Sometimes Microsoft Outlook 2002 starts to act abnormally, behavior of such is highlighted by a message like – The operation failed.

The resolution for this behavior is to create a new profile:

• Go to: Start > Control Panel > Mail
• In the [Mail Setup] window click [Show Profiles] then click Add
• In the [New Profile] window, under [Profile Name] type the name for the new profile, and then click OK
• In the [E-mail Accounts] window, select [Add a new e-mail account] in the e-mail options, and then click Next
• Select mail protocol that your e-mail account works with and then click Next.
• Complete all of the required fields, including those that are on the tabs that appear after you click [More Settings]
• In [Mail] windows, on [General] tab change the [Always use this profile] to the name of the new created profile

When opening Outlook you will find an empty mailbox. That is because the new profile will create a new *.pst file. The default you were using is named [Outlook.pst] and the new profile by default should use [Outlook1.pst]. Now you have two options to restore your old emails:

• Automatic import : Outlook > File > Import and Export … > select [Import from another program or file] > select [Personal Folder File (*.pst)] > select your old database file (outlook.pst) and wait for import to finish
• Manual import (more control over what to import) : Outlook > File > Data File Management … > Add > select your old database file (outlook.pst), you can now manually import the old emails using select all (Ctrl+A) and Drag & Drop