Softaken Upgrade PST Pro

Starting with Microsoft Outlook 2003, PST backup files have used Unicode character encoding, as opposed to the ANSI format used by older versions of the application. The newer format offers many advantages, including increased storage space, but you need a specialized application to convert existing files to Unicode.

Softaken Upgrade PST Pro is a straightforward and easy-to-use application that can perform this job quickly and with no unnecessary fuss. However, it is not capable of converting Unicode to ANSI, a function some might have found useful.

If you have used an older version of Microsoft Outlook for a long time, it is likely that the generated PST files are saved using ANSI character encoding, and this application can help you convert them to Unicode, should you wish to switch to a newer version of the mail client.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to perform the reverse operation. While, admittedly, this function would not have been used too often, it might still have come in handy.

You can import all the files stored in a particular folder at once, and the conversion operation should be completed quickly enough, although it may take some time to process a large number of items.

Softaken Upgrade PST Pro displays the total number of messages stored in each backup file, and you can view which items are being processed when the job is under way.

As far as looks are concerned, this application certainly does not impress, as its interface is pretty out-of-date. To be fair, however, this is not a particularly important factor when dealing with a simple conversion tool.

Softaken Upgrade PST Pro is a straightforward program that can help you convert older PST files that use ANSI encoding to the newer Unicode format. It is simple to use, but it is not capable of converting Unicode files to ANSI.