Outlook 2003
How to repair Outlook folders using the Inbox Repair Tool
This article describes how to use the Inbox Repair Tool
for Microsoft Outlook 2000, 2002 or 2003. If you are using Microsoft Outlook
2007, we recommend you to use the Office Diagnostics tools, instead of the Inbox
Repair Tool.
What is the point?
If Microsoft Office Outlook 2000 (or higher) can not open your mailbox
folders and it is reporting that your Inbox folders or Outlook PST file may be
damaged, then you should use the Inbox Repair Tool supplied by Microsoft. This
tinny tool is installed by default when installing Microsoft Office 2000 or
higher.
What is an Outlook PST file?
PST files or Personal Folder Files are used by Microsoft Outlook for storing
Outlook data, including mailbox files, email folders, contacts or any other
personal data related to Microsoft Outlook. Up to Microsoft Outlook 2002 (XP),
PST files are formatted according to the American National Standards Institute
(ANSI) format, which limits the file size to 2Gb. Starting with Microsoft
Outlook 2003, PST files are using the UNICODE format which has a limit that is
more than 20 GB.
By default, Microsoft Outlook stored these PST files at the following location:
"C:\Documents and Settings\USER_NAME\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook\", where USER_NAME is your Windows logon name. The
default PST filename for your active mailbox is Outlook.pst, while the archive
file is stored as archive.pst.
How can I prevent the PST file from getting damaged?
The larger your PST file gets, the more chances are for it to become damaged.
This happens because, while the PST file size is increasing, Outlook needs more
and more resources to complete your tasks, so it becomes slower and more prone
to errors.
To avoid such situations, you can use the
Weight Diet add-in for Outlook. This add-in is designed to help you shrink
your PST file size and speed up Outlook by performing a set of PST optimization
tasks.
How do I know if my PST file is damaged?
When your Outlook PST file is damaged, Microsoft Outlook will try to
automatically repair the damaged file: when you start Outlook, you will see a
start window telling you that Outlook is attempting to repair your mailbox
folders. However, depending on the problem, Outlook may not be able to
automatically repair your PST file and so you will not be able to enter the main
Outlook window, as a result you will need to try and fix it using the external
Inbox Repair Tool.
The regular Outlook error message that notifies you about a damaged PST file is:
"Errors have been detected in the file 'file_path'. Quit all mail-enabled
applications, and then use the Inbox Repair Tool."
The Inbox Repair Tool can only work if your PST file was damaged by Outlook
itself or if it was corrupted due to hard disk problems. If for example, your
PST file was damanged by a third party add-in, there are little chances for the
Inbox Repair TOol to recover your mailbox information.
How to use the Inbox Repair Tool to repair my damaged PST file?
The Microsoft Inbox Repair Tool is a single-file executable program, file
named Scanpst.exe. By default, Microsoft Outlook will install the Scanpst.exe
file within your Program Files folder, in 'C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\1033'.
If you can't find the Inbox Repair Tool, you can
download it
from here then copy it to the above folder.
Make sure Microsoft Outlook is not running when you try to run the Inbox Repair
Tool. When starting it, you should see the following screen:
If you get an error message like the following one:
then make sure you copied the Scanpst.exe file to the right location. If you
still have problems running it, then search your hard disk for a file named
"CNFNOT32.EXE" then run it: it should unpack and copy the Scanpst.exe file to
its default path ('C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\1033').
Once you started the Inbox Repair Tool, use the Browse button to select your
personal PST file. Remember, its default location is "C:\Documents and Settings\USER_NAME\Local
Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\", where USER_NAME is your Windows
logon name. Then click on the Start button. When the scanning process is done,
you should see a notification screen like the following one:
Make sure you mark the checkbox for making a backup of the scanned file, then
click on the "Repair" button. When this process is done, you should be able to
properly start Outlook and use your recovered personal Outlook folders.
What if the Inbox Repair Tool doesn't recover my damaged PST file?
If the Inbox Repair Tool is giving you an error message while trying to
recover your Outlook PST file(s) or if you are still unable to start Outlook,
then you can try the following solutions:
If you are using Microsoft Outlook 9x, 2000 or 2002 and if the Inbox Repair
Tool returns the following error: "Fatal Error: 80040900", it is likely that
your PST file exceeded the maximum file size of 2Gb. To resolve this problem,
see this
Microsoft article .
If you are using Microsoft Outlook under a Corporate or Workgroup
environment, then use the
Inbox Repair Tool with Corporate or Workgroup option.
EasyRecovery FileRepair: repairs and restores corrupted or inaccessible
Microsoft Office Outlook PST files into new readable files.
Outlook 2007 and Office Diagnostics
If you are using Microsoft Outlook 2007, instead of the Inbox Repair Tool you
may use the Office Diagnostics application. You can access it from the Outlook
Help menu -> Office Diagnostics. The concept & use is pretty much the same as
for the Inbox Repair Tool.
To learn how to backup Outlook folders and Contacts,
click
here.
Learn more about solutions to
increase your Outlook speed.
Primary Computer Service, Inc.
Copyright © 2006 [Primary Computer Service,
Inc]. All rights reserved.
Revised:
06/08/10
