scanost can not open file

[eddieeac]

I used to be connected to a Microsoft Exchange Server & therefore my Outlook
works off an .ost file. However I no longer work for that company so I cannot
link to the Exhange Server. However my .ost file has become currupt some how
& I've tried running scanost.exe directly by going through program files, but
it will not let me run it as it says that Outlook is not closed or some
program that uses Outlook is running & therefore will not scan the .ost file.

Has anyone a idea of what I can do please?

Eddie

 

[Roady [MVP]]

If you are no longer connecting to the Exchange server, why is it still
configured in your account?
You really shouldn't have continued using Outlook like this since the
ost-file is now orphaned and, unlike a pst-file, cannot be recovered on
another PC without the use of 3rd party tools.

Anyway, make sure that the outlook.exe process isn't running when trying to
run that tool. You can verify this in Task Manager (CTRL+SHIFT+ESC and then
select the processes tab).

Once you've got Outlook running again, immediately copy your contents of the
ost-file to a pst-file and set the pst-file as the default delivery location
in Outlook. You can then safely remove the Exchange account from your mail
profile.

For details on how to get every in a new pst-file see. The steps are similar
to;
http://www.msoutlook.info/question/115

If scanost.exe is unable to recover your ost-file, you can try a 3rd party
recovery tool. There are several listed here;
http://www.howto-outlook.com/tag/data-recovery