Corrupt .pst files are experienced by many Outlook users. The issue is well known and all too common to the many loyal users of the program.
You may have a corrupt .pst file if you receive an error message or are not able to access certain areas of outlook such as your Contacts folder. There are other identifying quirks such as slow or no response from the program or a system crash while using it.
There are several ways an Outlook .pst file can become lost or corrupt. In some cases it can be something as simple as upgrading to a newer version or sharing a .pst folder.
Since the problem has been so rampant within the program, Microsoft includes the Inbox Repair Tool (Scanpst.exe) with each version of Outlook. Although it is intended to assist the user in detecting and repairing corrupt .pst files, it has itself been known to be flawed when doing so.
Many users experience problems when utilizing the tool to repair a corrupt file. Some well known issues are:
- Misplaced scanpst.exe file
- The repair tool itself is corrupt
- Cannot repair larger .pst files in some versions
- Missing components of the scanpst.exe file
- Scanpst.exe is a known target for viruses and spyware
Many times, users are left with data which is only partially recovered which requires them to manually sort through it to check for errors or missing components. This is very time consuming and often frustrating.
Having a corrupt file is bad enough, but then to have the Repair Tool that is supposed to fix it fail as well is just a complete mess. A large amount of valuable time has been wasted as users look to research the various known issues and repair options available for their version or error type. It can also be a worthless effort as many users find the solution they have finally located does not fully recover the lost data.
An alternative for many users has been to purchase one of the many third party applications which can be used in place of the Inbox Repair Tool. These products are able to do a much better job at recover ring the corrupt data, saving the end user a lot of time.
If you are one of the many Outlook users who have failed to recover your .pst file using the Microsoft tool, you may want to seek out a third party application to do the trick.
