(temporarily) run Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2021 at the same time?

AndreIsComputn · Dec 21, 2023

Hi there, brand new to the forum so apologies if I unintentionally break any rules!

I have been using an ancient (bad I know) version of Outlook, 2003, for many years and have a ton of appointments on the calendar that I need to migrate over to my new purchase of Outlook 2021 that came with my office 2021 purchase. Honestly the calendar from Outlook 2003 is the only thing I use from Office 2003, I use Apache Open Office for MS word functionality and don't really bother with the other programs like Excel or Powerpoint and so forth so I'm hoping between that and Norton I'll be more or less protected from hacks and malware and so forth :)

It looks like there's no easy way to import the outlook 2003 reminders into outlook 2021 - outlook uses a pst file for that sort of thing which outlook 2021 definitely does not use so I will have to slowly and painstakingly copy my many, many calendar reminders over to outlook 2021.. I had already started this process by using the Calendar app that comes with Windows 10 that is "built into" Windows (copying reminders from outlook 2003 manually to the calendar app) and was hoping to eventually update the ics file it creates in my linked microsoft account and eventually import that into my new outlook 2021 (which I have not installed yet, waiting on that until I upgrade to Win 11 which I have not yet gotten around to doing because it's going to be a huge pain in the butt with all the programs I have installed and need to reinstall :) )

Unfortunately it looks like Microsoft has now imposed a time limit on the calendar that comes with Win 10 and MS says they will be getting rid of it and replacing it with their own free version of Outlook which would normally be fine if it wasn't for the fact that there appears to be no way to import a ics file into their free outlook, even if the ics file has been uploaded to the online outlook that is linked to the microsoft account that is in turn linked to your Win 10 installation it just plain doesn't carry over for some reason automatically and you're greeted with a blank calendar if you try their new free outlook .. tried other ways of importing the ics file I was able to create with win 10 calendar into the free outlook, didn't work, bitter complaints online from people with a similar problem to which microsoft has responded it's a "work in progress" and that functionality is not there yet.

So it would seem my only option is to have BOTH outlook 2003 and outlook 2021 up and running when MS finally takes away my Win 10 calendar app and go on copying reminders from the 2003 to the 2021 version .. my concern is will this even work? (whether under Win 10 or Win 11).. not sure if the older and newer outlooks will conflict with each other.

Thanks so much to anyone who reads this and replies :)

Wynona · Dec 21, 2023

AndreIsComputn said:
Hi there, brand new to the forum so apologies if I unintentionally break any rules!

I have been using an ancient (bad I know) version of Outlook, 2003, for many years and have a ton of appointments on the calendar that I need to migrate over to my new purchase of Outlook 2021 that came with my office 2021 purchase. Honestly the calendar from Outlook 2003 is the only thing I use from Office 2003, I use Apache Open Office for MS word functionality and don't really bother with the other programs like Excel or Powerpoint and so forth so I'm hoping between that and Norton I'll be more or less protected from hacks and malware and so forth :)

It looks like there's no easy way to import the outlook 2003 reminders into outlook 2021 - outlook uses a pst file for that sort of thing which outlook 2021 definitely does not use so I will have to slowly and painstakingly copy my many, many calendar reminders over to outlook 2021.. I had already started this process by using the Calendar app that comes with Windows 10 that is "built into" Windows (copying reminders from outlook 2003 manually to the calendar app) and was hoping to eventually update the ics file it creates in my linked microsoft account and eventually import that into my new outlook 2021 (which I have not installed yet, waiting on that until I upgrade to Win 11 which I have not yet gotten around to doing because it's going to be a huge pain in the butt with all the programs I have installed and need to reinstall :) )

Unfortunately it looks like Microsoft has now imposed a time limit on the calendar that comes with Win 10 and MS says they will be getting rid of it and replacing it with their own free version of Outlook which would normally be fine if it wasn't for the fact that there appears to be no way to import a ics file into their free outlook, even if the ics file has been uploaded to the online outlook that is linked to the microsoft account that is in turn linked to your Win 10 installation it just plain doesn't carry over for some reason automatically and you're greeted with a blank calendar if you try their new free outlook .. tried other ways of importing the ics file I was able to create with win 10 calendar into the free outlook, didn't work, bitter complaints online from people with a similar problem to which microsoft has responded it's a "work in progress" and that functionality is not there yet.

So it would seem my only option is to have BOTH outlook 2003 and outlook 2021 up and running when MS finally takes away my Win 10 calendar app and go on copying reminders from the 2003 to the 2021 version .. my concern is will this even work? (whether under Win 10 or Win 11).. not sure if the older and newer outlooks will conflict with each other.

Thanks so much to anyone who reads this and replies :)

You might want to take a look at this from Microsoft:

Support has ended for Office 2003 - Microsoft Support

Support for Office 2003 ends on April 8, 2014. Read this article for more information about what this means.

support.microsoft.com

It looks like Microsoft has ended all support for Office 2003.

Berton · Dec 21, 2023

I have Office 2013 on a computer and it can Export the Calendar as a .ics or .vcs format. I have Microsoft 365 with Outlook on a computer and it lists only Hotmail.com and Outlook.com in setup of E-Mail as accounts it can work with.

Wynona · Dec 21, 2023

Berton said:
I have Office 2013 on a computer and it can Export the Calendar as a .ics or .vcs format. I have Microsoft 365 with Outlook on a computer and it lists only Hotmail.com and Outlook.com in setup of E-Mail as accounts it can work with.

Hmmmm, I have Microsoft 365 and I could get email from live .com (now extinct as far as I know) and gmail I believe live .com is still where I go if I have problems with Outlook. At least if I have a problem it wants to send an email to my old live account.

Berton · Dec 21, 2023

I got my Hotmail account more than 20 years ago then it was supposed to merge to Outlook.com so I got an account there but the merge didn't happen. Then both became part of outlook.live.com and all work. All confusing but neither of my accounts went away midst the confusion between the installed Outlook and the online Outlook.com.

AndreIsComputn · Dec 21, 2023

Thank you all for replying so quickly :) .. I didn't mention this in the original post but elevenforum has had a lot of useful info that I've pulled from it in the past (questions about Macrium Reflect that you guys already answered you often show up in google search when some ignorant person like me is looking for answers :) ) ..

And yep support being discontinued for outlook 2003 would definitely mean among other things it could be hacked as the article Wynona kindly linked states, I just hope if I limit myself to the calendar function only (I don't use outlook for email or anything else, just the calendar function alone) that it will .. hopefully! .. help to limit attacks by hackers or viruses looking to exploit outlook 2003 until I can finally copy my many, many reminders accumulated over the years to outlook 2021 .. I should have started on this years ago now I've got too many reminders to copy over

Man I wish I'd known how to link my outlook 2003 to a hotmail account back when I first started using it I had no idea you could even do that ! That might have solved my problem but I started out using it as a "stand alone" product so to speak all those years ago and not sure something that old (outlook 2003) could be linked to the microsoft account I have linked to my Win 10 installation right now.

Honestly I'm a bit surprised the microsoft engineers haven't come up with a pst to ics converter, if nothing else to encourage people to ditch their very old versions of office and buy a newer version of office (not being able to import your calendar reminders might just cause people to not bother with a newer version of office if they don't know about or don't care about the security hazards of old versions of office (again, not using Word, excel, powerpoint, et cetera of office 2003, just the calendar myself personally )

If I can get outlook 2003 and outlook 2021 up and running on .. heck now that I think about it , it would be in Windows 11 because (to be on the safe side) wouldn't install office 2021 until I do my Win 11 upgrade ... at the same time that would solve the problem until I finally copy all the appointments over to outlook 2021 and say bye to outlook 2003.

trumpy81 · Dec 21, 2023

@AndreIsComputn

This link may help you with the .pst to .ics conversion.

Redirecting

answers.microsoft.com

It's worth a try at least.

dacrone · Dec 21, 2023

You should be able to install office 2021 x64 and office 2003 x86 simultaneously. I’ve done it with 2007 and 2019 before

AndreIsComputn · Dec 21, 2023

trumpy81 thanks for that :) .. I do remember looking at those when I was trying in vain to google search some sort of way to import pst files into newer versions of outlook that go the ics route.. it's possible I might be misunderstanding it but I think if you have a zillion reminders like I do then you have to grab their paid version ... normally I don't mind supporting software companies but with the cost of putting two kids through college not really in a position to do so right now

Dacrone thanks very much that's encouraging , that you were able to install 2007 and 2019 at the same time.. hopefully that means I would be able to run 2003 and 2021 outlook at the same time at least until I transfer everything over

antspants · Dec 21, 2023

Berton said:
I got my Hotmail account more than 20 years ago then it was supposed to merge to Outlook.com so I got an account there but the merge didn't happen. Then both became part of outlook.live.com and all work. All confusing but neither of my accounts went away midst the confusion between the installed Outlook and the online Outlook.com.

I also still have a Hotmail account from about 20 years ago and there has been no impact receiving mail from any em client. I may even have a live account, somewhere.

trumpy81 · Dec 21, 2023

@AndreIsComputn
According to this site, you can do what you want in Outlook.

Convert pst to ics - Find any file converter

Software that can be used for conversion of pst file type to ics format.

www.file-extensions.org

You cant do a direct convert, but you can import and then export. It might be worth exploring at least, even if it takes a few extra steps.

At least the price is right ... lol

Here are some steps you may be able to follow:
To import PST files to Office 365 without paid software, you can try these manual methods:

1. Outlook Import Export Wizard

Open Outlook and go to the File tab.
Select Open & Export, and then choose Import/Export.
In the Import and Export Wizard, select "Import from another program or file" and click Next.
Choose "Outlook Data File (.pst)" and click Next.
Click on the "Browse" button to locate the PST file on your computer.
Select the PST file you want to import and choose the desired options.
Select the destination where you want to import the PST file, such as your Office 365 mailbox.
Click Finish to initiate the import process.

I imagine the steps would be similar in 2021. I have no idea if this would work or not, but it cant hurt to try it ... lol

glasskuter · Dec 22, 2023

In the past running 2 versions of office on the same computer was difficult and I have seen it cause a lot of trouble because they use the same file extensions and dlls. IMO I would not recommend it, not even temporarily because I think you would end up with a mess on your hands when you went to uninstall one version.

I do remember in the past if one wanted to install and use more than one version of Office on the same computer, the earliest version had to be installed first. This step is necessary because of the way registry keys, shared programs, file extensions, and other settings are managed for each version of Office,and for the programs that are included with each version.
I also remember in earlier versions it was recommended that one install the second version in a different location.

It is my suggestion that if you just have to install 2003, that you should do so in a virtual machine.

idgat · Dec 22, 2023

Been there, tried that ... ended in tears. All I will say, make sure you have a coupla images (for insurance - one Macrium, one AOMEI Backupper) of the existing system before you try it.

From experience and memory, if it goes pear shaped (which it did, badly!!) it's not as simple as uninstalling one of the versions. The Windows uninstall process will more than likely uninstall common components resulting in the left-behind version failing. You could always repair or re-install the preferred/remaining version, but who knows what cr4p is floating around your drive because of the flawed process.

Not recommended for the faint hearted.

glasskuter · Dec 22, 2023

@idgat said it better than I did.

Try3 · Dec 22, 2023

AndreIsComputn said:
It looks like there's no easy way to import the outlook 2003 reminders into outlook 2021

What do you mean "reminders"?
Do you mean Calendar "Appointments"?

If so, what stopped you opening the Outlook 2003 pst file in Outlook 2021?
Open and close Outlook Data Files (.pst) - Microsoft Support
Once the pst file is open, you can just drag all the Appointments across from the Outlook 2003 pst file's Calendar folder into the Outlook 2021 Calender folder.
- You'll find that putting the Navigation pane [the left-hand pane] into Folder view will be the easiest way to do the move.
- You'll then be able to close the Outlook 2003 pst file afterwards.
- You will not use any function described as Import. It's just opening a pst file.
That's a much more straightforward solution than trying to run both Outlook versions.

Denis

Dru2 · Dec 22, 2023

AndreIsComputn said:
It looks like there's no easy way to import the outlook 2003 reminders into outlook 2021 - outlook uses a pst file for that sort of thing which outlook 2021 definitely does not use so I will have to slowly and painstakingly copy my many, many calendar reminders over to outlook 2021..

I've never run Outlook 2021, but I had a hard time believing you couldn't import a .PST file into Outlook 2021, yet, I can't seem to find anything from "Microsoft" specifically listing "Outlook 2021" as capable of doing so. Just absolutely, unbelievable if this is the case

That said, and I'm only asking as a way of confirming my disbelief... Do you not have these settings/options to import a .PST file?

Import email, contacts, and calendar from an Outlook .pst file - Microsoft Support

Import all of your Outlook email, contacts, or calendar events that you saved to a .pst so you can view them in Outlook.

support.microsoft.com

Anyway, I'm using Office 365 with Outlook, and I can import .PST files and have a couple in use - one as my main data file for contacts, calendar, and tasks. The other as for archiving purposes.

I'm just baffled that Microsoft would remove that feature from 2021.

Berton · Dec 22, 2023

Didn't pay sufficient attention, forgot to mention it but running Office 2000, 2002/XP or 2003 needs the Compatibility Pack [File Format Converters] installed so as to work with files created by Office 2007 and later.

Download Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats 4 for Windows - Filehippo.com

Download Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats 4 for Windows. Fast downloads of the latest free software! Click now

filehippo.com

AndreIsComputn · Dec 22, 2023

thanks very much for this you guys I can't believe it didn't occur to me to look on youtube first ! The links are super helpful :) .. and my apologies I should have been more clear, yes I'm using the wrong word I'm talking about calendar appointments I should not be using the word reminders :) .. and I have not yet installed office 2021, I'm afraid of Microsoft screwing up and refusing to let the license carry forward to Win 11 when I upgrade my PC to Win 11 and haven't gotten around to the Win 11 upgrade (going to be a lot of work uninstalling and reinstalling all those programs

)

AndreIsComputn · Dec 22, 2023

Try3 said:
What do you mean "reminders"?
Do you mean Calendar "Appointments"?

If so, what stopped you opening the Outlook 2003 pst file in Outlook 2021?
Open and close Outlook Data Files (.pst) - Microsoft Support
Once the pst file is open, you can just drag all the Appointments across from the Outlook 2003 pst file's Calendar folder into the Outlook 2021 Calender folder.
- You'll find that putting the Navigation pane [the left-hand pane] into Folder view will be the easiest way to do the move.
- You'll then be able to close the Outlook 2003 pst file afterwards.
- You will not use any function described as Import. It's just opening a pst file.
That's a much more straightforward solution than trying to run both Outlook versions.

Denis

Denis thanks for this :) .. I just wanted to be clear, you are recommending that I not go with the import the pst option like Dru2 suggested and use this method instead? (maybe importing the pst file will create a "hiccup" or problem in the process so it's better to do it this way?)

AndreIsComputn · Dec 22, 2023

Berton said:
Didn't pay sufficient attention, forgot to mention it but running Office 2000, 2002/XP or 2003 needs the Compatibility Pack [File Format Converters] installed so as to work with files created by Office 2007 and later.

Download Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats 4 for Windows - Filehippo.com

Download Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats 4 for Windows. Fast downloads of the latest free software! Click now

filehippo.com

Thanks for this Berton :) .. I just wanted to clarify.. if I'm only using outlook 2003's calendar function (I'm not using MS Word,Excel, Powerpoint and so forth I heard that the 2003 versions are easy targets for hacking and viruses and generally speaking a big security risk) .. are you saying I should install and run the compatibility pack before attempting to open or import the pst file in office 2021 to make sure there are no hiccups or problems as far as getting outlook 2021 to work with the outlook 2003 pst file?

Berton said:
Didn't pay sufficient attention, forgot to mention it but running Office 2000, 2002/XP or 2003 needs the Compatibility Pack [File Format Converters] installed so as to work with files created by Office 2007 and later.

Download Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats 4 for Windows - Filehippo.com

Download Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats 4 for Windows. Fast downloads of the latest free software! Click now

filehippo.com