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Outlook 2000

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by naleen

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Hi there, we're using POP3 email accounts and we're downloading all our emails and the pst file is stored on the local drives. One of our users .pst file is 1,412,960KB big. I know that's huge but he definitely wants to keep record of all those emails. He does archive but that doesn't seem to change the file size. His outlook takes ages to start and will crash quite often. I've told him it must be the file size but I'm not that technical to know for sure and I don't think he really believes me that the file size is causing the problems. Why doesn't the file size decreases when he archives? Can anybody give me a good technical explanation why he has this problems and if there's maybe a solution to decrease the file size when he archives. Many thanks.

8 replies

by ann777

In plain simple english... look at Outlook as a database maintenance program (essentially maintaining e-mails).

When you delete an e-mail and empty the trash, the pointer to the e-mail is removed. As new e-mail comes in, it re-uses that same space.

The file size never decreases until a "compact" is done over the PST file. A compact is what actually collects the real e-mails and makes them contiguous and thereby gets rid of the "free" space no longer used.

This is just exactuly the way database programs work. "Data" is deleted (pointers are deleted), but the data is not removed until a "pack", "jetpack", etc. is completed. The command used in database programs vary with the program coding. In MS Outlook, the "command" through the Outlook GUI is to "compact".

... continued ...

While without

by ann777

How to Compact in Outlook?

While in Outlook:
Right-click on the PST folder and click on Properties.
Click on Advanced.
Then click on the Compact Now button.

You can then use windows explorer, navigate to the location of the PST file, and by pressing F5 and constantly refreshing the screen, you will watch the file size decrease.

You can cancel out of the process if the user needs to work; PST files can be compacted a little at a time if there's a lot to compact.

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One thing to be aware of is that the PST file will cease to function in Outlook once it has reached 2 GB in size. MS makes a tool to recover broken PST's that have gotten that large.

by ann777

Also yes, the file size is going to create the corruption and delay in opening. When it is that huge, then it definitely needs to be separated into several PST files. There is no limit to the quantity of PST files that you can have in Outlook.

Running a scanpst.exe over the pst file should fix it, but it is too big, and the e-mail definitely needs to be divided into separate PSTs and then compacted. You are looking at over a days work on this though -- depending on the computer speed, etc. Best to copy it off his machine, close out the file on his machine... and divide it on a second (spare and hopefully faster) computer.

by naleen

Hi Anna, thank you so much. This is a great answer and all that in plain english so that I could understand. Many thanks, we're going to do that straight away.

by ann777

That's correct, he should not "lose" any e-mails unless the PST actually goes over the 2 GB max limit.

by naleen

Hi Anna, thank you so much. This is a great answer and I could understand it!! We're definitely going to do that straight away. So it's basically just going to get rid of all the "blank" spaces, but he won't loose any of his emails?

Many thanks

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