pst file corruption

[Dellboy]

Hi,

I recently upgraded a laptop from Outlook 2000 to Outlook 2003 and moved
from pop to exchange at the same time. Now I can't open the users PST file.
It asks for a password that it didn't need before (in Outlook 2000 using pop
on laptop). I took the pst file to another machine with Outlook2000 on, but
the same thing happened. It asked for a password. I tried it on Outlook2007.
Same again. I tried running pst19upg. This exports fine but then can't create
the pst file from the psx file, it errors (this strips the password
apparently). I ran the inbox repair wizard. It found corruptions that I asked
it to fix. Tried to open pst - same prob, it wants the password.

I am very confident there was no known password on the pst file before. I
opened outlook on the laptop several times without having to enter a
password.

I copied the pst file before starting any work. same prob on copies, it
wants password.

One thing, it was on a pop account before. I am now using it on a exchange
server account. Could it be seeking the pop password? Is the pst file tied in
to this password in some way? There was very little opportunity for the pst
file to corrupt, as it worked, then I copied it, then I installed Outlook2003
and set it to use Exchange Server instead of pop, then it didn't work anymore.

I am getting desperate here. Last resort will be to get laptop, re-install
Outlook2000 and set up pop again in the hope that works. I am reluctant to
get a password cracker prog as it seems it may be more corrupt than password
protected.

Any advice?

 

[K. Orland]

Did you keep running scanpst.exe against the PST file until it found no
further errors on a complete run through?

 

[Dellboy]

No, but I'll do that now. Thanks for the tip.

Did you keep running scanpst.exe against the PST file until it found no
further errors on a complete run through?

 

[Dellboy]

I have run it again. It found errors on the first pass, then no errors on a
second pass. It is still asking for a password to open it.

Any further suggestions most gratefully received...

Phil

 

[Dellboy]

Have tried running pst19upg on the fixed pst file. Again it crashes out on
the import back into a pst file.

the error message is: -

Failed importing PROPERTY 36E41102 (scode 800406000)

Failed importing PROPERTY LIST

Failed importing FOLDER 0x00000122

Program terminated in error (80040600)

 

[Dellboy]

Well,

after hours of trying various methods without success, I tried a trial of an
outlook password breaker from Thegrideon (cheapest at about £19). It showed
three digits of a numrical password, the rest hidden. I purchased the
product, ran it, tried the password it found and bingo, straight in. Problem
solved.

It seems that the pst file corrupted and put its own password in (all
numbers, not from the user), but the data looks ok, I think it was just the
pst wrapper that fouled up and created its own password.

Job done, thanks for the advice anyway, and I hope this helps anyone in the
same boat. I wasted several hours before finding this cheap solution.

 

[alan]

You can try a popular Outlook recovery tool called Advanced Outlook Repair to repair your PST file. It is a powerful tool to recover messages, folders and other objects from corrupt or damaged Microsoft Outlook PST files.

Detailed information about Advanced Outlook Repair can be found at http://www.datanumen.com/aor/

And you can also download a free demo version at http://www.datanumen.com/aor/aor.exe

Alan

 

[Pyramid 36]

Don't know how popular the "demo" is, however. If you run the demo, I got
the following advisory message:

"demo version will replace the contents of the recovered messages and other
items with a demo information. Please order the full version to get the
actual data".

Not much of a choice if you ask me. I can understand the problem:

Use the demo, fix your problem, don't buy the software (which is $250 a pop)
and the developer gets nada.

Ah well, had my hopes up for a minute. Not sure I'd have paid that price.
Re-installing is certainly a less expensive alternative, providing it fixes
OL.

 

[Stan Kay]

Try the following:-

1. Right click on your Outlook icon
2. Select "Open File Location"
3. Scroll down to find SCANPST.EXE
4. Double click SCANPST.EXE and follow the instructions

This usually fixes all .pst problems.

Good luck