Member Avatar for Lars213

Good morning!

We are currently in the process of moving e-mail providers and moving to an Exchange server housed at our data center. What we were told to do was to create the Exchange account in Outlook so that we would have two profiles - the 'old' profile and the new Exchange profile - and simply drag-and-drop the e-mails, subfolders, calendars, etc. from the old profile to the Exchange profile. This seems to work for the calendar, contacts, and even most subfolders. But when I try to move e-mails from the old Inbox over to the Exchange Inbox, the e-mails stay on the Exchange Inbox for 10-30 seconds and then automatically begin moving back to the old Inbox. I cannot get the e-mails to stay on the Exchange Inbox.

We are all running Windows XP and this issue is occuring on staff that are using Outlook 2002 and Outlook 2003. The Exchange server is running Exchange 2003.

The odd thing is that this is only happening to some staff - not all. I'm running Outlook 2007 and didn't have this problem. I also know of other staff that are running Outlook 2002 or Outlook 2003 and are not having this problem either. It's just a select number of people and I haven't been able to find a common thread amongst the affected people.

Anybody have any ideas as to why this is happening, and how I can get this resolved?

Thanks in advance for your help!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Dappy1

Dani AI

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Short recap: noted calendars/contacts and most folders migrated fine but messages dragged from the old Inbox to the Exchange Inbox appear on the server for 10–30 seconds, then move back into the old (POP/PST) Inbox. That pattern usually points to a client-side process (the old POP/IMAP account, an Outlook rule or add‑in, or offline/cached sync) still touching the mailbox during the copy.

Quick diagnostic checklist (do these before more invasive changes):

  • Make a backup copy of the PST(s) first.
  • Verify the message is present on the Exchange server (OWA or a pure-Exchange profile). If it disappears from the server, the problem is server-side; if it stays then a client process is re-creating the PST copy.
  • Start Outlook in safe mode to rule out add‑ins:
    outlook.exe /safe
  • Disable the old POP/IMAP account from Send/Receive (Tools → Send/Receive → Define Send/Receive Groups → Edit → uncheck the old account) and try a test move.
  • Try File → Work Offline, move a message into Exchange, then reconnect and see if it persists.
  • Check Tools → Rules and Alerts for any client rules that move mail to the old PST.
  • For Outlook 2003 clients, temporarily turn off Cached Exchange Mode (Tools → E‑mail Accounts → Change → More Settings → Advanced → uncheck Cached Exchange Mode) while migrating.

Recommended fixes and workflow:

  • If the old POP account keeps re‑downloading mail, disable or remove that account for the duration of the migration, then move messages into the Exchange mailbox and verify on the server before re-enabling anything.
  • For many users or large PSTs, use a server-side import (Exchange 2003: ExMerge / mailbox-import tools) or Outlook’s Import/Export instead of drag‑and‑drop to avoid client quirks.
  • Run ScanPST on suspect PSTs before importing and keep a verified backup until migration is complete.

These steps explain why calendars/contacts copied cleanly (they aren’t affected by POP re-delivery) and will catch the usual causes seen in mixed POP→Exchange migrations. , the above checklist outlines typical diagnostics and the safest remediation paths.

Member Avatar for Lars213

I found a round-about way of getting this issue fixed, so no need for any replies on this. Thanks to those that have already looked at this post - I appreciate it!

Good morning!

We are currently in the process of moving e-mail providers and moving to an Exchange server housed at our data center. What we were told to do was to create the Exchange account in Outlook so that we would have two profiles - the 'old' profile and the new Exchange profile - and simply drag-and-drop the e-mails, subfolders, calendars, etc. from the old profile to the Exchange profile. This seems to work for the calendar, contacts, and even most subfolders. But when I try to move e-mails from the old Inbox over to the Exchange Inbox, the e-mails stay on the Exchange Inbox for 10-30 seconds and then automatically begin moving back to the old Inbox. I cannot get the e-mails to stay on the Exchange Inbox.

We are all running Windows XP and this issue is occuring on staff that are using Outlook 2002 and Outlook 2003. The Exchange server is running Exchange 2003.

The odd thing is that this is only happening to some staff - not all. I'm running Outlook 2007 and didn't have this problem. I also know of other staff that are running Outlook 2002 or Outlook 2003 and are not having this problem either. It's just a select number of people and I haven't been able to find a common thread amongst the affected people.

Anybody have any ideas as to why this is happening, and how I can get this resolved?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Member Avatar for Dappy1

Would be nice to hear how you worked this out to help those in the same boat...

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