Deleted most of messages but pst file is still huge

[Donnie]

Hi,

I have deleted most of my messages from Outlook but the .pst file is still
HUGE and I just don't have enough space on this particular laptop. I have
tried compacting the Outlook Today folder 3 times and still has no effect.
I should have seen a minimum of a 60 reduction in the size of the .pst but
it hasn't changed at all.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Brian Tillman]

Hi,

I have deleted most of my messages from Outlook but the .pst file is
still HUGE

Define "huge". Older PSTs can be 1.8 Gb and current PSTs (Outlook 2003
Unicode PSTs) can be up to 4 Tb.

I have tried compacting the Outlook Today folder 3 times and
still has no effect.

If I were in your shoes, I'd create a new PST and copy to it from the old
PST everything I wished to keep, make the new PST my default delivery
location and then close and delete the old PST.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

What is the difference in the size being displayed in Outlook and in
Explorer?

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
www.howto-outlook.com

Tips of the month:
-What do the Outlook Icons Mean?
-Create an Office 2003 CD slipstreamed with Service Pack 1

 

[Donnie]

It started out at 359 MB I have just compacted it 3 times in a row which
reduced it to 260 MB in Explore but 110 MB in Outlook

What is the difference in the size being displayed in Outlook and in
Explorer?

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
www.howto-outlook.com

Tips of the month:
-What do the Outlook Icons Mean?
-Create an Office 2003 CD slipstreamed with Service Pack 1

-----

Hi,

I have deleted most of my messages from Outlook but the .pst file is
still HUGE and I just don't have enough space on this particular laptop.
I have tried compacting the Outlook Today folder 3 times and still has no
effect. I should have seen a minimum of a 60 reduction in the size of the
.pst but it hasn't changed at all.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

That is quite a difference indeed. Close Outlook and run scanpst.exe against
your pst-file and then try the Compact Now again.

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
www.howto-outlook.com

Tips of the month:
-What do the Outlook Icons Mean?
-Create an Office 2003 CD slipstreamed with Service Pack 1

-----

It started out at 359 MB I have just compacted it 3 times in a row which
reduced it to 260 MB in Explore but 110 MB in Outlook

What is the difference in the size being displayed in Outlook and in
Explorer?

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
www.howto-outlook.com

Tips of the month:
-What do the Outlook Icons Mean?
-Create an Office 2003 CD slipstreamed with Service Pack 1

-----

Hi,

I have deleted most of my messages from Outlook but the .pst file is
still HUGE and I just don't have enough space on this particular laptop.
I have tried compacting the Outlook Today folder 3 times and still has
no effect. I should have seen a minimum of a 60 reduction in the size of
the .pst but it hasn't changed at all.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Donnie]

I have run scanpst.exe and repaired any errors. I have also run a scandisk
to repair any errors and finally ran Compact Now. I am still showing 110 MB
in Outlook for the pst and 260 MB in Explore. The reason this is a problem
is that I am running xp Service Pak 2 on a 4 GB hard drive with nothing
other than XP and Office loaded and I am running out of space. I don't even
have any data files on the PC. I need to use this laptop to travel until I
buy a new one and the main thing I use it for is Outlook, Web access and My
Documents. I can store My Documents on a CD so that isn't a problem, but
this Outlook is.

Thanks agan for your help.

That is quite a difference indeed. Close Outlook and run scanpst.exe
against your pst-file and then try the Compact Now again.

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
www.howto-outlook.com

Tips of the month:
-What do the Outlook Icons Mean?
-Create an Office 2003 CD slipstreamed with Service Pack 1

-----

It started out at 359 MB I have just compacted it 3 times in a row
which reduced it to 260 MB in Explore but 110 MB in Outlook

What is the difference in the size being displayed in Outlook and in
Explorer?

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
www.howto-outlook.com

Tips of the month:
-What do the Outlook Icons Mean?
-Create an Office 2003 CD slipstreamed with Service Pack 1

-----
Hi,

I have deleted most of my messages from Outlook but the .pst file is
still HUGE and I just don't have enough space on this particular
laptop. I have tried compacting the Outlook Today folder 3 times and
still has no effect. I should have seen a minimum of a 60 reduction in
the size of the .pst but it hasn't changed at all.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Well then I'd go for the "dirty" solution Brian Tillman already suggested;

"create a new PST and copy to it from the old
PST everything I wished to keep, make the new PST my default delivery
location and then close and delete the old PST"

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
www.howto-outlook.com

Tips of the month:
-What do the Outlook Icons Mean?
-Create an Office 2003 CD slipstreamed with Service Pack 1

-----

I have run scanpst.exe and repaired any errors. I have also run a scandisk
to repair any errors and finally ran Compact Now. I am still showing 110
MB in Outlook for the pst and 260 MB in Explore. The reason this is a
problem is that I am running xp Service Pak 2 on a 4 GB hard drive with
nothing other than XP and Office loaded and I am running out of space. I
don't even have any data files on the PC. I need to use this laptop to
travel until I buy a new one and the main thing I use it for is Outlook,
Web access and My Documents. I can store My Documents on a CD so that
isn't a problem, but this Outlook is.

Thanks agan for your help.

That is quite a difference indeed. Close Outlook and run scanpst.exe
against your pst-file and then try the Compact Now again.

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
www.howto-outlook.com

Tips of the month:
-What do the Outlook Icons Mean?
-Create an Office 2003 CD slipstreamed with Service Pack 1

-----

It started out at 359 MB I have just compacted it 3 times in a row
which reduced it to 260 MB in Explore but 110 MB in Outlook


in message What is the difference in the size being displayed in Outlook and in
Explorer?

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
www.howto-outlook.com

Tips of the month:
-What do the Outlook Icons Mean?
-Create an Office 2003 CD slipstreamed with Service Pack 1

-----
Hi,

I have deleted most of my messages from Outlook but the .pst file is
still HUGE and I just don't have enough space on this particular
laptop. I have tried compacting the Outlook Today folder 3 times and
still has no effect. I should have seen a minimum of a 60 reduction in
the size of the .pst but it hasn't changed at all.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Guest]

Hi Donnie,
I request you to wait for 3-4 days (3 working days.. ;-) ), for the file
size to start getting reduced and show the same size in explorer as the pst
size in outlook.

I cant understand why explorer takes 3 days to reflect the change in size
when we delete a mail. and it instantly reflects the change in size when a
new mail comes in.

Rgds
Jagan

It started out at 359 MB I have just compacted it 3 times in a row which
reduced it to 260 MB in Explore but 110 MB in Outlook

What is the difference in the size being displayed in Outlook and in
Explorer?

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
www.howto-outlook.com

Tips of the month:
-What do the Outlook Icons Mean?
-Create an Office 2003 CD slipstreamed with Service Pack 1

-----

Hi,

I have deleted most of my messages from Outlook but the .pst file is
still HUGE and I just don't have enough space on this particular laptop.
I have tried compacting the Outlook Today folder 3 times and still has no
effect. I should have seen a minimum of a 60 reduction in the size of the
.pst but it hasn't changed at all.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Donnie]

OK - I will wait the 3-4 days and if that doesn't work, how do I copy what I
want from the old pst into the new pst?

Hi Donnie,
I request you to wait for 3-4 days (3 working days.. ;-) ), for the file
size to start getting reduced and show the same size in explorer as the
pst
size in outlook.

I cant understand why explorer takes 3 days to reflect the change in size
when we delete a mail. and it instantly reflects the change in size when a
new mail comes in.

Rgds
Jagan

It started out at 359 MB I have just compacted it 3 times in a row
which
reduced it to 260 MB in Explore but 110 MB in Outlook


in
message news:%[email protected]...

What is the difference in the size being displayed in Outlook and in
Explorer?

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
www.howto-outlook.com

Tips of the month:
-What do the Outlook Icons Mean?
-Create an Office 2003 CD slipstreamed with Service Pack 1

-----
Hi,

I have deleted most of my messages from Outlook but the .pst file is
still HUGE and I just don't have enough space on this particular
laptop.
I have tried compacting the Outlook Today folder 3 times and still has
no
effect. I should have seen a minimum of a 60 reduction in the size of
the
.pst but it hasn't changed at all.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Brian Tillman]

OK - I will wait the 3-4 days and if that doesn't work, how do I copy
what I want from the old pst into the new pst?

Drag-and-drop or right-click and "Move" or Edit>Copy to Folder"

 

[Donnie]

sorry I am being so dense but how do I have both pst's open at the same
time?

 

[Brian Tillman]

sorry I am being so dense but how do I have both pst's open at the
same time?

File>Open>Outlook Data File or Personal Folders File, depending on your
Outlook version.