Archiving - Why do we need to do it?
At Charles Sturt University, the server for staff email only has a limited amount of space. As a result, each staff member has a maximum quota for email storage on the server. If your email exceeds this quota size, your mail services will become restricted and eventually no email will be accepted for your email address. Depending on the group you are in, your quota is as follows:
| Warning | Stop Send | Stop Receive | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Casual | 460 megabytes | 524 megabytes | 573 megabytes |
| Staff | 1843 megabytes | 2048 megabytes | 2252 megabytes |
| Exec | 3584 megabytes | 4096 megabytes | 4300 megabytes |
When the amount of email on the mail server reaches the quota, you need to remove the emails to another location. This process is called archiving.
For any email correspondence, please make sure that you adhere to the CSU records management policy. For information about records management at Charles Sturt University, please visit:
For any email that is not a requirement for our records management system, DIT recommends that these old emails be moved of the mail server on to a file on your computer, and a copy of these burnt to CD for your backup requirements. The following is a step by step guide to archiving your old email to a PST file stored in the D: Drive on your computer.
Identifying how much room you are using on the mail server.
- Before you archive to a PST file, you need to know how much room you are currently using on the exchange servers.
- To find this information out open outlook, then click the right mouse button on the mailbox – your name and select "Properties for Mailbox – Your Name"
- On this screen click on the button "Folder Size..." The next screen gives you an overview of the size of your mailbox and where items are stored
Most people at CSU are in the group STAFF, and as a result will get email notifications about being close to quota when the total size (including subfolders): is 1843200 KB. You must reduce your email to bellow this figure to ensure continuity of your email service.
Procedure For Archiving Old Emails To Pst File
- To create a PST file, in Outlook, click File, then New and select Outlook Data file
- Make sure Office Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) is selected and press OK.
- In the Create or Open Outlook Data File screen navigate to My Documents\Outlook If this folder does not exist, create it. Call the File name: something that will make sense to you when you are looking at this folder. The naming convention for these files so that they are readily identified is your CSU username followed by the month and year that the file was created. For example: testuser October 2009.pst
- In the Create Microsoft Personal Folders box that appears, change the name from Personal Folders to the same name you called the file, as in the above example, testuser October 2009. Leave the password field blank and press OK.
PLEASE NOTE: If you are using outlook 2007, check the Format line. If it does not say Personal File format, but instead reads Personal Folders File (97-2002), we recommend that you press cancel and repeat the steps again paying particular attention when selecting Office Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) in the New Outlook data file dialogue box. In older versions of outlook, you cannot choose the Personal File format.
If you leave the format as Personal Folders File (97-2002) or you are using an older version of Outlook, you may have problems if your data file is of a large size as these files only support data files of 2000 megabytes. - Now in your Mail Folders list in outlook, you should see an entry with the name you specified in the previous step. Click the plus sign next to this to expand it. This file behaves in a similar way to your mailbox entry above it, you can create subfolders, and drag emails or entire folders to this group.
- Move the email you want to archive to the newly created PST file, check to see that your email is now under the quota and when you are happy with the result, you will then need to make a copy of the PST file in case your hard drive corrupts.
Opening your Pst Files from a different computer/reimaged computer
- The folder you made to store your archived messages will be viewable in your 'Mail Folders' unless you move to a different computer, or receive a new computer.
- You can only view the files from a different computer if they have been copied over to the D Drive on that computer. (When you receive a new computer from the 'Computer Shop' this will be done for you during the installation of that new computer)
- To open your .pst files on a different computer you need to add them to the 'Mail Folders'
- Click on File, Open, Outlook Data Fiile
- Browse to where your pst files are stored
- Click on OK and you will see the folder with the email messages inside it displayed in your list of 'Mail Folders'
Burn Pst To Disk
- Close Outlook, this will allow the PST to be copied to disk.
- You should not manually copy items to the PST file as these will not be backed up onto the burnt PST copy.
- You should be able to find the PST file you created in your My Documents folder in the Outlook folder. Use the CD or DVD writing software on your computer to burn a backup copy of the PST file to your preferred medium.
- After burning a backup, place the PST backup disc in case a recovery is needed in the future. Please be aware that any University records should be stored in the TRIM Document Management system. For more information, visit the CSU records management site at: http://www.csu.edu.au/division/dit/records/index.html
Helpful Tips
- Remember not to put any new email in the PST file after you have burnt a copy as these new emails will not be backed up. Create a new PST file the next time you want to archive.
- Keep in mind what you are going to store your backups of your PST files on, if you are going to use a CD, these have a maximum file size of around 640 megabytes, and DVDs have a maximum size of 4500 megabytes.
In Outlook 2007 you can still easily search within your PST files at the same time as searching you mailbox by clicking the down arrow next to all mail items and ticking all the areas you wish to search. (pictured)- Your PST file only exists on the computer you create it on, if you use someone else’s computer, you will not have access to your archived information unless you use your backup copy that you created to put them on that computer.
- You will not be able to access PST files from weboutlook