When You Copy a .pst File Another .pst File in the Same Folder Is Deleted (267015)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
  • Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
  • Microsoft Windows 98
  • Microsoft Windows 95
  • Microsoft Outlook 2000
  • Microsoft Outlook 98
  • Microsoft Outlook 97

This article was previously published under Q267015

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to copy an Outlook personal folders (.pst) file to another folder that contains a .pst file, the .pst file is not copied to the destination folder, and the .pst file in the destination folder is deleted.

When you attempt to copy the .pst file, a Confirm File Replace dialog box is displayed. If you click Yes in the Confirm File Replace dialog box, you receive the following error message:
Cannot copy mailbox. The process cannot access the file because another process has locked a portion of the file.
When you click OK in the Error Copying File or Folder dialog box, the .pst file in the destination folder is deleted.

CAUSE

This problem occurs in the following scenario:
  • The destination folder contains a .pst file with the same name as the file that you are copying.

    -and-
  • The .pst file that you are copying is in use by another program.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, verify that the destination folder does not contain a .pst file with the same name. If it does, rename the file before you perform the copy operation.

For information about renaming files, refer to the "Renaming files or folders" topic in Windows Help.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:1/14/2006
Keywords:kberrmsg kbprb KB267015