Major problem with Outlook

[nojo901]

I run Office 2000 on XP Home.
My Outlook has stopped downloading new messages.
I think it may be due to two large (corrupt?) emails with photos attached,
totalling 6mb and 4mb respectively. I can open the messages and their
attachments perfectly, BUT I cannot delete them.
When I try, I receive a "The messaging interface has returned an unknown
error. If the problem persists, restart outlook." message.
I also keep getting Outlook break-downs and suggestions that I run ScanPST .
I do this, but to no avail
I have tried to delete the messages individually, but receive the same error
message - I jjust cannot delete them
I have tried to remove the attachments and re-save the messages, but this
does not work either.
I have tried to find the files containing the attachments in Windows
Expolrer, but they don’t appear to exist.
Is there any way I can either get into the PST folder to find these specific
emails and delete them, or solve the problem by other means?
Thanks.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

What size is is your pst-file?

 

[nojo901]

Thank you for your speedy reply.
They are far less than 2GB, because I have just exported the PST folders
(uncompressed) to a back-up 2GB USB flash drive along with tons of other
files and photos.

 

[Gordon]

because I have just exported the PST folders

That may be the root of your problem - NEVER use the import/export function
to move Outlook data unless to a third-party application like Access or
Excel.

It's highly likely that your mail profile may have been corrupted during the
export process.

Create a new Mail profile (Control Panel-Mail), open the pst file in it and
see if that cures the problem.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

An export isn't a backup and doesn't represent the size of your actual
active pst-file.

To find your pst-file and for proper backup instructions see;
http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/backupandrestore.htm

 

[nojo901]

Thank you Roady.
I will have a look when I get home in a couple of hours and will post the
info here.
This problem is really causing me big problems so your assistance is very
appreciated!

 

[nojo901]

Hi Roady
Thank you for your patience.
There are two users on the PC.
The first's PDF (cjecked by right clicking Outlook today, properties, file
size) is 216,263K; the second's is 191,214K
I Hope that this helps.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Ok, then that is indeed not an issue.

When you run scanpst.exe it doesn't find any errors?
If you have a virus scanner that integrates with Outlook, disable this
integration and try again.

 

[nojo901]

Hi Roady.
No, Scan PST did not find any problems.
I think I might have already tried running it without my antivirus (Trend),
but will try again.
I realise that my files are a bit large (such a shame that MS don't flash up
a warning about this before it happens!) and I tried last night to delete a
pile but it would not even let me do this, so its ooking a little grim.
I have just picked up a newXP Pro machine and installed a trial version of
Office 2007 and was hoping to transfer everything over, via the "Files
Transfer Wizard". MAybe they will work better in the new set-up - surely
Office 2007 can handle larger files?!
Thank you again for your help

 

[alan]

Hi,

Your PST file is oversized. Microsoft Outlook 2002 and earlier versions limit the size of Personal Folders (PST) file to 2GB. Whenever the PST file reaches or exceeds that limit, you will not be able to open or load it any more, or you cannot add any new data to it. This is called oversized PST file problem. More detailed information can be found at http://www.datanumen.com/aor/problems/2gb-pst.htm

You can use Advanced Outlook Repair to solve the problem, by either converting it into Outlook 2003 format ( http://www.datanumen.com/aor/problems/convert-2gb-pst.htm ), or splitting it into smaller pieces ( http://www.datanumen.com/aor/problems/split-2gb-pst.htm )

http://www.datanumen.com/aor/ contains the detailed information about Advanced Outlook Repair.

And you can also download a free demo version at http://www.datanumen.com/aor/aor.exe

Alan