Corrupt .pst files and unwanted prf*.tmp files

[aubienat]

Hello,

I have an issue regarding corrupt .pst files. My environment uses Outlook
2003 with roaming profiles. Many of my users' .pst files are becoming
corrupt. I have to restore the file from backup, but the corruption keeps
happening. I restore the file instead of running the Scanpst utility because
much of the file data is removed when using Scanpst. Also, I've noticed
there are prf*.tmp files being created in the roaming profiles that are very
similar in size to the user's .pst files. I'd like to keep these files from
being created because they are taking up space both for the roaming profile
and the network server.

So, my questions are,

- What are these prf*.tmp files and how can I make them permanently go away?
- Why are the .pst files consistently becoming corrupt?
- Is there a relation between the prf*.tmp files and the corrupt .pst files?

Thanks.

 

[DL]

If the pst is located on a network storage then that may be the cause of
corruption, as the use of a pst over a network is not supported as it can
lead to corruption.

 

[aubienat]

I read that Microsoft didn't support network storage of .pst's but I couldn't
find out what Microsoft's reasons were. Has there been an explanation of
"corruption".

Also, last week I ran a script (during after hours) to delete all the
prf*.tmp files from the user's roaming profiles. Since running that script,
the number of corrupt .pst's has gone up severely. So, it looks like there
is a link to the .pst and the .tmp files. I wonder what that link is, though.

I appreciate all the input.

 

[DL]

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;297019

 

[aubienat]

thanks. i've read this before. so i guess this is the best answer i'm going
to get since microsoft doesn't support networked .pst files.

thanks for the response though.

 

[MikeKraken]

Did you ever get a response to this issue? I am having the same problem
on one computer in our network now. PST files are stored in all users'
profile (Documents and Settings\user.domain\Outlook) and this is the
only person who is having problems, just starting recently. We
syncronize with the server when logging on/off as per standard Windows
Server setup.

The PST file becomes corrupt and there are numerous prf*.tmp files.
The SCANPST.EXE tool doesn't work properly and puts everything into
"Lost & Found", but is missing the last two months of e-mail data. Is
it a bug in Office 2003?

... Mike.

 

[g4ugm]

Have you updaed your AV software lateley. The logoff process writes
prfxxx.tmp file and then renames it to the proper naem. Our AV no
scans .tmp files....

 

[zwr]

I haven't tried this solution yet as I have to vacate my office for som
remodeling that's about to take place, but here's what I found
http://www.datanumen.com/aor/index.htm