Outlook 2003 limit on .pst file size

[James Truelove]

Hi All

I use Outlook 2003 at work and my .pst file is on a LAN server personal
folder so I can access my .pst file from whatever conference room I am
having a meeting in. I created a personal folder with subfolders so I can
save my emails in individual folders dedicated to a particular subject.
Outlook occasionally tells me my .pst file has grown too big (1.9 Gig) and I
have to delete some emails with shift/delete before I can move any more
emails from my inbox.

I have considered archiving old emails but the automatic archiving only
seems to work in the inbox not the personal folders?

Can anyone suggest anything? Any help would be appreciated.

James

 

[neo [mvp outlook]]

It does work on all folders, you just have to turn it on for the folders in
the PST. For example, right click on a folder and select properties. Go to
the archive tab to set your preference.

Since you are using Outlook 2003, have you considered using unicode rather
than ansi type PST files? Reason I ask is that the new unicode PST file
allows a size up to 20GBytes. To see if you have both types available to
you, select File > New > Outlook data file. You should see two entries
here. The first one (Office Outlook Personal Folders File) is the one that
can allow up to 20GBytes of data. The second one (Outlook 97/2002 Personal
Folders) is the one that is limited to 2.0 GBytes.

Might be worth the effort to create a new PST file and move the items from
the old PST to the new.

 

[James Truelove]

It does work on all folders, you just have to turn it on for the folders
in the PST. For example, right click on a folder and select properties.
Go to the archive tab to set your preference.

Since you are using Outlook 2003, have you considered using unicode rather
than ansi type PST files? Reason I ask is that the new unicode PST file
allows a size up to 20GBytes. To see if you have both types available to
you, select File > New > Outlook data file. You should see two entries
here. The first one (Office Outlook Personal Folders File) is the one
that can allow up to 20GBytes of data. The second one (Outlook 97/2002
Personal Folders) is the one that is limited to 2.0 GBytes.

Might be worth the effort to create a new PST file and move the items from
the old PST to the new.

Thanks for the tip. I will try this. Many thanks for responding.
James

 

[p]

It does work on all folders, you just have to turn it on for the folders in
the PST. For example, right click on a folder and select properties. Go to
the archive tab to set your preference.

Since you are using Outlook 2003, have you considered using unicode rather
than ansi type PST files? Reason I ask is that the new unicode PST file
allows a size up to 20GBytes. To see if you have both types available to
you, select File > New > Outlook data file. You should see two entries
here. The first one (Office Outlook Personal Folders File) is the one that
can allow up to 20GBytes of data. The second one (Outlook 97/2002 Personal
Folders) is the one that is limited to 2.0 GBytes.

Might be worth the effort to create a new PST file and move the items from
the old PST to the new.

Doesn't Outlook 2003 come with the unicode one by default?

P

 

[James Truelove]

Doesn't Outlook 2003 come with the unicode one by default?

P

I upgraded from Outlook 2002 to Outlook 2003 a few months ago so I guess I
was stuck with the older 2gig limit on my existing .pst file. I will create
a new 2003 data file and move my existing email folders over as suggested by
neo.
James

 

[DL]

Outlook 2003 uses unicode by default, so unless you have ported over the
data file from a previous version of Outllook your data file will be unicode
Rt click Personal Folders, select Properties>Advanced, if under Format: it
states 'personal folders file' then it is a unicode data file.
Outlook doesnt give any oversize warning, unless I believe, the max file
size has been implimented in the registry, in an exchange invironment it may
give a warning.

However; MS doesnt support the use of a pst over a network as it can lead to
corruption of the pst.

 

[James Truelove]

Outlook 2003 uses unicode by default, so unless you have ported over the
data file from a previous version of Outllook your data file will be
unicode
Rt click Personal Folders, select Properties>Advanced, if under Format: it
states 'personal folders file' then it is a unicode data file.
Outlook doesnt give any oversize warning, unless I believe, the max file
size has been implimented in the registry, in an exchange invironment it
may give a warning.

However; MS doesnt support the use of a pst over a network as it can lead
to corruption of the pst.

I have been using a network location for my .pst file with no corruption
problems for about a year now.

 

[DL]

Be it on your head - I was simply pointed out that this configeration its
not supported by MS

 

[Gordon]

I have been using a network location for my .pst file with no corruption
problems for about a year now.

Then you have been very lucky.

 

[James Truelove]

Then you have been very lucky.

Company servers are backed up every night so if the worst happens I can
recover the .pst file with minimal loss