OL2007 - .pst size much larger then total folder size?

[EricBergan]

After compacting, my .pst size is much larger then what is reported for the
total (incl subfolders) folder size under Personal Folders properties.

The .pst is 231 Mbytes, the total reported under properties is 165 Mbytes.

Any ideas on how to compact out the remaining dead space?

Thanks.

Eric

 

[Brian Tillman]

After compacting, my .pst size is much larger then what is reported
for the total (incl subfolders) folder size under Personal Folders
properties.

The .pst is 231 Mbytes, the total reported under properties is 165
Mbytes.

Any ideas on how to compact out the remaining dead space?

Why do you believe that compaction is necessary?

 

[EricBergan]

Why do you believe that compaction is necessary?

My .pst file is 40% larger (231/165) then the data stored in it...

eric

 

[Brian Tillman]

My .pst file is 40% larger (231/165) then the data stored in it...

If it's an active PST, that's a good thing, not a bad thing.

 

[EricBergan]

If it's an active PST, that's a good thing, not a bad thing.

Why?

This didn't used to be the case - a compact would knock the .pst file
size down much closer to the amount of data that was stored in it.

The problem with this extra, presumably unused space, is it gets backed
up, both by my nightly backups, plus Vista's shadow copies every day.

Eric

 

[Brian Tillman]

Why?

Because asking for additional file space from the underlying file system is
an "expensive" operation. Your PC and disk drive must do more work when you
ask for additional space. If, however, the PST already contains extra
space, Outlook only needs to change a couple of pointers to access that
space again. No need for the file system to allocate any more.

This didn't used to be the case - a compact would knock the .pst
file size down much closer to the amount of data that was stored in
it.

It has always been the case for database type files. COmpaction will still
reduce the size of teh PST, but that means that the next time you need to
expand it, your PC weill have to go through the rigamarole of requesting
additional file system space.

The problem with this extra, presumably unused space, is it gets
backed up, both by my nightly backups, plus Vista's shadow copies
every day.

Inexpensive compared to constantly reallocating space to the PST througth
the day.