Default .PST Size vs. Policy that can be set

[TrueTechChick]

Okay so I know that the UNICODE format allows larger file sizes but the
question this: Is with the 20GB limit set by DEFAULT?? or Is does the .pst
still have a 2GB limit and you have to make the policy change in the registry
has shown in KB Article 832925/

I have a customer who created an Office 2003 .PST file (I checked the
properties of the file and it shows "Personal Folders File" - that should
tell me right there that it has the capacity for 20GB) HOWEVER he is getting
a message from Outlook that he is reaching his size limit at 2GB.

I would really appreciate a good answer for this curiosity question so I can
share it with my team.

Thanks!

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

In

Okay so I know that the UNICODE format allows larger file sizes but
the question this: Is with the 20GB limit set by DEFAULT?? or Is
does the .pst still have a 2GB limit and you have to make the policy
change in the registry has shown in KB Article 832925/

I have a customer who created an Office 2003 .PST file (I checked the
properties of the file and it shows "Personal Folders File" - that
should tell me right there that it has the capacity for 20GB) HOWEVER
he is getting a message from Outlook that he is reaching his size
limit at 2GB.

I would really appreciate a good answer for this curiosity question
so I can share it with my team.

Thanks!

I haven't seen a message in OL2003 warning anyone about a PST file size
approaching the maximum....this isn't to say that I've seen everything, mind
you, but I've never heard of this...what's the exact text of the message?

The limit on the Unicode format PST is 20GB by default although this can be
lifted in the registry (I don't recommend it).

 

[TrueTechChick]

Sorry that I don't have the screen shot but I have now seen it twice. Once
when an .ost was getting too big and now with a .pst file. I new right a
way, the second time, that the "error or warning" message was a local client
issue because the end user's Mailbox was practically empty.

Basically the end user gets a small popup error window advisng they have
reached their limit on the Mailbox. After they select OK a larger window
opens advising the customer on ways to reduce their Mailbox size by Archiving.

So I guess I have one last question. In the older version of Outlook there
were two limits: Items and Size. Is it the same for OL2003? If so, what is
the Items Limit.

 

[Brian Tillman]

Sorry that I don't have the screen shot but I have now seen it twice.
Once when an .ost was getting too big and now with a .pst file.

If the person had an OST left over from an earlier Outlook, s/he could still
be using that OST instead of a Unicode OST. Disable cached Exchange mode,
close Outlook, delete the existing OST, restart Outlook, and reenable
changed Exchange mode to create a Unicode OST.

Basically the end user gets a small popup error window advisng they
have reached their limit on the Mailbox.

That's a warning from Exchange that either the mailbox on the server or the
OST is too small.

 

[TrueTechChick]

In this case the .ost was not left over from a previouse version. Also I am
99.9% positive this message is in regards to .pst or .ost file issue and not
an Exchange issue.

I understand and agree that if the end user has reached a limit on the
Exchange server that they will get an error that they can't send but I am not
aware they they get this big window that pops up showing them all the
different options on how to reduce their mailbox size.

In the case with the .ost we had to turn of Cached Exchange Mode because the
user's Mailbox on the Exchange Server was 4GB and the .ost couldn't handle
the size. However, I have to admit in the instance I can't totally remember
what version the user was running. However, I can't imagine the client
allowing the file to get to 4GB if he was running OL2000.

In my second example with the .pst issue. The end user is running OL2003
and his mailbox on the server is only 17MB however his .pst file is just
about at 2GB.

Also still curuious to know if there is an "ITEMS' Limit for the OL2003 .pst
file like there was in OL2000.

Thanks for the great responses sor far.

 

[Brian Tillman]

In the case with the .ost we had to turn of Cached Exchange Mode
because the user's Mailbox on the Exchange Server was 4GB and the
.ost couldn't handle the size. However, I have to admit in the
instance I can't totally remember what version the user was running.
However, I can't imagine the client allowing the file to get to 4GB
if he was running OL2000.

For versions of Outlook prior to 2003, OSTs had the same size limitations as
PSTs.

In my second example with the .pst issue. The end user is running
OL2003 and his mailbox on the server is only 17MB however his .pst
file is just about at 2GB.

Right-click the root of that PST, chjoose Properties, then click Advanced.
Does the "Format" field contain "Personal Folders File" or "Personal Folders
File (97-2002)"?

Also still curuious to know if there is an "ITEMS' Limit for the OL2003
.pst
file like there was in OL2000.

While I'm not positive, I think it's still 64K items per folder. Perhaps
one of the MVPs can verify or refute that.

 

[TrueTechChick]

Hi there,

I thought I already mentioned it.... anyway it says "Personal Folders File".

So without running the Outlook 2GB software is there an easy way to know
exactly how many items you have in your .pst file?

 

[Brian Tillman]

I thought I already mentioned it.... anyway it says "Personal Folders
File".

Then it's a Unicode PST and doesn't have the 2 GB limit.

So without running the Outlook 2GB software is there an easy way to
know exactly how many items you have in your .pst file?

I don't know how to tell how many items are in the entire file without
opening each folder and noting the number of items in the Status Bar at the
bottom.

 

[TrueTechChick]

I should probably make one clarification. The message doesn't come right out
and say "you have reached your 2GB limit" but it states that the mailbox is
to big and offers a few suggestions on how to reduce it. But it isn't a
simple "Archive" message either.

And to restated, in this particular example, the user's mailbox is only at
17MB and the server is set to send an email warning at 70MB. The end user's
local .pst file is 1.7GB

Any other thoughts would be greatly appreciated.