Causes of errors in .pst files

[Michael Ray Brown]

Whenever I run scanpst.exe, it reports errors in my .pst files. I've been
trying to find what might be causing the errors. After repairing the files,
errors show up almost immediately. Even if I do nothing more than move some
e-mail messages to different folders, scanpst.exe reports errors in the
file.

I'm running Outlook 2007 with .pst files created in Outlook 2003. I have a
custom contact form created in Outlook 2003. Outlook 2007 loads with one
non-Microsoft COM add-in (Dragon NaturallySpeaking). What could be causing
the corruption of my .pst files? Should I re-create my .pst files from
scratch in Outlook 2007?

 

[Chuck Davis]

You probably didn’t create a new Profile after installation. I believe that
the Microsoft developers dropped the ball here. The new installation should
have been seamless. You can get detailed instructions on how to create a new
Profile here. http://www.howto-outlook.com/faq/newprofile.htm

 

[Michael Ray Brown]

Chuck,

You're right, I didn't create a new Profile. The new installation migrated
my old settings, and I figured all was well. I followed the instructions on
that page, and I'm no longer getting errors. Thanks so much!

 

[Michael Ray Brown]

Seems I spoke too soon. I'm still getting errors every time I run
scanpst.exe. Something as simple as checking my e-mail will introduce
errors in the .pst file. The size of my main .pst file is about 700 MB,
which is not particularly huge. What should I do now?

 

[Brian Tillman]

Seems I spoke too soon. I'm still getting errors every time I run
scanpst.exe. Something as simple as checking my e-mail will introduce
errors in the .pst file. The size of my main .pst file is about 700
MB, which is not particularly huge. What should I do now?

If I were in your shoes, I'd make an entirely new PST.

 

[Michael Ray Brown]

Brian,

As much as I hate the idea of reconstructing all my custom views, I'm coming
to the realization that may be necessary. The question is how to do it.

Can simply I import everything from the old file into the new file? If I
do, will I lose my active links between various Outlook items?

Or should I re-create the folder structure, and individually move the
contents of each folder to the new file? If I do, I'm worried that I'll end
up just transferring the corruption to the new file.

 

[Brian Tillman]

As much as I hate the idea of reconstructing all my custom views, I'm
coming to the realization that may be necessary. The question is how
to do it.

File>New>Outlook Data File

Can simply I import everything from the old file into the new file? If I
do, will I lose my active links between various Outlook items?

Never import from a PST. You lose the links, among other data, if you do.

Or should I re-create the folder structure, and individually move the
contents of each folder to the new file? If I do, I'm worried that
I'll end up just transferring the corruption to the new file.

I'd first create the new PST and make it the delivery location, then, after
stopping and restarting Outlook, copy all non-default folders by copying the
folders themselves and for the default folders, by copying the folders'
contents. I'd also disable any add-ins. When done, I'd close the old PST
(right-click>Close).

 

[Michael Ray Brown]

I followed your instructions and rebuilt my PST file. Unfortunately, I'm
still getting errors. So I decided to start all over again with a brand new
PST file containing no data. Surprisingly, scanpst.exe reported errors for
that file, too! A new, blank data file!

I repaired the errors, but every time Outlook 2007 launched, errors somehow
again crept into the PST file. This happens on a full installation of
Office 2007 Professional (not an upgrade) on a fresh install of Windows XP.

I tried uninstalling Office 2007, cleaning the registry, deleting my user
data files, and then reinstalling. No good. I'm still getting errors on a
new PST file. I've uninstalled or disabled all my add-ins, as well as my
anti-virus software, so the only thing that could be corrupting it is
Outlook itself.

 

[Brian Tillman]

I followed your instructions and rebuilt my PST file. Unfortunately,
I'm still getting errors. So I decided to start all over again with
a brand new PST file containing no data. Surprisingly, scanpst.exe
reported errors for that file, too! A new, blank data file!

I'm at a loss, I'm afraid.

 

[Guest]

I have been fighting errors in my outlook.pst file lately. I am still XP SP2
and Office 2003. One cause can be be other software that puts hooks into
Outlook. I discovered this accidently when I was reinstalling AIM and it
would not uninstall because Outlook was open. All programs that allow you to
email from them hook into Outlook. I found that the newest AIM 6.0 and AIM
Pro appear to create these conditions. I stopped using it for a while and my
outlook seems to stop having errors. Then it started again. I read that an
HP monitor program for All-in-One printers can cause this. I repair with
Inbox Tool but errors keep occuring. I have spent a lot of time tracking
this problem and I was hoping to get some help here but seems like I am not
the only one with this problem.