Oulook 2000 & 2GB pst file...

[Mike]

I am trying to recover a 2+GB pst file for an Outlook 2000 user.
I copied the file to a USB drive & had hoped to open it in my Outlook 2003,
empty the deleted items folder (6975 items!) & then give back to the
original user, but that ain't happening!
Everytime I try, I get the message:
"The file... has reached its maximum size. To reduce the amount of data in
the file. select some of the files you no longer need, and then permanently
delete them by pressing SHIFT+DELETE. You could also consider using the new
Outlook pst introduced with Outlook 2003 that provides greater capacity for
storing items and folders"
I have created a new 2003 pst & tried importing the old pst file into it,
but when trying that, I get the same message when selecting this file during
the import process.
Any other suggestions?

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Once you've emptied the Deleted Items folder, you still need to forcefully
clear all the "white space" in the Outlook database so that the pst-file
will actually reduce in size. To do so, right click the root of the folder
set-> Properties-> tab Advanced-> button Compact Now.

Don't create a UNICODE pst-file for this user as Outlook 2000 cannot open
that. Let him/her start of with a new pst-file if he/she cannot bring the
file size down to below 1.5GB or you might need to perform the same ritual
again within a matter of weeks.

 

[Mike]

But how can I empty the deleted items folder?

Once you've emptied the Deleted Items folder, you still need to forcefully
clear all the "white space" in the Outlook database so that the pst-file
will actually reduce in size. To do so, right click the root of the folder
set-> Properties-> tab Advanced-> button Compact Now.

Don't create a UNICODE pst-file for this user as Outlook 2000 cannot open
that. Let him/her start of with a new pst-file if he/she cannot bring the
file size down to below 1.5GB or you might need to perform the same ritual
again within a matter of weeks.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Sorry, I misread; I thought you were successful in that already.
In that case you'll need to crop the file first as per;
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b33b1dff-6f50-411d-bbdf-82019dda602e

 

[Mike]

I have been whittling it down & no luck so far.
Will try a little more...