Psssttt... it's a BIG file

Plugging in... 

How many use the Outlook email program? Yes, I thought so. Millions. So what happens when one needs to transfer the address book, and ALL the email messages saved in Outlook? Microsoft made part of this easy and straight-forward. Everything, and the Tutor does mean everything, is contained in one file, called the PST file. Copy, paste, success, right? Not that quick...

A client bought a new laptop to replace the aged one at the office. The "aged one's" USB ports hadn't worked in years which meant we couldn't use a USB flash drive or an external hard drive to transfer the file. We had hoped to accomplish this in one visit, without having to purchase additional hardware or software to complete the transfer. Usually, that is not an unreasonable goal.

Challenge #2: The Outlook file was TOO LARGE to send via email to transfer it AND it was too large for many of the free transfer websites that promote handling the transference of large files. So much for straight-forward and easy. The Tutor advised the client to sign up for the PAID Dropbox website ($9.99/month) which would allow up to 10GB (giga-bytes) of storage space. We then copied the PST file to Dropbox. On the new laptop, the Dropbox software was downloaded and installed and it quietly sat in the corner waiting for the Outlook.pst file to make an appearance. And it waited, and waited and waited. The client went home and left the computer on overnight. In the morning? Still waiting...

Although this solution was eventually successful, and the large Outlook file was transferred and operational at its final destination, it was not done in a timely manner. The copy procedure from the old laptop to the Dropbox location took almost 24 hours. Yes, you read that right. TWENTY-FOUR hours. The file was 5GB in size. The transfer began at 3:00pm on one day, and finished the next day, around 3:00pm. The Dropbox solution worked, the client paid the $9.99 fee then canceled the Dropbox subscription. The client, knowing the broken USB ports caused all this brouhaha in the first place, was very appreciative.

COPIER BEWARE: slow, slow, slow; start the process late afternoon if the file is large, and don't be alarmed if it's still transferring many hours later. Patience is a virtue.

ALWAYS REMEMBER: before calling for help - is it plugged in, do the USB ports work, and is it turned on?

Unplugged