MS Outlook - .ost file

[Pinkman]

Every once in a while when a user logs on to MS outlook they get a message that there .ost is in use and therfore they can not access outlook. I know for a fact that they are not logged on any other place. Once I delete the ost file and recreate it, it works like a champ. It is becoming a more frequent occurence and is becoming really annoying. Any ideas on how to fix this problem? <br>
<br>
<br>
thanks<br>
Pinkman<br>

 

[Zelandakh]

Have you got multiple users on one computer? Do you really need offline access?<br>
<br>
Am going to guess you have Exchange server only configured as a service.<br>
<br>
Tools, Services, Microsoft Exchange Server Properties.<br>
<br>
On the Advanced tab, click &quot;Offline Folder File Settings&quot; and click Disable Offline Use.<br>
<br>
To permanently remove the offline folder file from your hard<br>
disk, you must delete it. The default location and file name for this file is the &lt;Windows folder&gt;\Exchange.ost.<br>

 

[brianos]

Hello,

On a similar subject, help required...

An Outlook OST file will only work with the Outlook Profile that created it.

The problem we have is that we need to get access to the OST file, but the Profile and Exchange mailbox have both been deleted!!

Are there any 3rd party utils. that will 'reset' the OST file in some way, so we can work offline and use this OST file with a different Profile?

Any reply/advice is appreciated.
Brian.

 

[Zelandakh]

Try copying the ost file, creating the mailbox again and the profile and then copying the ost file over the top of the newly created one.

 

[mmoonshi]

Hi BrianOs,

Try to reconfigure your Outlook to be an Internet only email client w/o Exchange support and backup the *.ost file that you have before you make copies of it for &quot;cracking&quot;.

Then, rename it to &quot;whatever.pst&quot; <-- see the change in file name extension? and then try to open it from within Outlook.

Good luck and let me know if you succeed.

--Moonshi

 

[robomax]

Moonshi,

Has changing from a .OST to a .pst worked for you in the past?

Robomax

 

[jwebb]

I've spent many miserable hours on this problem, and though I didn't try the above steps from Moonshi exactly simply renaming the .ost to .pst and trying to add it to a working profile via Outlook Tools->Services->Add->Personal Folders just results in an error message saying Outlook doesn't recognize it as a .pst (I forget the exact text).

However, let joy reign throughout the land, here's the tool to FIX the &quot;my server's dead, my profile's blown away & I can't access my .ost&quot; problem:

http://msdnisv.microsoft.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=1299

took me to

http://www.officerecovery.com/exchange/

and the demo version of Exchange Recovery converted my orphaned .ost to a usable .pst

I don't know if there's a catch if I don't order the full version, (I would do so right now but it's far too expensive at $499 forpersonal one-off use), I think all my messages are there, but at the moment I'm so happy to have a chance at getting to my data now, I don't care.

I hope corporate users will see this and end up buying from these folks. I'll certainly be letting my company's MIS people know about them.
-jw

 

[mmoonshi]

jwebb,

If you have tried my method, you may not need to purchase the software. I don't believe in paying for more softwares to solve a bloody M$ issue.

Btw, my method is not harmful or require much intelligence. As long as you can click your mouse buttons and understand simple English, you can overcome this problem.



--Moonshi

 

[jwebb]

In case anyone's interested, I found the catch to Exchange Recovery. All but the first few messages are replaced with text telling you to register for the full version.

I've since discovered that Exchange Recovery was once OST2pst which seems to have been free but the newer version most certainly isn't. Since

http://www.ost2pst.com

now redirects to Exchange Recovery I guess the original person/company became/sold to Exchange Recovery.

A copy of the old, presumably once free, version is at:

http://www.swynk.com/friends/nicholson/utilities.asp

I tried it, had to use the inbox repair tool, see:

http://support.microsoft.com/suppor...air tool&rnk=1&src=DHCS_MSPSS_gn_SRCH&SPR=OUT

on the resultant .pst but then it was fine.

Hi Moonshi - I was answering robomax's post when I said JUST renaming wouldn't work and did confess that I didn't follow your steps. Not that I didn't appreciate having something else to try, but I was sick of futzing with it and having stumbled accross Exchange Recovery about the same time as this post, a utility seemed, at the time, a more attractive option to me than anything else. I could leave it running and go do something else for a while.

Perhaps not a bright move on my part, your solution might have been faster, better etc, but I got there in the end and since those near and dear to me don't find me illiterate or dumb as a rock, I'll put it down to honing my expertise at learning from my own mistakes. At least I share so others can learn from 'em as well

Have an Outlook-hassle free week...
-jw

 

[manek]

Thanks for that jwebb -- just what I needed to recover an orphaned OST. But Outlook continues to barf (crash) on opening when I try and open it...any thoughts?

Manek

 

[jwebb]

Hi Manek - did you try opening it in Outlook before and after you ran the inbox repair tool on it?

If you did, then there's probably something in it that both the ost2pst & inbox repair tool couldn't handle. Also I was using win98, if you're using a different OS, then maybe the above tools aren't intended for use under it.

Is there an error message on crash or does Outlook just close?

Oh, and to rule out a more general problem, presumabley you can create other personal folders and open them OK?

Finally - Moonshi's suggested solution doesn't involve messing with the file with utilities - I haven't tried it but you might like to make another copy of your orginal OST and try his steps.

Good luck -jw

 

[Whitemtntn]

Outside of the existance of any recovery tools, this is my experience with this issue....
If the OST becomes hosed , it is usually because the mailbox or profile has changed-- ost ONLY works with the original mailbox&profile it was created with. If you try to open it even ONCE with another mailbox or profile, it will probably become corrupted. BUT, if you have not opened it yet, but have changed malboxes, then there is a chance if the profile still exists:
Before opening Outlook, go into Control Panel and configure the profile to prompt you to choose between offline & online use. Open up Outlook and work offline. This will open up the OST and not touch Exchange (or whatever the mail server). Then Export the contents of the entire offline mailbox to a .PST file. Now, your OST file is all stored in a PST file, you can start fresh with a new mailbox and import the contents of that PST file at your convenience. I've done this several times.
-WhiteMtntn

 

[mmoonshi]

Robomax, yes it worked for me previously but pls refer to how I did it in one of the above threads.

--Moonshi

 

[Guest_imported]

Jwebb, U da man!! u saved my bacon!! Thanks for ur suggetion. The old ost2pst.exe is a gem.

 

[Guest_imported]

I agree. Two years worth of email recovered in an hour.

I too had looked at exchange recovery, but at USD$500 I wasn't sure my boss would think my email that valuable.

Thanks Jwebb! (and thanks to google for finding this thread)

 

[Guest_imported]

Hi

I got a ost and pst file on my Compact Disc , i like to open the ost file on microsoft outlook, but it ooen with
emial editor. how can see my backup mails.

bye
knev

 

[Guest_imported]

I just wanted to say that ost2pst.exe (v2.1 the free one) worked on a exchange2000 orphaned OST file. It worked great actually. Note that only the subfolders that the user made available offline will have items in it. Otherwise you'll see subfolders with nothing in them which simply means that subfolder was not selected to be available offline ....

 

[Guest_imported]

This ost2pst.exe is BOSS!

 

[mtcostello]

thanks for the tips on ost2pst.exe that saved me having to pay $500 to recover some very important e-mails and attachments. It worked great!

 

[Netwerkz]

I tried to download that freebie from the link above and it seems to be outdated. HOWEVER, I was able to get it at the following location:

http://www.xcopy32.com/email.htm

Lots of other good utilities there as well...