PST file keeps getting corrupt

[Schoolies]

I have had this problem for 3 weeks now.

I have: Office 2k3 w/ latest SP, Windows XP, AVG Antivirus 5.1 (free)

I constantly have to use scanpst.exe to repair the file. A few times, if I close out of Outlook and open it back up, it works fine. Sometimes I can't delete files and sometimes I get "not enough resources error" in Outlook when sending/receiving.

I've checked both disks using chkdsk, I've repaired and reinstalled Office, I've created a new PST file, I've moved the PST to a different physical hard drive, i've installed a UPS battery backup on the system.

Can anyone think of anything else? I'm completely stumped.

 

[bucwylde23]

How big is the PST file?

 

[ArchAngel777]

Originally posted by: chrisg22
How big is the PST file?

That is my question too... I believe the limit on the PST is about 2GB and whenever you get near that size corruption in inevitable... Or, it could be something else completely.

 

[bucwylde23]

Originally posted by: ArchAngel777

Originally posted by: chrisg22
How big is the PST file?

That is my question too... I believe the limit on the PST is about 2GB and whenever you get near that size corruption in inevitable... Or, it could be something else completely.

Exactly what I'm thinking... run into this problem all the time with users.

 

[nineball9]

Can you compact the file?
File - Data File Management - Settings... - Compact Now.

 

[Schoolies]

Forgot to mention: I split the PST file. All new e-mails are going into a brand new PST file.

It was only about 1.6 to begin with though.

I haven't tried compacting it, but I'll try it.

 

[mzkhadir]

create a 2003 pst file, transfer all your emails to the new one. 2003 has a pst file limit of 20gbs not 2gb like the old one.

 

[SoulAssassin]

Originally posted by: mzkhadir
create a 2003 pst file, transfer all your emails to the new one. 2003 has a pst file limit of 20gbs not 2gb like the old one.

what I was going to say although I thought it was like 32GB. Also, you need to clean up your deleted items/unwanted crap before you compact the original .pst. Compacting a file with no white space in it will get you nothing.

 

[Genx87]

I thought Outlook 2003 .pst files had some terabyte restriction?
If you are using the XP or 2000 .pst change immediately. That 2GB limitation will lock the file and 75% of time instead of locking it seems to break it.

 

[mzkhadir]

from MS:

Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 and Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 have both a different format and a larger overall size limit for the personal folders (.pst) file than the .pst files that are in the earlier versions of Microsoft Outlook. In Outlook 2002 and earlier, the .pst files are in the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) format, and the overall size has a limit of 2 gigabytes (GB).

By default, .pst files are in the Unicode format in Outlook 2007 and in Outlook 2003. Additionally, the overall size of the .pst files has a limit that is more than the 2-GB limit that is imposed by the ANSI .pst files. By default, the limit for a Unicode .pst file in Outlook 2007 and in Outlook 2003 is configured to be 20 GB.

For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:
832925 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/832925/) How to configure the size limit for both (.pst) and (.ost) files in Outlook 2003

As in earlier versions of Outlook, Outlook 2003 Internet Message Access Protocol Version 4rev1 (IMAP4) accounts and HTTP accounts use .pst files that do not use the Unicode format. Therefore, the .pst files for IMAP or HTTP accounts in Outlook 2003 are limited to 2 GB. In Outlook 2007, the Internet Message Access Protocol Version 4rev1 (IMAP4) accounts and HTTP accounts do use Unicode format .pst files and are not limited to 2 GB.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/830336

 

[Schoolies]

Here's the solution:

It looks like it was possibly a combination of the new free AVG 5.1 and AIM 6.0.

AIM 6.0 was the culprit for several of my PC problems... once that was gone the pc worked much better.

Hope this helps.

 

[0roo0roo]

email attachments really bloat a pst, get rid of em