How do I access or recover data from old .pst?

[CEB]

My laptop hard drive crashed. I replaced it with a new hard drive. I loaded
all the original software using the original CDs (Windows XP Home Edition
2003, Microsoft Office for Small Business 2003). I configured my Outlook
e-mail account and am receiving and sending successfully within a new .pst
file.

When I tried to open the old .pst file using “File, Open, Outlook Datafileâ€,
I received and error message stating, “is not compatible with this version of
the Personal Folders information service.â€

I then tried to import my old .pst file, and received the same error message
stating it “is not compatible with this version of the Personal Folders
information service.â€

I attempted to repair the old .pst file using the inbox repair tool
“scanpst.exe†per instructions found at
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA010563001033.aspx.

I then imported the repaired .pst into Outlook. The increased size of the
current .pst file in Outlook (413,337 KB) indicates that it now contains all
my old data, together with the new. A new folder appeared in the Outlook
folder list titled “Recovered Personal Foldersâ€. Yet there are no files in
that folder. It has one subfolder titled “Deleted Itemsâ€, but that subfolder
contains no messages. The only messages that appear are the new sent and
received messages filed in the “Outlook Today – [Personal Folders]â€.

I used the “Help, Detect and Repair†feature, but there was no change.
Neither was there a change when I used the “Repair Installation†feature from
the CD.

Is there any other way for me to access or recover the data on the old .pst?

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

When I tried to open the old .pst file using “File, Open, Outlook Datafileâ€,
I received and error message stating, “is not compatible with this version
of
the Personal Folders information service.â€

That message usually occurs only when you're trying to open an Outlook
2003/2007 Unicode PST in an earlier version of Outlook. Click Help>About
Microsoft Office Outlok and state what version you see.

I then imported the repaired .pst into Outlook.

Importing is never correct when dealing with a PST. State exactly which
options under the import you used; i.e., the folders you selected and the
filter settings you specified.