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Thread ID: 114010 2010-11-14 21:26:00 Getting data out of a corrupt PST file? Chilling_Silence (9) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1152791 2010-11-14 21:26:00 Hi all,

Helping out my grandad, his main PST file is 2.3GB. It's corrupt.

I've made a backup of it in its current state but things don't look pretty.

Basically if I try and run the FixPST tool that's bundled with Office 2007, then it totally spits the dummy and the PST file cannot be opened. As it's the main Outlook.PST, Outlook bombs out when launching. So I restore to the corrupt version and it loads for the time being.

It can add new mail as it comes in but not move / delete it...

We can't use the Export function, that also spits the dummy halfway through.

However, most everything can be *viewed* just fine.

He's got a lot of business contacts and emails and the likes that he wants kept ... Is there anything out there that'll simply "try its best" to get everything and skip over what it can't, rather than having it bomb out and fail entirely when it reaches something it doesn't like?

Open to ideas / suggestions.

Cheers


Chill.
Chilling_Silence (9)
1152792 2010-11-14 21:38:00 Recovery Toolbox (www.recoverytoolbox.com) works.

Have used it several times when Outlook has been badly corrupted.

Its not free, but the trial takes you right through to the point of recovery.

Well worth the $$ - its paid for its self many times over. So if its only a once off use -- How important is the mail to the person ?

once the mails / Contacts are extracted, they are in a single format, meaning you can select the ones you want and the ones you don't, then you simply drag them back into the appropriate folder.
wainuitech (129)
1152793 2010-11-14 21:39:00 What if you try and split it?? As in Method 3? (support.microsoft.com) Speedy Gonzales (78)
1152794 2010-11-14 22:22:00 copy the contents? to a new pst SolMiester (139)
1152795 2010-11-14 22:30:00 +1 for wainui's recovery toolbox - he recommended this to me a while back, I've used it several times and it works very very well...what I did was split the cost with the customer, but keep the license - customer got email back, and I got the license for the program at half price, everyone's a winner.

It hasn't failed me yet, and I would have used it.. 5 or 6 times in the last year I'd say, well worth it.

As wainui said the trial takes you right through to the recovery point, so you can see what it can recover before paying for it.
wratterus (105)
1152796 2010-11-14 23:02:00 How susceptible are PST files to corruption? Is it only the large (2Gb+) files that have issues, or is any size PST a ticking bomb? Miami Steve (2128)
1152797 2010-11-14 23:03:00 As Sol said, have you tried creating a new PST file and setting that as the default and then import from the corrupt one? CYaBro (73)
1152798 2010-11-15 04:59:00 How susceptible are PST files to corruption? Is it only the large (2Gb+) files that have issues, or is any size PST a ticking bomb?

2GB is the absolute limit for older Ansi format PST files (Office 2000) which has only Ansi file format. I now use Office 2003 and IIRC it still had a 2GB limit for transferring an existing pst file but converting to the Unicode format allowed 10GB (I think, but it was plenty whatever it was).

I am now well over 2GB in Unicode and it is going just fine (fingers crossed and sacrificed 3 virgins just in case the God's of Doom are listening and get pst-off).

The only times I had trouble with ansi PST files at less than 2GB was when I did something really stupid but the MS unhelpfully named "Inbox Repair Tool" pst repair fixed it each time, though a couple of times I had to run it through two or three times to get it all fixed.

Cheers

Billy 8-{)
Billy T (70)
1152799 2010-11-15 07:04:00 I consider proprietary binary files a poor choice for storing valuable email archives.
As email is just text, there is no sensible reason to not store it as text.
At least, then, it is easily retrievable with any number of standard tools.
Both now and in the future.
fred_fish (15241)
1152800 2010-11-15 18:16:00 Yeah I think this has finally convinced him to use Gapps for his domain.

I've tried making a new PST file, and copying the relevant contents across, but we can't even get 1/4 of the way through his contacts before it bombs out.

Will pass on that link to him for Recovery Toolbox. Thanks!! :)

I'll post back in a day or two when he's done it (Probably today).
Chilling_Silence (9)
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