Corrupt PST File

[sunrise]

I would like to access a corrupt PST file in outlook 2007. I know there are a lot of programs you can buy to fix it and I've gone to a few websites offering recovery tools. But it's like buying "a pig in a poke" cause you don't know if it's any good or not. Can anyone recommend a good reliable one?

[Zonie]

The best thing to fix a corrupt .pst file with is the scanpst.exe file already installed on your pc. you will find it at C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OfficeXX ( xx meaning the version of office you have.) If you can't find it just do a search of your hard drive and run it from the search.

[sunrise]

Thanks Zonie. I used scanpst.exe but a funny thing happened cause I still couldn't access it but I could access the backup file that scanpst.exe makes automatically. Go figure.

[Zonie]

You are welcome. That is strange. If you are still wanting to access the original, you could run the scanpst.exe a couple of times more. I have seen it take 3 passes to get all the errors corrected.

[sunrise]

Zonie, remind me of where Office keeps the contacts list. I thought it was in the PST file but it wasn't there when I imported the information in it.

[Zonie]

The contacts is part of the pst file. The only conclusion I can come to is the contacts may have been part of the problem for the corruption to begin with. Have you tried running the scannpst on the original file several timess, to see if you can get it repaired yet?

[pearlmckardy]

You must know the root cause for the corruption of PST files. Other than virus and software issues, the over sizing of a PST file can also result in corruption and data loss. Hence, it is required to prevent a PST from exceeding the allowed limit. You must check your database if you are facing corruption problems in PST files. If it is so then try to split a large size PST file into smaller parts of allowed limit.