Can you defragment a .pst file?

  • Thread starter Thread starter rc
  • Start date Start date
R

rc

Ive got a user with a .pst file that contains 30,000+
fragments in it (he unfortunately uses Outlook for his
file storage) and the defrag utility does not appear to be
able to defragment his .pst file. Is this possible?
 
The file is roughly 1.3 GB at this moment.
-----Original Message-----
How big is the file?
--
PATRICK REED [Outlook - MVP]~~~~~~
-Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
-Have you checked http://www.slipstick.com?
-Please post your Outlook version!



Ive got a user with a .pst file that contains 30,000+
fragments in it (he unfortunately uses Outlook for his
file storage) and the defrag utility does not appear to be
able to defragment his .pst file. Is this possible?
Click to expand...


.
Click to expand...
 
It's getting to the point of no return (2GB).

You can't use a regular file-system defrag to clean up the file. All you
have is the PST compression tool which will only remove a certain percentage
of the white(empty)space in the file, if a sufficient amount exists.

Personally, I'd say this user needs a bit of an education about the fact
PSTs are not designed for optimal file storage.

--
PATRICK REED [Outlook - MVP]~~~~~~
-Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
-Have you checked http://www.slipstick.com?
-Please post your Outlook version!



The file is roughly 1.3 GB at this moment.
-----Original Message-----
How big is the file?
--
PATRICK REED [Outlook - MVP]~~~~~~
-Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
-Have you checked http://www.slipstick.com?
-Please post your Outlook version!



Ive got a user with a .pst file that contains 30,000+
fragments in it (he unfortunately uses Outlook for his
file storage) and the defrag utility does not appear to be
able to defragment his .pst file. Is this possible?
Click to expand...


.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the response. Ive aked the user not to use
Outlook for file storage, unfortunately, he is my boss and
he is one of those "Im always right" people and he swears
he has been doing this forever, even though I know he
hasnt.

His boss does the same thing and has all kinds of problems
with his Outlook Client. None of them will listen to
reason.

Do you know of anyplace where there is an official
statement from MS along the lines of what you told me? Ive
known about the limits of Outlook and Ive tried and tried,
but they just wont listen. Maybe if they hear it from the
horses mouth it will sink in?
-----Original Message-----
It's getting to the point of no return (2GB).

You can't use a regular file-system defrag to clean up the file. All you
have is the PST compression tool which will only remove a certain percentage
of the white(empty)space in the file, if a sufficient amount exists.

Personally, I'd say this user needs a bit of an education about the fact
PSTs are not designed for optimal file storage.

--
PATRICK REED [Outlook - MVP]~~~~~~
-Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
-Have you checked http://www.slipstick.com?
-Please post your Outlook version!



The file is roughly 1.3 GB at this moment.
-----Original Message-----
How big is the file?
--
PATRICK REED [Outlook - MVP]~~~~~~
-Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
-Have you checked http://www.slipstick.com?
-Please post your Outlook version!



Ive got a user with a .pst file that contains 30,000+
fragments in it (he unfortunately uses Outlook for his
file storage) and the defrag utility does not appear
Click to expand...
to
be
able to defragment his .pst file. Is this possible?


.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...


.
Click to expand...
 
There is a free utility scanpst.exe, which you can download from here

http://www.recovermyfiles.com/Recover_deleted_email.html

Youcan search elsewere too. I have used this to scan files about 1.9GB and
have been able to recover.

Good Luck.

kirit
Thanks for the response. Ive aked the user not to use
Outlook for file storage, unfortunately, he is my boss and
he is one of those "Im always right" people and he swears
he has been doing this forever, even though I know he
hasnt.

His boss does the same thing and has all kinds of problems
with his Outlook Client. None of them will listen to
reason.

Do you know of anyplace where there is an official
statement from MS along the lines of what you told me? Ive
known about the limits of Outlook and Ive tried and tried,
but they just wont listen. Maybe if they hear it from the
horses mouth it will sink in?
-----Original Message-----
It's getting to the point of no return (2GB).

You can't use a regular file-system defrag to clean up the file. All you
have is the PST compression tool which will only remove a certain percentage
of the white(empty)space in the file, if a sufficient amount exists.

Personally, I'd say this user needs a bit of an education about the fact
PSTs are not designed for optimal file storage.

--
PATRICK REED [Outlook - MVP]~~~~~~
-Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
-Have you checked http://www.slipstick.com?
-Please post your Outlook version!



The file is roughly 1.3 GB at this moment.
-----Original Message-----
How big is the file?
--
PATRICK REED [Outlook - MVP]~~~~~~
-Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
-Have you checked http://www.slipstick.com?
-Please post your Outlook version!



message
Ive got a user with a .pst file that contains 30,000+
fragments in it (he unfortunately uses Outlook for his
file storage) and the defrag utility does not appear to
be
able to defragment his .pst file. Is this possible?


.
Click to expand...


.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Unfortunately, I'm not sure I know of an official word in a KB article or
whitepaper.

--
PATRICK REED [Outlook - MVP]~~~~~~
-Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
-Have you checked http://www.slipstick.com?
-Please post your Outlook version!



Thanks for the response. Ive aked the user not to use
Outlook for file storage, unfortunately, he is my boss and
he is one of those "Im always right" people and he swears
he has been doing this forever, even though I know he
hasnt.

His boss does the same thing and has all kinds of problems
with his Outlook Client. None of them will listen to
reason.

Do you know of anyplace where there is an official
statement from MS along the lines of what you told me? Ive
known about the limits of Outlook and Ive tried and tried,
but they just wont listen. Maybe if they hear it from the
horses mouth it will sink in?
-----Original Message-----
It's getting to the point of no return (2GB).

You can't use a regular file-system defrag to clean up the file. All you
have is the PST compression tool which will only remove a certain percentage
of the white(empty)space in the file, if a sufficient amount exists.

Personally, I'd say this user needs a bit of an education about the fact
PSTs are not designed for optimal file storage.

--
PATRICK REED [Outlook - MVP]~~~~~~
-Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
-Have you checked http://www.slipstick.com?
-Please post your Outlook version!



The file is roughly 1.3 GB at this moment.
-----Original Message-----
How big is the file?
--
PATRICK REED [Outlook - MVP]~~~~~~
-Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
-Have you checked http://www.slipstick.com?
-Please post your Outlook version!



message
Ive got a user with a .pst file that contains 30,000+
fragments in it (he unfortunately uses Outlook for his
file storage) and the defrag utility does not appear to
be
able to defragment his .pst file. Is this possible?


.
Click to expand...


.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Its listed in the article here:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;272227

kirit

Patrick Reed said:
Unfortunately, I'm not sure I know of an official word in a KB article or
whitepaper.

--
PATRICK REED [Outlook - MVP]~~~~~~
-Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
-Have you checked http://www.slipstick.com?
-Please post your Outlook version!



Thanks for the response. Ive aked the user not to use
Outlook for file storage, unfortunately, he is my boss and
he is one of those "Im always right" people and he swears
he has been doing this forever, even though I know he
hasnt.

His boss does the same thing and has all kinds of problems
with his Outlook Client. None of them will listen to
reason.

Do you know of anyplace where there is an official
statement from MS along the lines of what you told me? Ive
known about the limits of Outlook and Ive tried and tried,
but they just wont listen. Maybe if they hear it from the
horses mouth it will sink in?
-----Original Message-----
It's getting to the point of no return (2GB).

You can't use a regular file-system defrag to clean up the file. All you
have is the PST compression tool which will only remove a certain percentage
of the white(empty)space in the file, if a sufficient amount exists.

Personally, I'd say this user needs a bit of an education about the fact
PSTs are not designed for optimal file storage.

--
PATRICK REED [Outlook - MVP]~~~~~~
-Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
-Have you checked http://www.slipstick.com?
-Please post your Outlook version!



The file is roughly 1.3 GB at this moment.
-----Original Message-----
How big is the file?
--
PATRICK REED [Outlook - MVP]~~~~~~
-Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
-Have you checked http://www.slipstick.com?
-Please post your Outlook version!



message
Ive got a user with a .pst file that contains 30,000+
fragments in it (he unfortunately uses Outlook for his
file storage) and the defrag utility does not appear to
be
able to defragment his .pst file. Is this possible?


.



.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Actually, I was replying to rc in regards to there being an official
document that explains why Outlook PST files are not really meant to be
treated as a file system.

SCANPST is automatically installed with Windows Messaging/Microsoft Outlook
and is used to repair corrupt PST files. The issue here is the fact that rc
wants to defragment the PST file due to all the files stored in it along
with the mail items to try and recover some space. Of course, since the file
size is pushing 1.3GB and will probably keep growing, corruption of the file
will probably be coming along sometime in the near future. Especially if
this file is stored on a network volume as opposed to the local hard disk.

--
PATRICK REED [Outlook - MVP]~~~~~~
-Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
-Have you checked http://www.slipstick.com?
-Please post your Outlook version!



kirit kapadia said:
Its listed in the article here:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;272227

kirit

Patrick Reed said:
Unfortunately, I'm not sure I know of an official word in a KB article or
whitepaper.

--
PATRICK REED [Outlook - MVP]~~~~~~
-Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
-Have you checked http://www.slipstick.com?
-Please post your Outlook version!



Thanks for the response. Ive aked the user not to use
Outlook for file storage, unfortunately, he is my boss and
he is one of those "Im always right" people and he swears
he has been doing this forever, even though I know he
hasnt.

His boss does the same thing and has all kinds of problems
with his Outlook Client. None of them will listen to
reason.

Do you know of anyplace where there is an official
statement from MS along the lines of what you told me? Ive
known about the limits of Outlook and Ive tried and tried,
but they just wont listen. Maybe if they hear it from the
horses mouth it will sink in?

-----Original Message-----
It's getting to the point of no return (2GB).

You can't use a regular file-system defrag to clean up
the file. All you
have is the PST compression tool which will only remove a
certain percentage
of the white(empty)space in the file, if a sufficient
amount exists.

Personally, I'd say this user needs a bit of an education
about the fact
PSTs are not designed for optimal file storage.

--
PATRICK REED [Outlook - MVP]~~~~~~
-Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
-Have you checked http://www.slipstick.com?
-Please post your Outlook version!



The file is roughly 1.3 GB at this moment.
-----Original Message-----
How big is the file?
--
PATRICK REED [Outlook - MVP]~~~~~~
-Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
-Have you checked http://www.slipstick.com?
-Please post your Outlook version!



message
Ive got a user with a .pst file that contains 30,000+
fragments in it (he unfortunately uses Outlook for
his
file storage) and the defrag utility does not appear
to
be
able to defragment his .pst file. Is this possible?


.



.
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