Converting OST file to PST when Outlook 2002 is not able to open some items
Posted by admin on August 26th, 2010An 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.