Fixing PSTs outside of Outlook

[Velvis]

I have a client with Outlook 2010 and there is a PST that recently causes Outlook to constant not respond. I tried scanpst but it resulted in an error (I dont recall at the moment)

Any ideas what might cause this?

its a large pst, but since Outlook becomes unusable when its added, I can't resize it by archiving it.

 

[JustInspired]

Have you tried creating a new data file (or even a new profile/PST) then importing the damaged PST into it?

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Yeah....create a new master PST...and then cherry pick what client needs to save. Import only the bare minimum they need.

 

[lcoughey]

Have you done a full-sector-by-sector clone of the client drive to confirm that there are no read errors within the PST?

I had a client bring in a drive which contained a PST file that his local tech spent a week trying to copy and repair the file with little success. We were able to recover the entire file less 1 unread sector of a few hundred bad sectors within the file. At no point did the previous tech even consider that the file issues could be caused by a bad hard drive.

...that isn't to say that the file didn't just go stupid, but there usually is a reason for it.

Edit: I'd still start with the clone and confirm that you are working with a healthy drive. If it is good, you can try the suggestions of importing the contents into a new pst file, but I don't think it will be that easy because outlook still needs to read the file to import the data.

 

[doubleohalex]

What is the size of the PST?

 

[frase]

What is the size of the PST?

Over 2GB is extreme for local .pst. AS YeOldStone stated "Yeah....create a new master PST...and then cherry pick what client needs to save. Import only the bare minimum they need."

 

[doubleohalex]

Over 2GB is extreme for local .pst. AS YeOldStone stated "Yeah....create a new master PST...and then cherry pick what client needs to save. Import only the bare minimum they need."

Over 2GB for a local PST is not extreme. Back in the Outlook 2002 days when PSTs were in ANSI format? Yeah 2GB was obviously the cut off. Even in Outlook 2003 I would not have a PST over 2GB. However, since 2007 and above, the handling of large PSTs is a lot better than it use to be and 2GB should not be considered extreme. I handle the aqcuisition, processing and conversion of numerous mail formats every day, I generally will start to split a PST once it hits 19GB. This never imposes a problem.

Since they are having issues accessing this PST, causing Outlook to hang, I don't know how successful they will be cherry picking what they need out of it. If this PST is really quite large, Microsoft offers registry edits that will increase the support pst size in Outlook 2007 and 2010...I would only use this as a temporary solution. If we are dealing with corruption that is or is not related to size, I would start by looking into a 3rd party tool to split the PST.

 

[putz]

I have a client with Outlook 2010 and there is a PST that recently causes Outlook to constant not respond. I tried scanpst but it resulted in an error (I dont recall at the moment)

Any ideas what might cause this?

its a large pst, but since Outlook becomes unusable when its added, I can't resize it by archiving it.

Where are you adding the PST file from? Is it a local PST file or a PST file that is saved on a network location? I would agree with others and rule out that something on the computer, outlook, or possibly bad drive or memory isnt causing the issue. If the PST file is saved on a network share, copy it to the local drive and see if you have the same issues. I have seen many clients try to store the PST files on a share and they are so large that it causes problems with Outlook when trying to read/write to the PST file.

If it doesn't help there might be something wrong with the PST file in which case you will want to try and export/import to a new PST. If you require recovery software for the PST file, we have had good luck with an app called Outlook Recovery Toolbox.

 

[callthatgirl]

You can try copying it to a computer with outlook 2010 or 2013 and try scanning and repairing there and parting it out and moving back to the other computer .

or Open in a new profile with no email accounts attached.

Or you can try Stellar repair tools. I haven't had to use them in awhile, but they work great. (I have pst and ost both)

How large is it?

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

If the PST file is saved on a network share, copy it to the local drive and see if you have the same issues. I have seen many clients try to store the PST files on a share and they are so large that it causes problems with Outlook when trying to read/write to the PST file.

One of the worst things to do in the first place...regardless of size. Can write paragraphs and paragraphs for reasons not to....but lets just stick to "Even Microsoft tells you don't do that!"