Converting corrutped OST to PST when synchronization fails in MS Outlook 2003

MS Outlook is used as the premier emailing application by numerous users throughout the world. Apart from emailing, it also supports creating tasks, journals, reminders, and so on. All such data is stored in an OST (Offline Storage Table) file when you work in the offline mode. Offline mode is usually preferred where there is limited or unreliable Internet connectivity. So, the various tasks are synchronized with the Exchange Server. However, sometimes the OST file gets corrupt due to which synchronization does not take place, thereby causing the OST file to be orphaned. In such situations, you should try to repair the OST file. If you do not succeed in doing so, then you should convert OST to an equivalent PST file using a third-party OST to PST converter.

Consider a scenario wherein you are using MS Outlook 2003 in offline mode. When you try to synchronize the OST file with the Exchange Server, it fails to do so. An error message is displayed, that is:

“Unable to expand the folder. The set of folders could not be opened. Errors could have been detected in the file xxxx.ost. Quit all mail-enabled applications, and then use the Inbox Repair Tool.”

Here, xxxx.ost stands for the OST file that is created by Outlook while working in the offline mode.

Cause:

The root cause of this erroneous situation is that the OST file has corrupted or damaged. Because of this, Outlook is unable to recognize and, hence, synchronize it with the Exchange Server.

Resolution:

To resolve this situation, you need to repair the OST file. To do this, you should perform the following steps:

• Click Start | Run.
• In the Open box, type 'drive:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Mapi\LocaleID\scanpst.exe' and press Enter.
• Enter the PST file and its path in the 'Enter the name of the file you want to scan' box.
• Click 'Start'.
• Select the 'Make a backup of scanned file before repairing' check box when the file scan is completed.
• Click 'Repair'. The PST file will be repaired when the 'Repair Complete' message box is displayed.
• Open Outlook and try to synchronize with the Exchange Server. It should run fine now.

However, if the problem is still persisting then you should use a third-party OST to PST converter. Such read-only tools have rich user interface that enable safe and secure OST-PST conversion with much ease.

Advanced OST to PST converter converts a corrupted OST file to its equivalent PST file effectively. It converts OST to PST while restoring the emails (with attachments), tasks, contacts, journals, calendar entries, etc. In addition, this OST-PST converter preserves the formatting of the RTF and HTML messages. Specifically designed for MS Outlook 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002, and 2000, this tool is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, Server 2003, XP, and 2000.

How to solve Outlook 2007 Error: "Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook…"

Consider a situation, when you try to launch Microsoft Outlook 2007, you may encounter the below error message:

“Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window.”

After the error message is received, you can neither start MS Outlook 2007 nor open the default profile. The error persists even if you reinstall the application.

Cause

Possible reasons for the above error to occur are:

a) Outlook navigation pane is problematic

b) Outlook profile is damaged

c) Outlook PST file is corrupted

How to Solve Error?

You can fix the depicted issue:

1) Reset the navigation pane. To do so, open the ‘Start’ menu, and click ‘Run’. Next, type ‘Outlook.exe /resetnavpane’. Restart Outlook and see if the problem goes away. If not, try the next step.

2) Delete the corrupted Outlook profile and create a new one with all the previous accounts and settings. Next, attach the old Outlook data file (PST) to this newly created profile.

3) In case, MS Outlook 2007 still cannot be opened and the error pops up again, the PST might be damaged. You need to repair the corrupted PST by running Outlook Inbox Repair Tool (Scanpst.exe). The file is located at the following location for Outlook 2007:

:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12

In case, the tool fails to repair the corrupted PST, you need a third-party Outlook Repair 2007 utility. Built with advanced and safe techniques to scan the corrupted PST, these utilities Repair PST File in any instance of corruption.

PST Repair is a reliable utility designed to repair & recover corrupted PST of MS Outlook 2007, 2003, 2002, and 2000. This Outlook PST recovery 2007 tool can restore all e-mails, notes, calendars, contacts, etc. into another PST, keeping the original PST intact. The tool is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2003, and 2000.

Download the most trusted free PST repair Software for Microsoft Office Outlook 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002 (XP) and 2000 !

Fixing “Cannot start Microsoft Outlook” Error in Microsoft Outlook

Is your Microsoft Outlook mail client not working properly after upgrading the operating system to Microsoft Windows XP? Are you getting errors related to missing files and components while opening Microsoft Outlook application? This behavior may occur due to corrupt Outlook profile, missing application files/components, and corrupt PST file. You can not access your significant data from PST file in such cases and face data loss situations. In order to get your mission critical data back in such circumstances, it becomes essential PST recovery solution.

As an practical instance of this problem, you cannot open Microsoft Outlook 2000 application after upgrading to MS Windows XP. At the same time, you may also encounter any of the below error message:

1. Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. A required component is missing: OMI9.DLL. Please install Microsoft Outlook again.
2. Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Mapi32.dll is corrupt or the wrong version. This could have been caused by installing other messaging software. Please reinstall Outlook.

Subsequent to the above errors, the Outlook opening process gets interrupted. All your precious data becomes totally inaccessible. To retrieve data from the corrupt Outlook data file, recover pst is the only way to go for.

Cause

You may run across this behavior of Microsoft Outlook application due to any of the below reasons:

1. Microsoft Outlook is configured for running the compatibility mode.
2. Your Microsoft Outlook user profile is damaged.
3. The Outlook PST file is damaged or corrupted.

Solution

You can try out the following methods to sort out this problem of Microsoft Outlook:

1. Change the mode of Microsoft Outlook. You can do it by modifying the properties of Outlook.exe file.
2. If the profile of Microsoft Outlook application is damaged, you must recreate the user profile and then attach your Outlook data file to the profile.
3. Restore corrupt PST file from the most recent and valid backup. Backup is the identical copy of your Outlook data file that can be restored in cases of data loss.

If you can not get your valuable data recovered using any of the above methods, PST recovery software come for your help. They are incorporated with high-end scanning algorithms to ensure absolute recovery of your significant data.

The PST recovery tool is totally safe and easy to use.

Outlook PST Repair is the best PST Recovery Software ever made to successfully repair and restore corrupted PST file. It is designed to work well with PST files created using Microsoft Outlook 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002, and 2000.

The PST Recovery Software effectively extracts all the PST file items, like emails, contacts, notes, journal, attachments, appointments, and more.

Using COM Add-in can result in corrupt PST

A COM (Component Object Model) add-in is a specifically designed functionality in which specific commands and tasks are added in Office applications. These add-ins perform are pretty useful as these save time and other related overheads. One such COM add-in is Kingsoft Power Word that translates Chinese to English and vice versa in Outlook. However, at times it can cause Outlook to crash unexpectedly thereby causing the PST file to get corrupt. It is notable that the PST file contains all the Outlook-related information. In such cases, you should uninstall the COM add-in and check Outlook. If the error is still there, then you should use a third-party PST Recovery software to recover PST file.

Consider a scenario wherein you are working on MS Outlook 2003 when it quits unexpectedly. An error message is displayed, that is:

“Microsoft Office Outlook has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.
Please tell Microsoft about this problem.
We have created an error report that you can send to help us improve Office Outlook. We will treat this report as confidential and anonymous.
To see what data this error report contains, click here.”

Cause:

The root cause of this abnormal normal is that you may have installed the Kingsoft Power Word COM add-in. Sometimes, this COM add-in releases memory in an unsupported manner. Because of this, Outlook holds a reference of the released memory that causes Outlook to quit abruptly when it attempts to access the released memory. The other cause of this situation is that the PST file is corrupted that is making Outlook to behave in this manner.

Resolution:

To resolve this situation, you should try to remove the installed Outlook COM add-in. To do this, you should perform the following steps:

1. Start Outlook 2003.
2. Click the Options option in the Tools menu.
3. In the Other tab, perform the following steps:
i. Click the Advanced Options button.
ii. Click the COM Add-ins button in the Advanced Options dialog box.
iii. In the Add-ins list, clear the selected add-in.
iv. Click OK to close the COM Add-ins dialog box.
v. Click OK to close the Advanced Options dialog box.
vi. Click OK to close the Options dialog box.

The aforementioned method should be able to resolve the error message. If you still are getting the error message, that means the PST is corrupt. In such cases, you should use a third-party PST Recovery Tool to recover PST. Such read-only tools are able to restore PST data using fast yet sophisticated scanning algorithms.

Outlook PST Repair is a PST recovery software that enables you to recover corrupted PST files from MS Outlook 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002, and 2000. It is able to recover various Outlook objects such as emails, contacts, journals, tasks, calendar entries, etc. In addition, this PST file recovery software is able to preserve the formatting of the RTF and HTML messages. It is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, Server 2003, XP, and Server 2000.

'Outlook.pst file cannot be opened' error while accessing PST file transferred through network

Many organizations use Microsoft Outlook e-mail client to facilitate communication among its employees. The Outlook stores e-mails, calendars, contacts, journals etc in a .pst (Personal Storage File) for each profile. You can transfer a .pst file from one machine to another using a USB, or CD etc. But when administrators use a network to share a .pst file, it becomes quite vulnerable to corruption. In such events, it becomes necessary to perform PST Recovery in order to access the important e-mails and other data. In fact it is unsupported by Microsoft if you store or share your .pst file over a network.

As a practical case, you may encounter the following error while accessing your .pst file which was transferred through a network:

“Outlook .pst file cannot be opened”

As a result, you are not able to access any component of your .pst file. Moreover, it indicates that there is something wrong with the .pst file.

Cause:

The above error could have surfaced in the following scenarios:

1.If your .pst file has got corrupted.
2.Or your .pst file could have got damaged due to the incompatibility of the software versions on both systems (For instance, you transfer a .pst file created with Outlook 2000 on a Windows 2003 machine to a Windows XP machine which has Outlook 2007 installed)

Resolution:

If your .pst file has been damaged due to any of the above reasons, it becomes necessary for you to perform pst recovery by repairing the damaged .pst file using scanpst.exe. To recover PST you can execute the following steps:

1. Click Start, go to Search.
2. Click All files and folders link and then type scanpst.exe.
3. Click the Search button. After the search ends, you can view the scanpst.exe file in the result.
4. Double-click the scanpst.exe file. You will be asked to browse the location of damaged Outlook .pst file.
5. Click the Browse button to locate the damaged .pst file. You can also locate the PST file in different operating systems by following the below given paths:

Windows 98 or Windows Me: Disk Drive > Windows > Local Settings > Application Data

Windows NT 4.0: Disk Drive > WINNT > Profiles >username > Local Settings >Application Data

Windows XP or Windows Server 2003: Disk Drive > Documents and Settings > username >Local Settings >Application Data >Microsoft >Outlook

Windows Vista: Disk Drive > users > username > AppData > Local >Microsoft >Outlook

6. Hit Start button, the scanpst.exe will start repairing the corrupt or damaged .pst file. After the completion of process, start Outlook and you will see all recovered folders. The next step would be to create a new .pst file and use the recovered folders.

It has been observed that Inbox Repair Tool (scanpst.exe) doesn't always fix a damaged .pst file and you have to rely on a third-party pst recovery software.

Such PST Recovery tool employ improved and effective scanning algorithms and repair corrupt or damaged Outlook PST file.

Outlook PST Repair is an easy-to-use utility which repairs a corrupt pst file and recovers all its components, irrespective of the complexity of the damage. The pst file recovery software supports Microsoft Outlook 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002 and 2000.

How to Repair Corrupted PST File in Outlook 2007?

Microsoft Outlook is an advanced and widely used email client and personal information manager, developed and marketed by Microsoft Corporation. It is the part of Microsoft Office suite of products. The latest version of this application is Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. It has improved user interface and security features, which safeguard your valuable data against any type of data loss situations. However, in some situations, the main storage file of Microsoft Outlook; PST (Personal Storage Table) file gets damaged and your precious data become inaccessible. In such critical situations, you need to Recover PST file, if backup is not updated.

Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 stores all your valuable Outlook data, such as emails, contacts, tasks, notes, journal, attachments, appointments, and calendar, in the PST file. PST file works like a database and create index for all its objects to ensure high performance and easy data management. There is no size limit for the PST file in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, however Outlook 2002 and earlier versions have 2 GB size limit for the PST file.

Under some circumstances, the Outlook PST file gets damaged due to numerous reasons. The most frequent causes of Outlook 2007 PST corruption are as given below:

• Application Malfunction- If Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 gets crashed or malfunctions due to any reasons, like missing or corrupt system files, you may come across PST file corruption.

• Virus Infection- Viruses are malicious programs, which may remove or corrupt the critical files of Microsoft Outlook or even the PST file.

• File System Errors- Microsoft Windows keeps entry of PST file in the hard drive file system. If your system face any kind of file system problems or errors, PST file may become faulty and it becomes totally inaccessible.

• Improper Application Termination- If Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 application shuts down improperly, due to power outage or system crash, PST file may get damaged. To avoid such situations, you need to quit or close the application properly.

In all such situations, the PST file become totally inaccessible and the PST recovery becomes need of hour. Recovery is best possible using advanced and powerful third-party applications, known as PST recovery software.

The applications are powerful enough to thoroughly scan entire PST file and extract all damaged and inaccessible items from it. The PST recovery tool has interactive graphical user interface to offer easy recovery.

Outlook PST Repair is the most advanced and comprehensive utility that successfully repairs and restores damaged PST file in all scenarios. It works well with Microsoft Outlook 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002, and 2000. The software restores all PST file objects, such as emails, notes, contacts, tasks, and attachments.

How to fix Common corrupt outlook PST errors ?

MS Outlook is one of the most popular email client software used by organization for communication and better personal information management. It can be used either as a stand alone application or can work with Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft Share Point Server for multiple users. Microsoft Outlook stores all your e-mails, contacts, appointments, notes, tasks, journal entries and folders into a file known as .pst or Personal Folder file. Imagine kind of situation in which your pst file get corrupted and all your file items become inaccessible. The PST recovery software might help you to repair outlook pst file and get all your important data back.

There are some of the following Outlook error that can disturb your smooth working:

1. "Outlook.pst is not a personal folders file"

2. "An unknown error has occurred. 0×80040600"

3. "Outlook.pst cannot be accessed - 0×80040116"

4. "An unknown error has occurred. 0×80040119"

5. "An unknown error has occurred. 0×80040116"

6. "Outlook.pst has reached its maximum size"

7. "Outlook.pst is not a personal folders file"

8. "Data error (cyclic redundancy check)"

9. "Messaging interface has caused an unknown error"

10. "Outlook.pst could not be opened"

11. "xxx.pst file could not be opened. The file may not be compatible with this version of Outlook or it may be corrupted"

12. "Outlook.pst could not be found"

13. "Unable to display the folder, Outlook.pst could not be accessed, access denied"

14. "The operation failed due to a registry or installation problem. Restart Outlook and try again. If the problem persists, please reinstall"

15. “Unable to send this item.”

16. “archive_filename.pst is not a personal folders file”

17. “An unexpected error prevented access to this file. Use ScanDisk to check the disk for errors, and then try using the Inbox Repair Tool again”

18. "An error has occurred in the script on this page"

19. “Sending reported error (0×80040201): ‘Unknown Error 0×80040201.”


Although Microsoft Outlook comes with an inbuilt pst repair utility known as inbox repair tool (scanpst.exe) that scans and repairs corrupt or damaged PST files but If the degree of corruption is high, the scanpst utility might not be able to fix the corrupted outlook file and requires a third-party PST Recovery solution. Such Utility uses advanced scanning algorithms to efficiently repair & recover pst file in all corruption situations.


Outlook PST Repair is an excellent PST Recovery Software that quickly scans the corrupt PST file to find out the possible damages in the file and successfully recover pst objects. The application is having unique features like support of Microsoft Outlook 2007, 2003, 2002 and 2000, 100% preview of all recoverable items, count of all items in individual folder, compatibility with Windows 7 and detail summary report of all recoverable items.