Public Folders on Exchange 5.5

[Paulst30]

Our exchange server is dying a slow death these days (Service contractor arent allowed to fix them anymore) in my work and we use a public folder structure for loads of hospital contacts and other surgeries and its very important that i keep these contacts.

We use Exchange 5.5 and Outlook 2003. I've tried loads of different methods from importing to CSV, PST files but nothing solid.

Is there a way i can import the contacts to our mapped drive on the main server, then point to them in Outlook on each machine to view them?

I copied the whole contacts structure from the public folder to a separate folder in my inbox, but it was time consuming. Any help or steps for a hint would be great.

Cheers

[abranei]

Hi Paul - How I read your post is that you want to create a public folder on a mapped drive?

I wouldnt waste my time on fudging a solution and look to invoke DR on your Exchange 5.5 box, perform a risk assessment. This will give you good business case to replace the Exchange server.

Ideally test your backups to ensure they are vaild.

Can you relocate the public folders onto another Exchange server? If not then if this 5.5 rig dies then public folders will be least of your worries if the email services goes down.

[Paulst30]

My Practice has moved over to NHS.net webmail and will no longer support the exchange server, when it dies, it dies and thats the end of it.

I kind of sorted it today, i just moved the contacts to the contacts folder saved on each machine,

Its all very important contacts, i.e emergency ambulances, doctors and consultants, things like that, however all i need to do is sort who needs it and migrate it to their local machine.

[abranei]

One issue I see with a copy on each machine is the information becoming inconsistent if details change. Multiple copies is a admin nightmare.

I dont know much about the NHS.net webmail system so I'm talking blind. If the system is Exchange with OWA (Outlook Web Access) then you can import the public folders and access this via OWA.

If all the old Exchange rigs are not being replaced then how has other practices dealt with Exchange folders?

If you have a spare PC or server or one with capacity you could virtualise the 5.5 rig using Virtual Server 2005. I've not done this with NT or 5.5 so it will take some investigation. This will allow the 5.5 rig to continue to provide the Exchange server services. This will allow you to retire the old machine and gain performance and reliability

[abranei]

Hi Paul,

I managed to get a peek at the NHS.net website.

Is there a issue as to why you cannot import the contacts into the NHS.net contacts? As I understand this can be setup for individual practices but dont hold me to it.