Barry’s World

Having a damaged pst file is about the same as having your whole computer go down.  At least for me. always incluide the pst file in the backup software you use and back on a regular bases.

Your PST file stores all your Outlook data including contacts, attachments, e-mails.  If you don’t know how to make a backup of this then we urge you to look over at this Outlook PST backup page.  It has a link to the free Microsoft backup plug-in that will help ensure you never suffer if your pst file goes down.

For those that already have gotten an error you can view the above linked website for exact tips on trying to recover it.  Keep in mind that in the end if the free methods do not work then you will need to purchase some pst recovery software to get the job done. For the busienss person who needs those e-mails the cost of the software is small compared to what you are getting in return.
As you should already be able to tell the best thing to do is always have a back of any file you use a lot.   Not only on a regular basis but even after your file has gone bad.  The reason for this is you need to ensure you do not do more damage to the file. Making a backup is a must.  That way you can use multiple methods to try and get your data back without having to worry about doing more damage.

Outlook has a nice free tool called scanpst. exe that you should consider using first.  It is a very week tool but if your issue is just in the headers of the file it will resolve your issue. If the pst file get demaged more it is going to be that much harder to do a proper repair of it.   It should only take about 20-30 minutes for you to run this free tool so it’s worth a try.

the Microsoft Outlook repair tool is the only free one on the market at this time.   you would think Microsoft would of made a better tool to help in the repair process and perhaps they re-working on one but it’s not here yet.

If you are having an issue with your old pst file being too big and over the 2g mark then there are a number of free and paid tools out there that can help you resolve this issue.