Updated: 2009-04-09

Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 is compatible with earlier versions of Outlook. Upgrading typically involves no more than customizing settings and then deploying Outlook on users' computers.

Note:
This topic is for Outlook administrators. If you are experiencing difficulty upgrading Outlook on your computer, see Upgrade Your Installation in the Microsoft Office Outlook 2007Help and Support page on Office Online.

This topic discusses the following items:

Issues to consider when planning an upgrade, including planning for cryptographic and security needs, Microsoft Exchange Server upgrades, and so on.

Upgrading from an earlier version of Outlook, including configuring Outlook user profiles, upgrading with Cached Exchange Mode already configured, upgrading from an Outlook Internet-only (IMO) installation, choosing fax support, and supporting forms.

Upgrading from other mail and scheduling programs, including a table listing migration paths supported by Office Outlook 2007.

Note:
You cannot import MS Mail files to Office Outlook 2007, and you cannot share information between Office Outlook 2007 and Schedule+.

Issues to consider when planning an upgrade

To prepare for an upgrade, you must decide on the following issues:

Which cryptographic and security settings do you want your users to have? For more information, see Plan for e-mail messaging cryptography and Set consistent Outlook 2007 cryptography options for an organization.
If you use Microsoft Exchange 2000 as your messaging server, should you upgrade to Exchange 2003 or Exchange 2007 before deploying Office Outlook 2007? For more information, see How Outlook 2007 works with different Exchange Server versions.
Should you upgrade all users in your organization at once or in stages? If you plan to upgrade in stages, keep in mind that Outlook users might need to exchange e-mail messages and scheduling data with users of other Microsoft e-mail and calendar applications, which can complicate support issues.
If you plan to install the 2007 Microsoft Office system, should you upgrade to Office Outlook 2007 at the same time, or later? If users upgrade to Office Outlook 2007 before upgrading to other Office applications, their e-mail editor will have limited functionality. For more information about staging your Outlook deployment (by upgrading groups of users in stages, or by separating the Office Outlook 2007 installation from the Office installation), see Determine when to install Outlook 2007.
Should you make changes to Outlook user profiles as part of your upgrade? For example, you might define a new Exchange server or enable new features of Office Outlook 2007. For more information about customizing Outlook profiles, see Install Outlook 2007 by using the Office Customization Tool and Apply an Outlook Profile (PRF) File to configure Outlook profiles.
Does your organization use fax features or Outlook forms from earlier version of Outlook? For more information, see Upgrading from an earlier version of Outlook later in this topic.
How should you create and store a backup of your existing installation? Before upgrading to any new release, it is wise to back up your existing data. For more information about backing up Outlook files, see Back up Outlook data with the Microsoft Outlook Personal Folders Backup tool.
How will your users learn about the new interface and features of 2007 Office system? To help them get started, you might direct them to Office Online demos such as The new Microsoft Office user interface demo which allows users to try the new interface interactively. Another helpful resource for transitioning to the ribbon user interface is Interactive: Word 2003 to Word 2007 command reference guide. (Guides are also available for Microsoft Office Excel 2007 and Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007.)
Will any discontinued features or changed functionality affect when and how you upgrade? For a list of changes from earlier versions of Microsoft Outlook, see Discontinued features and modified functionality in Outlook 2007. A more technical discussion of changed functionality is included in Changes in Outlook 2007.

Upgrading from an earlier version of Outlook

You can install Office Outlook 2007 over any previous installation of Outlook. As in other 2007 Office system applications, user settings stored in the registry are migrated. If a MAPI profile already exists on a user's computer, you typically can configure your deployment to continue to use the profile. However, if you are upgrading from an Internet Mail Only (IMO) installation of Outlook 2000 or earlier, you might need to re-create user profiles.

Note:
Office Outlook 2007 cannot coexist with previous versions of Outlook on the same computer. If you determine that users need a previous version, do not install Office Outlook 2007.

When you upgrade users from an earlier version of Outlook, you must make choices about configuring user profiles, consider Cached Exchange Mode issues, and be aware of fax and forms changes.

Configuring user profiles in Office Outlook 2007

You can configure e-mail services by using the Office Customization Tool and then saving your customizations in a Setup customization file. For example, you can define Microsoft Exchange Server connections, add POP3 accounts, or specify other e-mail support.

When you create a customization file for Outlook, you have several choices for retaining, creating, or modifying user profiles. For example, you can create new default profiles for new Outlook users and keep existing profiles for current Outlook users.

You can modify Outlook user profiles during an upgrade to configure a number of user options and other features for your users, including defining default categories and default calendar subscriptions and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds. You can modify the default profile on the user's computer or define changes to profiles with a name you specify.

For more information about configuring Outlook profiles, see Install Outlook 2007 by using the Office Customization Tool.

Upgrading with Cached Exchange Mode enabled

Cached Exchange Mode is an Outlook feature that can help to provide an improved experience for users who work offline or who experience a slow or unavailable connection to the Microsoft Exchange server. Cached Exchange Mode works by downloading copies of users' Exchange mailboxes to a local file - the user's Offline Folder (OST) file. If users have large Exchange mailboxes and have OST files already configured for Outlook, and you do not already have Cached Exchange Mode enabled in your current version, you might need to take steps to help avoid errors when those users upgrade to Office Outlook 2007 with Cached Exchange Mode enabled.

When Cached Exchange Mode is deployed or enabled for users without an existing OST file, Outlook creates a new OST file. Office Outlook 2007 (and Outlook 2003) OST files are Unicode (by default) and do not have a 2-gigabyte (GB) storage limit, unlike Outlook files created with Outlook 2002 or earlier. This means that large Exchange mailboxes can typically be successfully downloaded into an Office Outlook 2007 or Outlook 2003 OST file.

However, when Outlook — in Cached Exchange Mode — tries to synchronize Exchange mailboxes for users with existing OST files from versions earlier than Outlook 2003, it might be difficult to update the OST. For help with this issue, see Plan a Cached Exchange Mode deployment in Outlook 2007.

Upgrading from Outlook 2000 IMO

When you upgrade users to Office Outlook 2007 from an Internet Mail Only (IMO) installation of an earlier version of Outlook, you might need to re-create some Outlook user profiles. Users might also encounter the following issues; a work-around is provided when available.

Address book might need to be imported manually

After you upgrade users from Outlook 2000 IMO to Office Outlook 2007, members of Microsoft Windows Address Book distribution lists in their Outlook 2000 Address Book might be absent from Office Outlook 2007.

To work around this behavior, manually import the Windows Address Book data.

To manually import Windows Address Book data

On the File menu in Office Outlook 2007, click Import and Export.
Click Import Internet Mail and Addresses, and then click Next.
Click Outlook Express 4.x, 5.x, 6.x, and then click Next.
Choose how you want to handle entries that would duplicate any current Outlook contacts, and then click Finish.

Rules might not work properly

After users upgrade to Office Outlook 2007 from Outlook 2000 IMO with multiple POP accounts, rules that are based on the through the specified account option might not function.

To work around this problem, re-create the rules in Office Outlook 2007.

To create a rule for POP accounts in 2nd_Outlook12

On the Tools menu in Office Outlook 2007, click Rules and Alerts.
Click New Rule.
Click Start from a blank rule, and then click Next.
Under Which condition(s) do you want to check?, select the through the specified account check box, and then click the underlined value to enter the specified POP account.
Click Next.
Under What do you want to do with the message?, click Move it to the specified folder, and then click the underlined value to enter the specified folder.
Click Next.
Click Next.
Click Finish.

Error for unsupported fax software might not appear

When you upgrade users from Outlook 2000 in IMO mode with the Symantec Winfax Starter Edition installed and configured to Office Outlook 2007 , the following error message should appear but might not:

Setup has detected that you have one or more of the following features installed: - cc:Mail - Microsoft Mail - Net Folders - Microsoft Fax - WinFax Starter Edition (SE) These features are no longer supported in Outlook. If you continue the upgrade, you will no longer be able to use them. Would you like to continue the upgrade to Outlook?

This error message should appear, and Symantec Winfax Starter Edition should be included as one of the features that is no longer supported.

Choosing fax support in Office Outlook 2007

Integrated fax support is not provided in Office Outlook 2007. However, you can use third-party MAPI fax providers or Microsoft Windows fax support.

WinFax — an earlier faxing program that was integrated with Outlook — is uninstalled by Office Outlook 2007. If the viewer is currently on a user's computer, it is uninstalled as part of the upgrade process.

Supporting forms in Office Outlook 2007

If you have custom solutions that depend on Electronic Forms Designer, note that Electronic Forms Designer is not supported in Office Outlook 2007.

Upgrading from other mail and scheduling programs

You can upgrade to Office Outlook 2007 from other e-mail and scheduling programs. The process can be simplified with the use of the import feature in Outlook.

The following table lists migration paths supported by Office Outlook 2007.

Software program	Version
Outlook Express	4.x, 5.x, 6.x
Eudora Pro, Eudora Light	2.x, 3.x, 4.x, 5.x

Note:
You cannot import MS Mail files to Office Outlook 2007, and you cannot share information between Office Outlook 2007 and Schedule+.

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