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Frequently Asked Questions
Archive Mail Manager

Q  I rebooted my computer and I still don't see a "My Archive" folder in my Outlook
A Click here for instructions on how to set it up manually. 
   
   
Q Can I access "My Archive" from my home computer?
A Yes.  I will post updated instructions soon. 
   
   
Q I logged into "My Archive" but now every time I access it, it wants me to log in.
A You need to add to your list of "trusted sites" Click here for instructions. 
Q What will happen to my PST?
A Will we be migrating PST's into Archive Mail Manager as phase two of this project.
Q
What if a user has more than one PST file…will those files have to be “moved” over to the new My Archive mailbox?  
A
Yes, eventually.  The PST migration will be a project in itself and you will be notified.
Q If an owner of a PST leave the Agency, can future users have access to their PST files?
A Yes, the manager would put in a request for new staff member to have access.
Q  What is the maximum length of time for storage of email?  
A The IT Governance Council has not determined what the maximum storage time will be. However, due to legal limitations we know this will be years (as opposed to months).
Q Is there a way to categorize emails that relate to a certain subject, but their titles and recipients might be slightly different?
A You can search on key words that would be in the body of the email or subject line and that should be sufficient. If you categorize your email in folders in your inbox, the Archive Mail Manager will duplicate the folder structure. Moving forward keeping in mind how Archive Manager works, you may want to "code" your emails with a unique identifier for easier searching on important emails. 
Q If we needed to run something off onto a disk, could we sort, identify applicable emails and run them off onto the disk?
A Yes, TSC could help you do this.
Q Why can't we choose to delete email out of our Archive Mail Manager.
A The idea is to capture everything to keep in alignment with the fact that state email is public record (Statewide Policy 107-004-110 /Statewide IT Policy 1.4 /ORS 192.420) and if a user was able to delete mail, it could potentially affect "ediscovery".
Q Why are we archiving everything?
A Statewide Policy 107-004-110 /Statewide IT Policy 1.4 /ORS 192.420
Q What happens to our junkmail?
A Junkmail will be dealt with by our SPAM filtering appliance.  However, if junkmail does make it through it will be archived and not deleted.  Keep in mind that email is indexed and Archive Mail Manager only keeps one "copy" of the junkmail even if 800 people received it.
 
If you have a question regarding archive mail manager, please email it to Suzanne Hein.

What is a PST?
PST stands for Personal Information Store. “.pst” is a data storage format used by Microsoft Outlook in order to save your information so that it doesn’t reside in your inbox taking up space.  You may be familiar with the term "Personal Folders" or "Archive Mail".
 
At DAS, when a staff member needs to save emails you use PSTs to archive your Outlook data.  These files reside on the file server (not the exchange server like your email) so they reduce your inbox size so you don't exceed your inbox size quota.

Some of the things kept in .pst files are:
o       Saved e-mail messages
o       Calendar appointments
o       To-do list data


PST files have a recommended size limit of 2 gigabytes. When PST files approached this limit, Outlook's performance would slow considerably. PST files that exceed the 2 GB limit can become corrupted if they are allowed to grow beyond this size. There is also the cost of storing these pst files on the file server. 
 
Our solution to these issues and more is to implement Archive Mail Manager and discontinue using PSTs altogether.  Users PSTs will be imported into Archive Manager and be accessed from there in the same structure it is currently set up in.  If you share your PST with others, you will still be able to continue doing so.
 
PST migration will be a project and needs to be completed by Divisions.  So for a while, users will have both their old PSTs and their new Archive Mail Manager.