Outlook 2000 PST file is too big. How to fix it, please?

[Mark246]

Upon further research, I think I see the New problem... My Outlook
2000 PST file is 2.1 Gbytes... apparently too big.

When I didn't know of the PST file size limit, Outlook crashed, and it
told me to run the Inbox Repair Tool. I did, and it failed.

Now,... I've read on some posts that the SCANPST program will further
corrupt a PST file that's too big. Now, Outlook won't come up. How do
I reduce that PST file size if I cannot get Outlook up?

Help, please.

Thanks.

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

http://www.slipstick.com/problems/repair2gbpst.htm

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact. All
unsolicited mail sent to my personal account will be deleted without
reading.

After furious head scratching, (e-mail address removed) asked:

| Upon further research, I think I see the New problem... My Outlook
| 2000 PST file is 2.1 Gbytes... apparently too big.
|
| When I didn't know of the PST file size limit, Outlook crashed, and it
| told me to run the Inbox Repair Tool. I did, and it failed.
|
| Now,... I've read on some posts that the SCANPST program will further
| corrupt a PST file that's too big. Now, Outlook won't come up. How
| do I reduce that PST file size if I cannot get Outlook up?
|
| Help, please.
|
| Thanks.

 

[Mark246]

Thanks, Milly, for your reply. Now, though, we've (hehe) got more
problems...

I ran iHex to reduce the size of the Outlook.pst file to 1.89 Gb,...
then ran Scanpst,... it says it worked.

When I start Outlook 2000, it says there are 26,002 items in a
newly-created "Lost & Found" folder. All other folders are empty. And
there are 52 "Recovered Folder 8123" sub-folders (each with a different
number) under the "Lost & Found" folder. Those 52 are empty.

When I click on the "Lost & Found" folder to see the contents, it says
it's Unable to display the folder, There are errors, Run the Inbox
repair tool. I did that again... same results.

What can I try next, Your Guru-ness?

Thanks very much for any help.

 

[Brian Tillman]

When I start Outlook 2000, it says there are 26,002 items in a
newly-created "Lost & Found" folder. All other folders are empty.
And there are 52 "Recovered Folder 8123" sub-folders (each with a
different number) under the "Lost & Found" folder. Those 52 are
empty.

When I click on the "Lost & Found" folder to see the contents, it says
it's Unable to display the folder, There are errors, Run the Inbox
repair tool. I did that again... same results.

Sounds like you're going to need the services of a company specializing in
PST data recovery.

 

[Mark246]

Oh, My,... I would Not be looking forward to That.

Is there Another idea that someone can offer?

Please?

 

[Mark246]

Ah...Hah... There IS some progress...

When somebody else has a similar problem... use the MS utility PST2GB
to truncate the file... NOT the iHex freeware utility.

I started over with the original PST file, truncated it with the MS
utility, then ran Scanpst. Now, Outlook comes up with Most of the
folders where they're supposed to be. Some of the folders have been
renamed "Recovered Folder 8123", etc... but Most of the folders are
good. I THINK that the folders that were renamed are the folders that
were most recently added to.

I'd assume that the most recently received emails were added to the END
of the file, and THOSE are the emails that were deleted. Bummer.

Thus,... we still need another utility program... one that doesn't
truncate a file at the END of the file, but at some other designated
spot. Does anybody know of a utility that can delete a CERTAIN PART of
a file? Like, in a file that has internal addresses from 0 to 100,000,
I want to delete the bytes from 15,000 to 25,000. THAT would be cool.

Yes? No?