Outlook PST file too large


  1. Posts : 7
    Windows 7 ultimate 32
       #1

    Outlook PST file too large


    I had to re-install Windows 7 on my computer as I had to replace the motherboard. I backed up my outlook.pst file (2.3 gb) to a DVD and after installing Office 2007, I copied the PST file to my desktop. Now when I try to import it or read it using Data Management, I get a message saying this is not a personal folder. I know there are tools out there that can manage larger pst files, but I'm not sure which to use.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 4
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit
       #2

    I may be misunderstanding your problem, but did you try "Open Outlook Data File" instead of "Import..."?

    What is the exact wording of the error message?
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 3,009
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
       #3

    Some information below to help you resolve the problem - please post back to let us know the results:
    Not a personal folders file | MSOutlook.info

    The pst-file is on a CD/DVD or other read only medium or is marked as "Read Only"
    Outlook needs read/write access to a pst-file in order to connect to it. Therefore you must first copy the pst-file from the CD/DVD back to your local hard drive. I suggest you put the pst-file in a subfolder of your Documents folder and call that folder "Outlook". Make sure you don’t overwrite any existing pst-files.
    After copying right click the pst-file and choose Properties. Here verify that the "Read-only" file attribute is not selected.

    Don’t import! Don’t import! Don’t import!
    Am I clear? Don’t import! Once you’ve restored the pst-file via the above method don’t use import to make the pst-file available in Outlook. The proper method to open a pst-file is to connect to it via File-> Open-> Outlook Data File…

    Use scanpst.exe to scan it for errors
    Still no luck? Then use use scanpst.exe to check the pst-file for errors. The location of scanpst.exe depends on your version of Outlook and Windows. See this post to find the location for your version.

    Use a 3rd party recovery tool
    When scanpst.exe is unable to fix the pst-file there might have been some serious corruption in the pst-file. There are some 3rd party recovery tools available like OutlookFIX. These tools are specialized to try to recover every single recoverable item from your pst-file. Be warned; these tools don’t come cheap. However, depending on how much the lost emails are worth to you, you might consider it a bargain after all.
    Finally, should you ever need to reduce the size of your files, you can compress them:
    How to compact PST and OST files to eliminate deleted item space in Outlook
      My Computer


 

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