HUGE pst file won't open

A friend of mine has a pst file so big (+2GB - yes that's 2 gigabytes ), that Outlook is hanging whenever it opens. There are a lot of important messages in there, that he needs to get at. I have tried booting only in safe mode, and I tried creating a separate profile with only that pst file. Whenever I configure outlook (open or closed) to use the large pst file, it just hange. I waited 5 minutes at one point, and still no response. I have created a new pst file, and he is able to send and receive using that one.
However, the probelm remains - how to access the old messages? All suggestions are welcome.

Ryder

 

Save current .pst
Copy .pst big to where .pst is (overwrite)
Uninstall MS Office with repair option
reboot + reload Outlook
Import messages from saved .pst
regards

 

Note that a .pst file of > 2Gb is probably corrupt and you may or may not be able to recover contents. Or you may be able to recover some and not all.

A good rule of thumb is to keep any .pst file below 100Mb and to never let one approach the max size of 2Gb.

Good luck.

 

Hi all,
I managed to import the file into Outlook Express. I used the profile I had set up specifically for this .pst file (which was not working in Outlook - I think I mentioned that...), told it to use the BIG pst file, and away it went. Took about 2 hours, but the only thing missing are the contacts, which have been turned into blank e-mails. However, I can add them to the address book from there, so it's not a problem. Thanx for the suggestions, tho. I'll keep them in mind for future reference - and I'll definitely remind my friend to check the size of his pst file every now and again.

Cheerz!

Ryder

 

Since your friend sounds like a dedicated packrat and doesn't want to throw away any email at all, perhaps he would be open to archiving old messages. They will be removed from the .pst file and put into an archive file under whatever name and in whatever folder he chooses.

Keep in mind that unless a new file is indicated every time he archives, it will keep adding to the same archive file. If he ever wants to access those old messages (although I'm married to a packrat and my experience has been they never access stuff like that, they just can't bear to part with it), he'd be well advised to make a new archive file at least once a year. That way, he only has to import a year's worth instead of waiting 2 or 3 hours to import several years' worth to get to that One! Important! Message! I! Gotta! See! Again!

 

Missed the basic tool!

MS includes a handy tool called "scanpst" which scans, backs up, and repairs PST files. It's usually in the "Program Files\Common Files\.." area in one of the subfolders, you can search for it.

I have regular experience with PST's above 1.7 gig becoming corrupt. Usually, the user will complain that they cannot move messages into folders, and that new mail isn't pulled off of the Exchange server.

So, as advised above, Archive!

Or, you can create multiple PST files and manually maintain them as well. It's a good idea to compact you PSTs once in a while after deleting lots of messages (right-click the PST, go to Properties->Advanced, and "compact now ")

 

I am running MSOffice 2003 and found "Scanpst.exe in "C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\1033 " folder.