Recovered Contact fields are not blank but appear 'invisible'

[Guest]

I have imported a copy of my Outlook 2003 PST file to recover my contacts.
When I first look at the imported contacts in the address card view the
gray/brown bar where I expect to see the “File as†value is blank. If I
double click on the card to open it the “File as†appears in the form. If I
close the form a wearning message that the field is blank appears. How ever
if I copy and past the value over itself within the form the form can be
saved and the initial issue is resolved.

Second oddity, is that the address listed in the Address Card view is
truncated when the card is opened to the form. If it is saved the resulting
contact will have the truncated address. It is the last address line that is
truncated. If the address is copied from the first view of the Address Card
it can be pasted into the form after it is opened and saving this preserves
the original data.

I assume ther may be some filds elsewhere in the data that is corrupting the
fields somewhere alone the line. Has anyone else seen this behavior? Is
ther a known cure or some recommended options to try. I am looking at ~ 2000
contacts that are damaged

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

You never transfer Outlook data by importing it. Why did you?
If you have a copy of your Outlook data, you open the file. You do not
import it.

 

[Guest]

History: my HD crashed but I had a backup copy of the PST. When I open the
backup copy of my original PST it appears damaged.

When I open the copy of my PST I see the problem described. I can export
that data and then import it back into a new PST and this fixes some of the
issues. Names then appear in the shaded areas. However a large number of
the addresses and emails are corupted if I don't copy and paste from within
the backup copy before exporting (as described).

Thanks for the reply.

You never transfer Outlook data by importing it. Why did you?
If you have a copy of your Outlook data, you open the file. You do not
import it.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I have imported a copy of my Outlook 2003 PST file to recover my contacts.
When I first look at the imported contacts in the address card view the
gray/brown bar where I expect to see the “File as†value is blank. If I
double click on the card to open it the “File as†appears in the form. If
I
close the form a wearning message that the field is blank appears. How
ever
if I copy and past the value over itself within the form the form can be
saved and the initial issue is resolved.

Second oddity, is that the address listed in the Address Card view is
truncated when the card is opened to the form. If it is saved the
resulting
contact will have the truncated address. It is the last address line that
is
truncated. If the address is copied from the first view of the Address
Card
it can be pasted into the form after it is opened and saving this
preserves
the original data.

I assume ther may be some filds elsewhere in the data that is corrupting
the
fields somewhere alone the line. Has anyone else seen this behavior? Is
ther a known cure or some recommended options to try. I am looking at ~
2000
contacts that are damaged

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Each time you export and import Outlook data you lose or corrupt some of it,
as you are now discovering. Do you still have a good copy of the PST file
that you did not create by exporting? Have you tried to repair it? That
would be your best shot at having your original data intact.
Find and use the best PST file you can. Remember. Never import it. Just open
it and either use it as your default, or copy what you need from it into a
new PST.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

History: my HD crashed but I had a backup copy of the PST. When I open
the
backup copy of my original PST it appears damaged.

When I open the copy of my PST I see the problem described. I can export
that data and then import it back into a new PST and this fixes some of
the
issues. Names then appear in the shaded areas. However a large number of
the addresses and emails are corupted if I don't copy and paste from
within
the backup copy before exporting (as described).

Thanks for the reply.

You never transfer Outlook data by importing it. Why did you?
If you have a copy of your Outlook data, you open the file. You do not
import it.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I have imported a copy of my Outlook 2003 PST file to recover my
contacts.
When I first look at the imported contacts in the address card view the
gray/brown bar where I expect to see the “File as†value is blank. If
I
double click on the card to open it the “File as†appears in the form.
If
I
close the form a wearning message that the field is blank appears. How
ever
if I copy and past the value over itself within the form the form can
be
saved and the initial issue is resolved.

Second oddity, is that the address listed in the Address Card view is
truncated when the card is opened to the form. If it is saved the
resulting
contact will have the truncated address. It is the last address line
that
is
truncated. If the address is copied from the first view of the Address
Card
it can be pasted into the form after it is opened and saving this
preserves
the original data.

I assume ther may be some filds elsewhere in the data that is
corrupting
the
fields somewhere alone the line. Has anyone else seen this behavior?
Is
ther a known cure or some recommended options to try. I am looking at
~
2000
contacts that are damaged

 

[Guest]

The best copy of my old PST will require hours of cut and paste to be usable.
I will have to repair nearly 2000 entries, I am hoping a utility or Field
Integrety utility coul dhelp identify the record that may contain bad
charachters. I do agree I neeed to use the best I have via Data File
Management - add but I need a way to clean it up.

Thanks again.

Each time you export and import Outlook data you lose or corrupt some of it,
as you are now discovering. Do you still have a good copy of the PST file
that you did not create by exporting? Have you tried to repair it? That
would be your best shot at having your original data intact.
Find and use the best PST file you can. Remember. Never import it. Just open
it and either use it as your default, or copy what you need from it into a
new PST.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

History: my HD crashed but I had a backup copy of the PST. When I open
the
backup copy of my original PST it appears damaged.

When I open the copy of my PST I see the problem described. I can export
that data and then import it back into a new PST and this fixes some of
the
issues. Names then appear in the shaded areas. However a large number of
the addresses and emails are corupted if I don't copy and paste from
within
the backup copy before exporting (as described).

Thanks for the reply.

You never transfer Outlook data by importing it. Why did you?
If you have a copy of your Outlook data, you open the file. You do not
import it.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I have imported a copy of my Outlook 2003 PST file to recover my
contacts.
When I first look at the imported contacts in the address card view the
gray/brown bar where I expect to see the “File as†value is blank. If
I
double click on the card to open it the “File as†appears in the form.
If
I
close the form a wearning message that the field is blank appears. How
ever
if I copy and past the value over itself within the form the form can
be
saved and the initial issue is resolved.

Second oddity, is that the address listed in the Address Card view is
truncated when the card is opened to the form. If it is saved the
resulting
contact will have the truncated address. It is the last address line
that
is
truncated. If the address is copied from the first view of the Address
Card
it can be pasted into the form after it is opened and saving this
preserves
the original data.

I assume ther may be some filds elsewhere in the data that is
corrupting
the
fields somewhere alone the line. Has anyone else seen this behavior?
Is
ther a known cure or some recommended options to try. I am looking at
~
2000
contacts that are damaged

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

The best copy of my old PST will require hours of cut and paste to be
usable.
I will have to repair nearly 2000 entries, I am hoping a utility or
Field
Integrety utility coul dhelp identify the record that may contain bad
charachters. I do agree I neeed to use the best I have via Data File
Management - add but I need a way to clean it up.

Thanks again.

Each time you export and import Outlook data you lose or corrupt some of
it,
as you are now discovering. Do you still have a good copy of the PST file
that you did not create by exporting? Have you tried to repair it? That
would be your best shot at having your original data intact.
Find and use the best PST file you can. Remember. Never import it. Just
open
it and either use it as your default, or copy what you need from it into
a
new PST.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

History: my HD crashed but I had a backup copy of the PST. When I
open
the
backup copy of my original PST it appears damaged.

When I open the copy of my PST I see the problem described. I can
export
that data and then import it back into a new PST and this fixes some of
the
issues. Names then appear in the shaded areas. However a large number
of
the addresses and emails are corupted if I don't copy and paste from
within
the backup copy before exporting (as described).

Thanks for the reply.

:

You never transfer Outlook data by importing it. Why did you?
If you have a copy of your Outlook data, you open the file. You do not
import it.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I have imported a copy of my Outlook 2003 PST file to recover my
contacts.
When I first look at the imported contacts in the address card view
the
gray/brown bar where I expect to see the “File as†value is blank.
If
I
double click on the card to open it the “File as†appears in the
form.
If
I
close the form a wearning message that the field is blank appears.
How
ever
if I copy and past the value over itself within the form the form
can
be
saved and the initial issue is resolved.

Second oddity, is that the address listed in the Address Card view
is
truncated when the card is opened to the form. If it is saved the
resulting
contact will have the truncated address. It is the last address
line
that
is
truncated. If the address is copied from the first view of the
Address
Card
it can be pasted into the form after it is opened and saving this
preserves
the original data.

I assume ther may be some filds elsewhere in the data that is
corrupting
the
fields somewhere alone the line. Has anyone else seen this
behavior?
Is
ther a known cure or some recommended options to try. I am looking
at
~
2000
contacts that are damaged

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Have you tried the Inbox Repair Tool?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287497/en-us
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

The best copy of my old PST will require hours of cut and paste to be
usable.
I will have to repair nearly 2000 entries, I am hoping a utility or
Field
Integrety utility coul dhelp identify the record that may contain bad
charachters. I do agree I neeed to use the best I have via Data File
Management - add but I need a way to clean it up.

Thanks again.

Each time you export and import Outlook data you lose or corrupt some of
it,
as you are now discovering. Do you still have a good copy of the PST file
that you did not create by exporting? Have you tried to repair it? That
would be your best shot at having your original data intact.
Find and use the best PST file you can. Remember. Never import it. Just
open
it and either use it as your default, or copy what you need from it into
a
new PST.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

History: my HD crashed but I had a backup copy of the PST. When I
open
the
backup copy of my original PST it appears damaged.

When I open the copy of my PST I see the problem described. I can
export
that data and then import it back into a new PST and this fixes some of
the
issues. Names then appear in the shaded areas. However a large number
of
the addresses and emails are corupted if I don't copy and paste from
within
the backup copy before exporting (as described).

Thanks for the reply.

:

You never transfer Outlook data by importing it. Why did you?
If you have a copy of your Outlook data, you open the file. You do not
import it.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I have imported a copy of my Outlook 2003 PST file to recover my
contacts.
When I first look at the imported contacts in the address card view
the
gray/brown bar where I expect to see the “File as†value is blank.
If
I
double click on the card to open it the “File as†appears in the
form.
If
I
close the form a wearning message that the field is blank appears.
How
ever
if I copy and past the value over itself within the form the form
can
be
saved and the initial issue is resolved.

Second oddity, is that the address listed in the Address Card view
is
truncated when the card is opened to the form. If it is saved the
resulting
contact will have the truncated address. It is the last address
line
that
is
truncated. If the address is copied from the first view of the
Address
Card
it can be pasted into the form after it is opened and saving this
preserves
the original data.

I assume ther may be some filds elsewhere in the data that is
corrupting
the
fields somewhere alone the line. Has anyone else seen this
behavior?
Is
ther a known cure or some recommended options to try. I am looking
at
~
2000
contacts that are damaged

 

[Guest]

I ran the ScanPST.exe against the copy of my original PST and it repaired a
small number of erorrs. I number of errors was less then 50. It seems a
very small percentage of the recovered items. Both versions of the PST
(original copy and scanpst-ed version) show the same symptoms previously
described.

I noted that I can take 'damaged' contacts and move them between contact
folders and they retain their odd behavior. I can also save even a few of
them to a seperate PST file and when used on other machines the odd behavior
is still seen. It seems very file dependent and not machine dependent.

Have you tried the Inbox Repair Tool?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287497/en-us
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

The best copy of my old PST will require hours of cut and paste to be
usable.
I will have to repair nearly 2000 entries, I am hoping a utility or
Field
Integrety utility coul dhelp identify the record that may contain bad
charachters. I do agree I neeed to use the best I have via Data File
Management - add but I need a way to clean it up.

Thanks again.

Each time you export and import Outlook data you lose or corrupt some of
it,
as you are now discovering. Do you still have a good copy of the PST file
that you did not create by exporting? Have you tried to repair it? That
would be your best shot at having your original data intact.
Find and use the best PST file you can. Remember. Never import it. Just
open
it and either use it as your default, or copy what you need from it into
a
new PST.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
History: my HD crashed but I had a backup copy of the PST. When I
open
the
backup copy of my original PST it appears damaged.

When I open the copy of my PST I see the problem described. I can
export
that data and then import it back into a new PST and this fixes some of
the
issues. Names then appear in the shaded areas. However a large number
of
the addresses and emails are corupted if I don't copy and paste from
within
the backup copy before exporting (as described).

Thanks for the reply.

:

You never transfer Outlook data by importing it. Why did you?
If you have a copy of your Outlook data, you open the file. You do not
import it.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I have imported a copy of my Outlook 2003 PST file to recover my
contacts.
When I first look at the imported contacts in the address card view
the
gray/brown bar where I expect to see the “File as†value is blank.
If
I
double click on the card to open it the “File as†appears in the
form.
If
I
close the form a wearning message that the field is blank appears.
How
ever
if I copy and past the value over itself within the form the form
can
be
saved and the initial issue is resolved.

Second oddity, is that the address listed in the Address Card view
is
truncated when the card is opened to the form. If it is saved the
resulting
contact will have the truncated address. It is the last address
line
that
is
truncated. If the address is copied from the first view of the
Address
Card
it can be pasted into the form after it is opened and saving this
preserves
the original data.

I assume ther may be some filds elsewhere in the data that is
corrupting
the
fields somewhere alone the line. Has anyone else seen this
behavior?
Is
ther a known cure or some recommended options to try. I am looking
at
~
2000
contacts that are damaged

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

How did you create this backup copy of the PST file in the first place? How
do you supposed it got "damaged?" I'm assuming you're saying that you ran
the IRT on this file, but it still is damaged. The only other thing you can
try is to alternate the IRT with a scandisk utility until you get no error
messages from either. After that, you'd need to look into a third party
utility:
http://officerecovery.com/outlook/index.htm

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I ran the ScanPST.exe against the copy of my original PST and it repaired a
small number of erorrs. I number of errors was less then 50. It seems a
very small percentage of the recovered items. Both versions of the PST
(original copy and scanpst-ed version) show the same symptoms previously
described.

I noted that I can take 'damaged' contacts and move them between contact
folders and they retain their odd behavior. I can also save even a few of
them to a seperate PST file and when used on other machines the odd
behavior
is still seen. It seems very file dependent and not machine dependent.

Have you tried the Inbox Repair Tool?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287497/en-us
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

The best copy of my old PST will require hours of cut and paste to be
usable.
I will have to repair nearly 2000 entries, I am hoping a utility or
Field
Integrety utility coul dhelp identify the record that may contain bad
charachters. I do agree I neeed to use the best I have via Data File
Management - add but I need a way to clean it up.

Thanks again.

:

Each time you export and import Outlook data you lose or corrupt some
of
it,
as you are now discovering. Do you still have a good copy of the PST
file
that you did not create by exporting? Have you tried to repair it?
That
would be your best shot at having your original data intact.
Find and use the best PST file you can. Remember. Never import it.
Just
open
it and either use it as your default, or copy what you need from it
into
a
new PST.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
History: my HD crashed but I had a backup copy of the PST. When I
open
the
backup copy of my original PST it appears damaged.

When I open the copy of my PST I see the problem described. I can
export
that data and then import it back into a new PST and this fixes some
of
the
issues. Names then appear in the shaded areas. However a large
number
of
the addresses and emails are corupted if I don't copy and paste from
within
the backup copy before exporting (as described).

Thanks for the reply.

:

You never transfer Outlook data by importing it. Why did you?
If you have a copy of your Outlook data, you open the file. You do
not
import it.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I have imported a copy of my Outlook 2003 PST file to recover my
contacts.
When I first look at the imported contacts in the address card
view
the
gray/brown bar where I expect to see the “File as†value is
blank.
If
I
double click on the card to open it the “File as†appears in the
form.
If
I
close the form a wearning message that the field is blank
appears.
How
ever
if I copy and past the value over itself within the form the form
can
be
saved and the initial issue is resolved.

Second oddity, is that the address listed in the Address Card
view
is
truncated when the card is opened to the form. If it is saved
the
resulting
contact will have the truncated address. It is the last address
line
that
is
truncated. If the address is copied from the first view of the
Address
Card
it can be pasted into the form after it is opened and saving this
preserves
the original data.

I assume ther may be some filds elsewhere in the data that is
corrupting
the
fields somewhere alone the line. Has anyone else seen this
behavior?
Is
ther a known cure or some recommended options to try. I am
looking
at
~
2000
contacts that are damaged

 

[Guest]

When my HD crashed I was able to pull a copy of the PST from a Microsoft
backup of my C: Drive. I don’t know why it’s damaged. This PST is all I
have left of my original. It is possible that the HD was damaged when the
backup took place.

If I add the file to Outlook via Data File Management … or I add it as an
available PST after I run it thru the IRT I get the same results. The
Contacts appear damaged as described. If I run the PST thru the IRT a second
time it reports no errors. My disk is otherwise fine. (This isn’t a PST
recovered from a crashed disk it is from the XP-backup utility – my current
system is clean scandisk wise.)

I downloaded 6 or more PST repair demos. Some fail outright. Several find
various thousands of records but none appear to fix my Contacts to a point
where the full product would be worth purchasing.

Thanks again for you input … I’ll try most anything at this point,

Chris

How did you create this backup copy of the PST file in the first place? How
do you supposed it got "damaged?" I'm assuming you're saying that you ran
the IRT on this file, but it still is damaged. The only other thing you can
try is to alternate the IRT with a scandisk utility until you get no error
messages from either. After that, you'd need to look into a third party
utility:
http://officerecovery.com/outlook/index.htm

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I ran the ScanPST.exe against the copy of my original PST and it repaired a
small number of erorrs. I number of errors was less then 50. It seems a
very small percentage of the recovered items. Both versions of the PST
(original copy and scanpst-ed version) show the same symptoms previously
described.

I noted that I can take 'damaged' contacts and move them between contact
folders and they retain their odd behavior. I can also save even a few of
them to a seperate PST file and when used on other machines the odd
behavior
is still seen. It seems very file dependent and not machine dependent.

Have you tried the Inbox Repair Tool?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287497/en-us
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
The best copy of my old PST will require hours of cut and paste to be
usable.
I will have to repair nearly 2000 entries, I am hoping a utility or
Field
Integrety utility coul dhelp identify the record that may contain bad
charachters. I do agree I neeed to use the best I have via Data File
Management - add but I need a way to clean it up.

Thanks again.

:

Each time you export and import Outlook data you lose or corrupt some
of
it,
as you are now discovering. Do you still have a good copy of the PST
file
that you did not create by exporting? Have you tried to repair it?
That
would be your best shot at having your original data intact.
Find and use the best PST file you can. Remember. Never import it.
Just
open
it and either use it as your default, or copy what you need from it
into
a
new PST.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
History: my HD crashed but I had a backup copy of the PST. When I
open
the
backup copy of my original PST it appears damaged.

When I open the copy of my PST I see the problem described. I can
export
that data and then import it back into a new PST and this fixes some
of
the
issues. Names then appear in the shaded areas. However a large
number
of
the addresses and emails are corupted if I don't copy and paste from
within
the backup copy before exporting (as described).

Thanks for the reply.

:

You never transfer Outlook data by importing it. Why did you?
If you have a copy of your Outlook data, you open the file. You do
not
import it.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I have imported a copy of my Outlook 2003 PST file to recover my
contacts.
When I first look at the imported contacts in the address card
view
the
gray/brown bar where I expect to see the “File as†value is
blank.
If
I
double click on the card to open it the “File as†appears in the
form.
If
I
close the form a wearning message that the field is blank
appears.
How
ever
if I copy and past the value over itself within the form the form
can
be
saved and the initial issue is resolved.

Second oddity, is that the address listed in the Address Card
view
is
truncated when the card is opened to the form. If it is saved
the
resulting
contact will have the truncated address. It is the last address
line
that
is
truncated. If the address is copied from the first view of the
Address
Card
it can be pasted into the form after it is opened and saving this
preserves
the original data.

I assume ther may be some filds elsewhere in the data that is
corrupting
the
fields somewhere alone the line. Has anyone else seen this
behavior?
Is
ther a known cure or some recommended options to try. I am
looking
at
~
2000
contacts that are damaged