Outlook Outlook PST File Problem - Help Please....

[marcbkk]

I recently have begun having problems with my Outlook PST file. This has never occurred before over the many years I have been using the same Outlook file and I believe the problems started happening right around the same time that I put in iTunes onto my PC and started to allow iTunes to sync my Outlook contacts with my iPhone.



My Outlook file still more or less functions normally, but each time I open Outlook I get an error message telling me that the Outlook file was not closed properly the last time it was used and it much be checked for errors. It then does the check, which often it takes 20 minutes while running the check in the background, and each time it finds no errors.



In addition, it seems iTunes added a bunch of unwanted cell phone number contacts from my iPhone which now appear in my Outlook address book. I have tried to both access, open, and/or remove these contacts and it just won’t let me.



So it is possible that my Outlook file is damaged in the sense that these faulty contacts added in by iTunes are making problems with the Outlook PST file now.



I am wondering if at this point there is some sort of utility I can run to fix the problem with the Outlook file itself so that it does not run that scan each time I open Outlook and/or how I can actually delete all those invalid address book entries added by iTunes to clean up my Outlook address book?



Many thanks,



Marc

 

[algari]

open C:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook. Look for a file with ~ or such sign in its name. Delete this file. To be on safe side do not delete but cut and paste this file in some different location.

 

[Kinje]

I am getting the same error message in Outlook 2007 but I am running Vista. "A data file was not closed properly last time it was used and is being checked for problems. Performance might be affected while the check is in progress"

After the check (which is annoying because it takes quite a bit of time) things seem ok. I have uninstalled AVG Antivirus and the problem continues. I have run scanpst.exe and repaired. I have deleted add-ins[font="] one by one and nothing seems to stop this problem. Can anyone help?
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[Mike the tech guy]

Quick Question - how big is the PST file? Find the PSt file on your hard drive by doing a search and then right-click, properties and let us know how large it is saying. Cheers.

 

[Kinje]

I really appreciate your trying to help me. It is 2,706,193 KB I think that translates to 270MB. In finding the file I found the compact option...would that help?

 

[Mike the tech guy]

Hiya, thanks for getting back to me - that gives me the answer we need. Basically your PST file is too large, the size you gave me is actually about 2.7GB, not MB, which is too large for a .PST as advised by microsoft and that will be why you are having these weird and wonderful files - The very maximum size of a .PST file should be 2gb and even then that is a very large file and can be prone to problems. You can try the compression option, but i'm not sure that will be effective because of the size of the file and there maybe the risk of corrupting it. What i would recommend(time consuming i know) is sorting through your emails and then perhaps archiving/creating another .PST file for some email. Hope that helps, let me know how you get on.


Cheers.

 

[Kinje]

Thanks. I did move a bunch of my mail to an old mail folder I created BUT it is still in the outlook folders section. I guess I need to move it somewhere else so it isn't part of the outlook.pst file? Where do you suggest and how do I access those old emails then if I need them? Import them back in via import and export function?