PST file suddenly password protected

[Bryan Putnam]

Very strange problem here. User has Outlook 2000 installed, couldn't access
Personal folder anymore (it was 1.2Gb, well under the max). Restarting
Outlook took care of that problem, and while I was there, I added a new
Personal folder for the user, in anticipation of future problems. Problem
solved. About an hour later, I get another call from the user, saying that
in the process of culling through the file she has somehow deleted the
original personal folder from Outlook. No biggie, I know the actual .pst
file is still there, I'll just go add it back and all will be fine. Well,
all of the sudden, the file is now password protected (it never was to begin
with) and I can't add it back in since there's no way of determining the
password. Has the user lost all this e-mail, or is there a way to recover
the file? I ran it through OnTrack, and was able to see the file structure,
but the repaired file was still password protected. Any help would be
greatly appreciated!

Machine specs are Netvista, P4, Win2000 SP4, fully updated, Office 2000
Pro - updates ran about 1 month ago.

Thanks in advance for any light you can shed on this one!

Bryan

 

[Brian Tillman]

Well, all of the sudden, the file is
now password protected (it never was to begin with) and I can't add
it back in since there's no way of determining the password.

This is a sign of PST corruption.

Has the
user lost all this e-mail, or is there a way to recover the file?

See if this tool helps:
http://www.computerhope.com/download/updates/pst19upg.zip

 

[Bryan Putnam]

Excellent little app there! Took about 6 minutes start to finish, removed
the password and recovered all the users email. Many thanks!

Bryan