PST Issue - Please help

[Adam Raff]

Good Day,

We are running Office 2003 with exchange 2003 sp1.

Because of issues that we are having with our exchange database and backing
up. It was decided to off load older files to PST that is on a network
drive. They can access the pst files via the network and move email with
large attachments there.

Out of the blue a user called up saying that he lost some folders in the PST
I looked at it and assume that perhaps he deleted them without realizing it.
(I did a recovery that was 6 months old and the files were still not there).
I scratched this one up as user error.

In the next situation I had a user that had a PST file located on her local
drive. I copied the file to the network. A few days later I get a call
saying that she is missing files from her PST which is labeled data2005. I
asked her did she copies anything new to it since I moved it over she said
No. I disconnected her and reconnected her to her local file that I copied
over and the emails/files were still not there.

If anybody has seen this happen please let me know. These PST files are
large over 1gig at times.


Thank You
Adam Raff

 

[DL]

The use of a pst over the network is not supported - it can lead to data
loss/corruption

 

[Adam Raff]

Hi DL,

Thanks for the response. That may explain the first users issue but not the
second. Her PST file was on the local drive, then I copied it to the
network. Both versions have data missing from the local and network
version. Is there a size issue or something that could cause data loss?

Thanks
Adam Raff

 

[DL]

There should'nt be a size issue, assuming use of 2003 format pst.
If mail missing from local connection, youre sure its not a view or archive
issue?

 

[Adam Raff]

What do you mean by archive issue. What I am doing is moving the folders
into the group not letting Outlook archive them.

By view perhaps, but I don't think so. It seems that everything from the
last two months are gone in some folders. I could say user error but not
likely not in this case. You see this was local and then I coped the file
to the network. When she couldn't find the folders that she needed I
pointed her back to her local copy and they were missing also. I had an
issue with this file when coping it over the network, saying it lost
connection but that shouldn't damage the original file just the one on the
network which I deleted and then recopied later on.

 

[DL]

Archive: I meant was archive set on the local sys?
When you copied back the pst you did'nt overwrite any existing pst?

 

[Adam Raff]

No, I copied the pst to a network drive and then set it so that outlook
points to that file instead of the local copy.

 

[DL]

If pst has missing mail on both local and original on network, then the
missing mail can only, I believe, have been archived or permanently
deleted.(a rule?)