Increase PST file size registery value

[tstew]

Hello,

I'm trying to create a Registry Key to allow larger a PST file. I'm at the
point of entering a value for MaxFileSize and am confused by the kb article
(#832925). For value data, do I enter Hexadecimal or Decimal and, do I enter
0x000050000 or 20,480? I could just give it a stab, but I'm not real
comfortable 'playing' in the Registry.

BTW, using Outlook 2003.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[VanguardLH]

I'm trying to create a Registry Key to allow larger a PST file. I'm at the
point of entering a value for MaxFileSize and am confused by the kb article
(#832925).

For those that actually want to *see* the KB article to provide context
for the question:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/832925

For value data, do I enter Hexadecimal or Decimal and, do I enter
0x000050000 or 20,480? I could just give it a stab, but I'm not real
comfortable 'playing' in the Registry.

BTW, using Outlook 2003.

There should be 2 radio buttons when setting the value, one for hex and
one for decimal (you can only choose one). So use whichever value
format you like. For a value which is a bitmask, hex is better. For a
scalar value, decimal is probably better (unless the max value is 2*N in
which case hex might be better to ensure you are at or under that max
value without having to use a calculator to compute 2*N).

The default for Unicode .pst files should already be set to 20,480. If
you want a larger size, you will need to enter a larger value. You
could go up to 2 (or maybe 4) terabytes for the max file size.

If your .pst file is going beyond 2GB, you really need to hit F1 while
in Outlook to read up on its auto-archiving function. Even 20GB is a
ridiculously huge file size and operation of Outlook will slow
considerably before you approach that maximum.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Why do you need a pst-file larger than 20GB in the first place?

Sounds like you haven't been in the registry before as you can choose
whether to input it as Hex or Dec.

You might want to rethink your strategy.

 

[tstew]

The default apparently was 2 GB. I was importing a PST from another computer
that was 2.3 GB and it was failing. I am rolling back to an older machine and
I'm guessing this older machine was an upgrade from Office 2000. I saw a
reference to a 2000-2002 file structure. When I changed to 2003 pst file
structure, it worked fine. Finally.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[tstew]

Hi Vanguard,

Thanks for the reply. I did try a value and it was pretty apparent after I
entered a value what the correct choice was. It appears my PST file structure
was from an old upgrade and was set to Outlook 2000-2002 and I was limited to
2 GB. I changed the file to Outlook 2003 and was able to import the PST file.

Thanks... I do appreciate the help!
Mark

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Good to hear you got it solved



-----

The default apparently was 2 GB. I was importing a PST from another
computer
that was 2.3 GB and it was failing. I am rolling back to an older machine
and
I'm guessing this older machine was an upgrade from Office 2000. I saw a
reference to a 2000-2002 file structure. When I changed to 2003 pst file
structure, it worked fine. Finally.

Thanks,
Mark