pst files

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mary Gudobba
  • Start date Start date
M

Mary Gudobba

I just read that pst files should only be stored on the user's hard drive
and not on a network drive. Does it make a difference if the network drive
is a mapped drive?
 
Mary said:
I just read that pst files should only be stored on the user's hard
drive and not on a network drive. Does it make a difference if the
network drive is a mapped drive?
Click to expand...

You can certainly store a /backup/ copy of your pst file on a nretwork
drive: - the theory about storing pst files that are in use is that Outlook
requires read/write access to the file and if the network connection blips
while the file is being read/written then the file may well get corrupted
beyond repair.
 
What if it's not a /backup/ copy? If it makes a difference, mail is not
delivered to the pst file.
 
Mary said:
What if it's not a /backup/ copy? If it makes a difference, mail is
not delivered to the pst file.
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter. If Outlook accesses that pst file for any reason at all,
and it's on a network drive, and the network gets dropped even for a split
second while Outlook is accessing it, then there is a fair chance that the
pst file may well become corrupted beyond repair. That's why Microsoft does
not support the use of pst files across a network. If you are happy to take
the risk, then that's up to you!
 
I'm asking because I'm considering upgrading to Outlook 2003 in order to
make use of the larger pst files. I've found that the Microsoft utility for
backing up personal folders is problematic, since users frequently don't
bother to let it run. I guess I'll have to weigh the risk of the user's
hard drive failing and losing the pst file versus possible corruption across
the network.
 
Mary Gudobba said:
What if it's not a /backup/ copy? If it makes a difference, mail is
not delivered to the pst file.
Click to expand...

While your chances of corruption may be less in that case, it's still not a
good idea. Network access and local access use different I/O techniques,
with the former not being suited to accessing PSTs.
 
Use the PST files on your drive when running outlook. When done for the
day, close Outlook then copy these files to the network drive for backup.
If the hard drive should fail, your backup PST files on the network drive
will save the day.

There are many choices on how to backup PST files from hard drive to server.
The choice is yours:
Manually, by using windows explorer and just copy over.
Use the PST file copy.
Use a backup program and include the PST files as part of the backup.

Mark
 
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