Size problem with outlook.pst after importing archives

[Guest]

I had a nice small outlook.pst file, until I imported archive.pst into "Archive Folders." Now I'm finished looking at the old material and have archived it again. But my outlook.pst file remains way bigger than I want it, and the Archived material seems to be the culprit--hasn't gone away from outlook.pst, even though it is archived. (I even created a new archive file to make sure.) The "archive or delete old items" box was always checked in AutoArchive, and I have tried compacting the files--no luck. I need the outlook.pst file to be small for backup management

Is there something I've missed? Thanks.

 

[Jocelyn Fiorello [MVP - Outlook]]

What do you mean when you say you imported into "Archive.pst"? Did you mean
you imported the data FROM Archive.pst back into Outlook.pst? That's what
it sounds like. For future reference, it's much easier just to open the
Archive.pst file in Outlook to keep it separate from Outlook.pst -- if you
import, as you have experienced firsthand, you just have to re-archive the
items later. See http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/readarchive.htm for more
information.

Did you check the new Archive.pst file to make sure the items actually made
it there? (Use the process I recommended in the above paragraph to do
this.) If they're still in Outlook.pst, they probably didn't archive at
all. Archive should move items rather than copy them. And since the
AutoArchive process works against the Modified date of each item, the
modified dates likely changed when you imported the items back into
Outlook.pst, so AutoArchive may not consider them old enough to archive at
this time. Check the modified dates and see what you find there. (You can
do this through the Properties dialog for each item -- open the item, then
click File | Properties.)

--
Jocelyn Fiorello
MVP - Outlook

*** Messages sent to my e-mail address will NOT be answered -- please
reply only to the newsgroup to preserve the message thread. ***


In

 

[Guest]

Jocelyn, Thank you for your reply. Evidently I'm not clear on terminology. Originally I imported the archived items back to outlook.pst, not being aware at the time that I didn't have to. Then I did archive again. Later (but before I posted) I looked at the archived items through "Archive Folders" in Outlook--so it sounds like I was looking at the archive.pst file without understanding that this was the case.

To check the new archive.pst file I did use the process you recommended and found everything in the "Archive Folders" as it should be. And the archived items don't show up in the files under "Outlook Today" in the Folder List. I also did a random check of Modified dates and found all dates well in the past--after which I changed my archive settings to a more recent date and archived again, to see if that would make a difference. The change was hardly noticeable--the Outlook.pst is still way bigger than expected.

So unfortunately I still haven't figured out what my problem is.

Thanks.

----- Jocelyn Fiorello [MVP - Outlook] wrote: -----

What do you mean when you say you imported into "Archive.pst"? .....

Did you check the new Archive.pst file to make sure the items actually made
it there? (Use the process I recommended in the above paragraph to do
this.) If they're still in Outlook.pst, they probably didn't archive at
all. Archive should move items rather than copy them. And since the
AutoArchive process works against the Modified date of each item, the
modified dates likely changed when you imported the items back into
Outlook.pst, so AutoArchive may not consider them old enough to archive at
this time. Check the modified dates and see what you find there.

 

[Guest]

I've found the solution--retried Compacting, and the Outlook.pst file is now a shadow of its former self. So along with the other misunderstandings I must have been confused about Compacting and likely wasn't performing this operation on the correct file. Jocelyn, thanks for setting me on the right track--your guidance is what led me to the source of the difficulty.

 

[Jocelyn Fiorello [MVP - Outlook]]

Glad I could help

--
Jocelyn Fiorello
MVP - Outlook

*** Messages sent to my e-mail address will NOT be answered -- please
reply only to the newsgroup to preserve the message thread. ***


In

 

[Brian Tillman]

I've found the solution--retried Compacting, and the Outlook.pst file
is now a shadow of its former self.

Yes. When a message is removed from a pst, the space the message took is
not released immediately. Instead, it becomes "white space" - space that is
reuseable. The message data is still there, but there is no longer any way
to access it. This allows for faster handling of the pst file. When a new
message arrives (or is moved into the pst file), the message can be placed
in the "white space" without the system having to go through the trouble of
allocating additional space to the pst file, which is a relatively
"expensive" process, in terms of system resources. Outlook automatically
compresses a pst file when the amount of white space exceeds 20% of the
total allocation.
--
Brian Tillman
Smiths Aerospace
3290 Patterson Ave. SE, MS 1B3
Grand Rapids, MI 49512-1991
Brian.Tillman is the name, smiths-aerospace.com is the domain.

I don't speak for Smiths, and Smiths doesn't speak for me.