PST strangeness

[Dabbler]

My client recently complained about getting out of space messages so I
reviewed her PST file setup (brought over from older computer and Outlook
version) and found some odd results.

Her Personal Folder is configured to use a file called Outlook6500.pst but
although it has over 1.9 GB in messages according to Outlook, when I look on
disk it only consumes 256 kb. Another PST file called Outlook.pst is about
1.9 GB large on disk but isn't listed in Outlook. I'm guessing this is where
the real email is. Is there some strange linkage between one PST file and
another that might cause this?

Thanks for any insights.

 

[Pat Willener]

PST files with a size of 265KB (not 256KB) are empty. Check the data
files in the Control Panel's Mail applet. And no, PST files are not
linked in any way.

If this is a "97-2002"-type PST file, the user should stop using this
file, as it has dangerously approached the size limit. If using Outlook
2003 or 2007, then you should create a new Unicode-type data file, then
copy (drag-and-drop) all old data to the new file.

 

[Dabbler]

Thanks Pat. It's actually much worse than that.

when Personal Folders is selected and I choose Properties/Advanced I get
error:
"Operation failed. An object could not be found"

when viewed through Data File Management no folder shows up for Personal
Folders!!

At one point Personal Folders appeared to be linked to Outlook6400.pst
(265kb) but it is showing much more data from what I think is Outlook.pst
(619,025kb)

Something appears to be amiss with the data Outlook is displaying and the
data files in the Data File Management list. Are there registry entries or
configuration file entries I can change to correct this?

Also the icon for personal folders has a house and clock on it, the icon for
the other PST files have just sort of folders in a white drawer. Also I can't
close the Peronal Folders pst file but can close and open others.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Pat Willener]

My instinct tells me that the profile may be corrupted. Delete and
recreate it.