Forever open PST file

[Alex]

They recently upgraded my laptop at work, I have a lost of email stored in
Personal mail folders on the network drive.

They are in my private area, and nobody else except the network gurus have
access to the folder.

When I went to pull up an old email, Outlook 2003 told me that the PST file
was already open, and that I should close the program using it. I've opened
and closed Outlook several times, with no luck.

I tried running scanpst.exe, but it tells me the file is in use. I've tried
disconnecting and reconnection to the folders, and when I tried to reconnect
it won't let me because it thinks the file is open.

Is there someway to force the folders closed?

Thanks!

-alex

 

[neo [mvp outlook]]

Assuming that I understand you correctly where the PST file is located on a
network/mapped drive, then you need to work with the network/server gods to
find out what has the file locked. To give you an idea, it might not be
your workstation that has the file open, but it could be the backup software
on the server.

 

[Kim Bowden]

Your network administrator can close the open pst folder on the server that
it is held - manage server - open files - close your .pst file. The file can
stay open when ytou close your Outlook down incorrectly, you open up again
and hey presto the personal folders are locked by another application. Also
if the server that the folder is held on reboots it can sometimes lock your
folders. After they have closed the open personal folder(s) they need to
reset your email application session to complete the reset.

This can be a real problem if you use Citrix applications.

 

[Alex]

Assuming that I understand you correctly where the PST file is located on
a
network/mapped drive, then you need to work with the network/server gods
to
find out what has the file locked. To give you an idea, it might not be
your workstation that has the file open, but it could be the backup
software
on the server.

That is correct, it is a network drive.

I'll give them a shout, as the system will not even let me copy the files,
because they are "in use by another program".

Thanks!

-alex

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

That is correct, it is a network drive.

I'll give them a shout, as the system will not even let me copy the files,
because they are "in use by another program".

Keep in mind that you're playing with fire by keeping a PST on a network
drive.

 

[Alex]

Keep in mind that you're playing with fire by keeping a PST on a network
drive.

IT finally got around to closing the files. Had to use scanpst.exe to
repair them afterwards, but all is well.

I used to have the files on my laptop hard drive. But after a near miss
with a hard drive failure, I decided that my personal network drive was a
better/safer/and regularly backed-up place.

I can see your point, but I am probably one of the few people I know that do
not save or forward jokes, off color messages, or gossip. All messages on
the network drive are saved because they are reference material.

I save the jokes/gossip/etc for my home computer, after hours.

My network drive is as secure as the company can make it. It would not
really be any more safe from the company's prying eyes on my laptop, as the
company has pre-warned us that the computers, drives, and email system are
not private from the company. They can go waltzing through my computer at
will. There is software installed on my laptop for just that purpose.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

IT finally got around to closing the files. Had to use scanpst.exe to
repair them afterwards, but all is well.

I used to have the files on my laptop hard drive. But after a near miss
with a hard drive failure, I decided that my personal network drive was a
better/safer/and regularly backed-up place.

I can see your point, but I am probably one of the few people I know that do
not save or forward jokes, off color messages, or gossip. All messages on
the network drive are saved because they are reference material.

There's nothing wrong with copying your PST to a network drive either before
you run Outlook or after it closes. In fact, that's a good way to ensure the
network drive's backup captures the PST, but having the PST _open_ on the
network drive is where the trouble lies. You can either launch Outlook by
running a batch file that first copies the PST then starts Outlook or by using
the PFBACKUP utility from Microsoft which will copy the PST once Outlook
closes. Then you have a local PST (where network failures can't jeopardize
the PST) and a network backup of it.