how to remove the size limitation from Outlook'03 Personal Folders

[Guest]

Hello:
Several times, Outlook 2003 (fully up do date) has told me that my Personal
Folders (my Mailboxes) have reached "maximum capacity" that that I must
control+delete or archive material before I can proceed. This is very
annoying: I have 45 Gb of free space available on my non-networked harddrive
and I resent having to move important contents out into the Archives when I
would choose otherwise, if I had the choice. Is there a way I can remove
this Size Limitation on the Personal Folders? Thanks.

 

[neo [mvp outlook]]

Since you didn't mention if the hard drive is formatted as FAT32/NTFS or
type of PST file you are using, here is a quick run down.

Right click on the folder named "Personal Folders" and select Properties.
Select Advanced button. What type of personal folders file are you working
with?

* If the format mentions "Personal Folders File (97-2002)", then you are
working with a PST file that has a 2GB file size limitation. This can't be
changed. Your only option is to create a new PST file that is the new type
(see below) and then start using it as your default message store.

* If the format mentions "Personal Folders File", then you are working with
a PST file that has a soft file size limit of 20GB. This value can be
adjusting by editing the registry or setting a group policy object that sets
a higher limit.

Now here comes the fun part, if you have the "Personal Folders File" on a
FAT32 formatted drive then the maximum file size is 4GB. This is because a
single file on a FAT32 drive can't grow past this point.

 

[neo [mvp outlook]]

To create a new PST file, select File > New > Outlook Data File > Office
Outlook Personal Folders file. Once you have this done, you can set it as
you default delivery location by going thru Tools > Email Accounts >
View/Change existing accounts > dropdown s/be at bottom left.

Yes, you can move items/folders between stores. Lots of ways to this
(drag/drop folder between stores, right click on a folder and select
move/copy, .etc), do whatever method you feel comfortable with.

To check the format of a hard drive, open Windows Explorer and then right
click on the drive letter and select properties. Look for "File System"
right near the top of the dialog.