Does creating many Inbox folders make a safer pst?

[Stephen]

Hi everyone,
My Outlook pst file is currently 815,000KB (is that 815MB = 0.8GB? - I
get confused!).
I had lots of messages (over 1,400 - yes, I'm a hoarder!!) and
attachments in the Inbox folder.
For safety's sake, if I create lots of folders like "family" "friends"
"work" etc and actually properly sort those emails, does it make for a
safer pst file if it crashes?
I guess it will make no difference to the actual size of the file, but
I'm guessing that if the file crashes, it might make for a better repair?
BTW, I DO do weekly full backups, but would like to know the answer to
the above anyhow.
Thanks,

Stephen

 

[Vince Averello]

Not sure if it will but I do know that you should probably archive things to
reduce the number of items in the PST which will protect them in the event
of a crash (as long as the Archive PST file is closed when the crash
happens).

 

[Stephen]

Vince,
Thanks for the quick reply!
I've never done archiving - does the archive stay inside the pst or does
it create an additional pst?
Can you still browse an archive like you can a "normal" pst?

 

[Vince Averello]

Archiving creates/uses another PST file which you can open and browse
normally using the File menu > Open > Outlook Data File command. It'll open
another set of folders in your folder tree.

 

[Stephen]

Thanks for all your help - greatly appreciated!
One more question please - when archived, does the folder structure
remain the same ie: if I set up a folder in my CURRENT Inbox called
"friends", will I see the same tree folders structure in the archive pst?

 

[Vince Averello]

Yes, the structure is recreated when the items are archived. Each folder can
have its own auto-archive properties also. Right click on a folder, choose
Properties and go the AutoArchive tab to check/set them

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

My Outlook pst file is currently 815,000KB (is that 815MB = 0.8GB? - I get
confused!).

You don't seem confused to me. This is correct.

For safety's sake, if I create lots of folders like "family" "friends"
"work" etc and actually properly sort those emails, does it make for a
safer pst file if it crashes?

In my opinion, no. What makes for a "safer PST" is to make frequent backups
so that in the event of a crash you have a recent copy of your Outlook data,
as you indicate is your practice. Your backup scheme means you'll lose at
most a week's worth.

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

No, it doesn't make it "safer" - it can make it harder to find things. The
best protection against crashes is good backups, but in all honestly, the
number of people who lose data in a crash is fairly small and there are
usually outside forces involved - syncing with a pda, using the pst over a
network or on portable storage devices and removing them before closing
outlook, addins that keep outlook open, or a defective hard drive.

1400 messages is nothing. I have more that are marked unread. The file
size is not all that large either.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]





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[Stephen]

Brilliant! Thanks for explaining things so clearly. Thanks too to Brian
& Diane who added a little bit extra as well to this thread.
I feel much safer.
Stephen