.PST File size

[Guest]

Hi guys I'm pretty sure this question has been asked many times before but i
couldn't find an exact answer for my question. Is their a reason why
Microsoft sets the total size limit of an Outlook .PST files size to 1.7 GB.

It seems like the .PST files start screwing up after about 1.4 GB files
size. I'm almost 100% sure that this is one of the major problems that all
companies face and I was wandering if there is any near future fixes for this
problem

 

[Vince Averello [MVP-Outlook]]

In versions before OL2003 the hard & fast size limit was 2GB so Outlook
would start complaining at 1.7GB just to make sure you didn't hit the wall.
OL2003 allows the use of a new PST format that can grow to a much larger
size

 

[Brian Tillman]

Hi guys I'm pretty sure this question has been asked many times
before but i couldn't find an exact answer for my question. Is their
a reason why Microsoft sets the total size limit of an Outlook .PST
files size to 1.7 GB.

Probably because 2 GB is the largest value that can be contained in a 32 bit
unsigned integer and the FAT16 file system (which Outlook was written to
use) can't handle files larger than that.

It seems like the .PST files start screwing up after about 1.4 GB
files size. I'm almost 100% sure that this is one of the major
problems that all companies face and I was wandering if there is any
near future fixes for this problem

The fix is to use Outlook 2003, which can have PSTs up to 33 TB

 

[Can-so]

Remember that pst size in theoretical.
We have successfully tested and created 20gig pst files at work.
How ever...... MS has no cropping tool for a Unicode pst and if you wish
to keep all your apples in one basket.................

--
"Bother," said Pooh as he struggled with the computer.

"It never does quite what I want."

"I wish Christopher Robin were here."

 

[Brian Tillman]

Probably because 2 GB is the largest value that can be contained in a
32 bit unsigned integer

That's a 32 bit _signed_ integer.