy the file to the new PC. Once it is there and you have Outlook running select File, Open, Outlook Data File and select the file you have copied. The folder list will now include "Personal Folders" and you can copy the emails to their final destination.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, that's a huge help!