From Leo's mailbag:
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: June 8, 2005
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: outlook folders on network?
>
> Leo,
> We're running Microsoft Standard Server 2003. Our e-mail is=20
> hosted by a 3rd party and is POP3 (not IMAP or Exchange).
>=20
> The MS Server 2003 is acting as our primary domain=20
> controller. All of our client PC's log on to the PDC and have=20
> their "My Documents" folder mapped to the server. The idea is=20
> to have one computer (the server) to back up and to allow=20
> anyone to pretty much go to *any* computer in the office, log=20
> in, and have all their documents available.
>=20
> The problem: everyone is using Outlook as their e-mail=20
> program, including people with laptops. Outlook is saving to=20
> a .PST file on the local hard drive. As far as we can tell,=20
> you *can't* put the .PST file on a shared/offline drive (thus=20
> allowing it to be sync'd and backed up like all the other=20
> files in "My Documents").
>=20
> But I found this:=20
> http://blogs.onenw.org/kb/archives/000314.html =A0the linked ms=20
> kbase seems to indicate that you can do it, just that they=20
> don't recommend it...but why?
>=20
> Basically the whole idea is to have people be able to access=20
> all the files in "my documents" *and* most importantly, their=20
> Outlook stuff, even if the server/network is down and/or=20
> they're away from the office (laptop users). and/or, to allow=20
> people to go to ANY computer, log in as them, and have access=20
> to all their files and e-mail.
>=20
> Currently we *do* have "my documents" set up that way. We're=20
> just running into problems with Outlook's .pst. Is there a=20
> way to make PST and/or the desktop folder into an offline=20
> file/folder or the equivalent? By the way, moving to an=20
> Exchange server is *not* an option at this time.
There's no technical reason not to. Just do a file-open on
the networked PST. I do it for my backup PSTs all the time.
(You can reconfigure to make it the primary PST if you like.
While not a direct set of instructions, this article discusses
configuring the PST location:
http://ask-leo.com/how_should_i_setup_outlook.html)
The problem I see (and the reason I don't do it for my
primary PST into which email gets delivered) is the potential
for a network hiccup causing a problem. I'm not sure that
corruption would result, but I wouldn't want to risk it :-).
Thanks for asking!
Leo