Repair PST Files

PST files are extremely common and most of us use them everyday when we run Microsoft Outlook.

What is a PST? A Personal Storage Table files (.pst) is a filename extension associated with Personal Folders files used with certain Microsoft products. Personal Folders (.pst) files are used to store local copies of messages, calendar events, and other items within Microsoft Microsoft Exchange Client, Windows Messaging, Microsoft Outlook, and Microsoft Outlook Express.

It is quite common to experience a variety of errors with your PST files. At times Outlook can be unstable, but there are simple ways to fix this. Here are some of the errors you might have seen.

• OL2000: Unable to Open a Shared .pst File Without a Password
• OL2000: Unable to Use Your Personal Folder File if it Exceeds the 2 GB Size Limit
• OL2000: Error Opening a Shortcut to an Item in a PST

The first thing you should try is a PST repair tool. Do not attempt to repair PST files yourself, unless you know what you are doing. You do not want to lose your email for good. You can download our recommended PST repair tool here (free download).

You can also attempt the fix the .pst file by using the inbox repair tool that comes packaged with Outlook. Do this to repair an Outlook PST from Outlook.

• On the Start menu, click Run
• In the Open box, type: drive:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Mapi\LocaleID\scanpst.exe
• Click OK
• In the Enter the name of the file you want to scan box, type the path and file name given in the error message above
• Click Start
• Click Repair

If it was successful, you will see a message stating that the repair is complete. If it didn't work, you will need to try a third party repair tool. The third party tools are much more effective. Click here to download PST recovery and repair.