Size of pst reported greater in Folder Properties than Explorer

[voosmith]

The size of my pst reported within Outlook using Folder Properties is
1600000KB versus 1400000KB in Explorer. When I try to do a compact, it
doesn't compact. Does the file need to be repaired? Also the file says
it is compressed with a size on disk of 1200000kb. I have no idea why
this pst would be compressed. I am afraid also if I take off the
compression the pst will mess up. Any suggestions are greatly
appreciated? Thanks.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Doing a compact doesn't mean the file-size should actually decrease. When
it's already compacted it won't compact any further. The compressing you are
mentioning is NTFS compression. This is a transparant compression done at
File System level. You'll gain some room but will loose a little
responsiveness. You usually do this with documents you don't often use. I
would not recommend doing this to a pst-file.

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
www.howto-outlook.com

Tips of the month:
-FREE tool; QuickMail. Create new Outlook items anywhere from within Windows
-Properly back-up and restore your Outlook data

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The size of my pst reported within Outlook using Folder Properties is
1600000KB versus 1400000KB in Explorer. When I try to do a compact, it
doesn't compact. Does the file need to be repaired? Also the file says
it is compressed with a size on disk of 1200000kb. I have no idea why
this pst would be compressed. I am afraid also if I take off the
compression the pst will mess up. Any suggestions are greatly
appreciated? Thanks.

 

[voosmith]

Thanks for the quick reply. So is the file 1600000 or 1400000kb? I am
just concerned about the 2gb limit of the pst. Thanks for explaining
the compression.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

You should look at the file size reported in Explorer "Size:"
If you are running Outlook 2003 you can create Unicode pst-file which is
practically unlimited. Otherwise it would indeed be a good idea to start
with a new pst-file or clean up this one.

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
www.howto-outlook.com

Tips of the month:
-FREE tool; QuickMail. Create new Outlook items anywhere from within Windows
-Properly back-up and restore your Outlook data