Stellar Phoenix Mailbox Exchange Desktop

An OST (Offline Storage Table) is an offline folder file in Microsoft Outlook that is used with Microsoft Exchange Server. It is very helpful if you are using Outlook in an offline mode or if there are internet connectivity problems at your place. Working in an offline mode is, in fact, very similar to working with a mailbox on a server. The changes made in the offline mode are reflected when connection is restored and synchronization takes place. However, sometimes the OST file can get corrupted due to various reasons. In such cases, you should take appropriate steps to repair it. However, if you are unable to repair the OST file then you should convert OST to PST using a third-party OST to PST software.

Consider a scenario wherein you use Outlook 2002 in the offline mode. You open Outlook and synchronize with the mail server. You find that you are not able to open some of the Outlook items whenever it is offline. It is behaving absolutely fine with other items.

Cause:

The most possible cause of such behavior is that the OST file is corrupt and needs to be repaired. It may have gone corrupt due to various reasons such as virus infections, human errors, synchronization issues, etc.

Resolution:

In such cases, you should scan and repair the OST file using the in-built OST Integrity Tool. To do this, you need to perform the following steps:

1. Close Outlook.

2. On the Start menu, click Run.

3. In the Open box, type

drive:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Mapi\LocaleID\scanost.exe

where LocaleID is the locale identifier (LCID) for your installation of Microsoft Office. For example, the LCID for English (United States) is 1033.

4. Click OK.

5. Click either Scan all folders or Choose folder to scan. If you click Scan all folders, this may take several minutes.

6. Select the Repair errors check box.

7. Click Begin Scan.

The OST file will be scanned and repaired using the OST Integrity Tool. However, if you are still not able to repair the OST file then you should convert OST to PST. For this, you should use a third-party OST to PST conversion software. Such read-only tools are able to perform the OST-PST conversion without overwriting the original data.

Stellar Phoenix Mailbox Exchange Desktop is an OST to PST conversion tool that enables you to convert a corrupted OST to its equivalent PST. It preserves the emails, contacts, notes, calendar entries, tasks, journals from the OST file during the OST-PST conversion. In addition, this tool ensures that the formatting of the RTF and HTML email messages is not lost during the OST to PST conversion. This convert OST to PST tool supports Outlook 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2007. It is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, Server 2003, XP, and 2000.

Exchange Server database mailboxes are often migrated to upgrade the existing version of Microsoft Exchange Server or to change the Exchange Server domain. However, this practice can cause serious data loss at the client end, if they are using Outlook with cached mode turned on with no backup of OST data. An Exchange mailbox contains important metadata called .ost encryption key, which is also placed in MAPI (Messaging Application Programming Interface) profile of client computer. During migration, if this key is lost from both the locations, .ost file becomes unreadable. Microsoft Outlook can directly access the .ost file data only when it exists in .pst file format. A Convert OST to PST utility comes handy when you need to convert an orphaned OST by Exchange Server to Outlook-usable PST file.

For more understanding on the concept, consider a realistic situation when an Exchange Server administrator migrates from original server to another with few of its clients having cached mode turned on. When the mailbox migration is completed, the end users want their .ost file data back in readable format.

Explanation

An Outlook user can get access to its .ost file data until the MAPI profile has not been changed. When a client tries to connect to Exchange Server in Online mode, the encryption key in MAPI profile is compared against the key placed in mailbox of Information Store database. If due to any reason, these keys differ, Information Store overwrites the key of client end and thus a new .ost file is created.

In this specific case of server migration, Information Store has been reset. In such situations, new offline keys are generated for each mailbox and won’t allow the old .ost files to have a successful synchronization with Exchange Server. So until the profile, in which the old .ost file was created, exists, you can use it to synchronize with Exchange Server and retrieve its data.

However, the best practice before server migration should be to extract all the .ost file data to readable .pst otherwise, it will create Convert OST needs. Convert OST to PST is feasible using third-party utilities, which are available in market for this specific purpose.

Stellar Phoenix Mailbox Exchange Desktop is a high-end tool that can convert an orphaned or inaccessible .ost file to readable .pst file. This Convert OST utility supports MS Outlook 2007, 2003, 2002, and 2000 and can restore all e-mails, notes, calendars, contacts, etc.

.PST files are very important for an Outlook user as they store all the data related to MS Outlook. Information like e-mail messages, contacts, calendars, tasks, meetings, etc are stored in a .PST file. There can be many instances when your .PST file may become corrupt. In such situations, you must use the inbuilt utility provided by Microsoft i.e. Inbox Repair Tool (Scanpst.exe). The tool works by rewriting the .PST file’s header information and then deleting things which it fails to comprehend. Therefore, it will only work when the header of the .PST file is damaged but won’t recover corrupt .PST files in other situations. You would be required to use a third-party pst repair tool which would fix any corrupt .PST file, irrespective of the reason behind corruption.

Consider a practical scenario, wherein, you start Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 in Windows Vista, and receive the following error:

“FileName.pst file could not be opened. The file may not be compatible with this version of Outlook or it may be corrupted.”

Due to the error, you are unable to access any important e-mail or do anything with your Outlook account.

Cause

The above error could surface in the following conditions:

· You might have used the Backup Status and Configuration program to back up the .PST file

· You might have used the Backup Status and Configuration program to restore the .PST file from backup

· The .PST file is in an encrypted folder

· The .PST file is corrupt

Resolution

To fix the problem and access data, you must perform the following outlook pst repair steps:

· Use Inbox Repair Tool (Scanpst.exe) to repair your .PST file; follow these steps:

1. Exit Outlook 2007

2. Click Start and go to Control Panel

3. Click User Accounts and Family Safety or User Accounts

4. Click Mail

5. Click Data Files>Personal Folders>Settings

6. Note the text in the Filename box

7. Click OK and then click Close two times

8. Click Start, type %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\Office12\ in the Start Search box, and press Enter

9. Double-click Scanpst

10. Type the path and file name of the Outlook .PST file which you noted in Step 6

11. Click Start

12. After the Inbox Repair Tool finishes, click OK

The Inbox Repair tool, however, cannot scan large .PST files and repair all .PST files, therefore you must opt for a professional and safe pst recovery application.

Stellar Phoenix Outlook PST Repair is a reliable application that repairs damaged or corrupt PST file in minimal time and via simple steps. Compatible with Microsoft Outlook 2007, 2003, 2002 and 2000, the outlook pst repair utility recovers and restores all .pst file objects (e-mails, events, calendars) to a desired location.

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