PST corruption: Reasons and resolutions

Saturday, December 5th, 2009

If you delve deeply to know the reasons behind the Outlook PST file corruption, then you will find that there are umpteen reasons for Outlook PST files corruption.

Reasons for PST file corruption

Main reasons that make your Outlook PST file corrupt are

  • Logical corruption – Logical corruption is caused by virus infection, human error, or software error when the file is opened and modified incorrectly.
  • Improper shutdown of the system before exiting the Outlook application.
  • Corruption in PST files size due to compact operation.
  • 2 GB file size limitation - This happens when the PST exceeds the size of 2GB. When it happens, the PST file is rendered unusable.
  • Damage or deletion of header structures of PST file
    Resolutions
  • Resolutions

    1. Backing up PST file - For preventing yourself from catastrophic situation where PST file gets badly damaged, it is recommended that you make backup copy of the PST file in advance on regular basis. Your PST file can get corrupt after an upgrade, so back up the files prior to upgrading. Another option is to rename the PST files for upgrading and then rename them back to their original names after the upgrade. Doing this prevents future corruption.

    2. Using Inbox Repair tool – One can use Inbox Repair Tool for fixing the corrupt PST file. It is an inbuilt tool that comes with MS Outlook email suite. Its filename is Scanpst.exe. However, the tool isn’t always able to repair every PST file. It works by repairing the PST file’s header and then deleting anything in the file that it doesn’t understand. So it is advisable make a backup of the PST file before running the Inbox Repair Tool. The Inbox Repair Tool is located in the C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Mapi\1033\NT directory of any system that is running Windows 2000 or Windows XP.

    3. Using Outlook recovery tools – Third party tools are the perfect choice for dealing with any kind of Outlook PST file corruption issues. These tools are very much apprehensive and result oriented Outlook recovery tools. Kernel for Outlook PST Recovery software is one such software that resolves the Outlook corruption issue within minutes.

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