installing outlook

[chiefyb]

I am trying to instal Outlook 2010 on a machine currently running Outlook Express 6. The installation disk asks: Upgrade or Custom? I don't know the answer to this question and Microsoft's support system is a labyrinth of happy smiling faces asking "Can I help you?" and then throwing up a thousand obstacles to actually answering a simple question.
I am going to bed to dream of strangling one of their helpdesk models but posting this meanwhile in the hope I will wake up to find Answerbank (which I normally use for finishing crosswords) has saved my life overnight ...

[ChuckFickens]

If it's asking you to upgrade you must have a previous version of outlook on your computer (you are probably not using it, but it will be installed, probably in an earlier version of Microsoft office.)

In which case, select upgrade. (custom would allow you to install outlook 2010 and keep the previous version, which is pointless)

[chiefyb]

Thanks for that. You're probably right, but I'm concerned about losing stuff I want to keep. I tried to Export my existing email folders to an ext. hard drive and they went to somewhere called Outlook, without giving me any option, where I now can't find them, altho new Outlook was still not loaded. The infuriating thing is not to be able to ask Microsoft - hope somebody MS reads this. I get caught in a Catch 22 where they want a product number which is not yet registered, altho I paid for the damned thing and it's all legit, and all phone numbers and email addresses I can find are the wrong ones.

[ChuckFickens]

As you are using outlook express (OE) anything you do in regards to installing outlook will not touch outlook express at all, you'll still be able to load OE after you've installed outlook and continue to use it as you always have if you so wished.

If you want to transfer all your emails from outlook express to outlook once you've installed it then you can... you'll need to find the location of the mailstore in OE by going Tools > Options > Maintenance, then click the Store Folder and copy the location of the files.

You can then import them into outlook by clicking on the file tab, select open and then select import, in the wizard that comes up select import from another program, then select outlook express or windows mail and browse to the location of the files you got from the first step... finish the import wizard and all your old mails from OE will be in outlook.

[chiefyb]

With that reassurance, decided to go for it and all has worked fine - so definitely a Best Answer. Many thanks and hope I can return the favour someday, somehow.