M
MikeKraken
Hello,
Our network is set up such that all user profiles are syncronized
between their workstation and the server to facilitate server backups
of everyone's profile. Thus, when people log on, their profile is
brought down from the server, and when they log off, their profile is
propogated back up to the server. My assumption is that the server
only transfers files that have been changed (when logging in, new file
on server => download to workstation; when logging off new file on
workstation => upload to server).
We have had numerous problems with PST files being corrupted
during this process for the past 1.5 months. It first happened to
myself (the IT person) on a Tuesday and I had to revert to the backup
on the previous Friday, losing all of my data from Friday evening
until when I left on Monday. I am running Windows XP Pro SP2 with
Office 2002, on a desktop.
A week later, another employee had the same problem with his
Windows XP Pro SP2 laptop running Office 2003. The following week, a
third employee with Windows XP Pro SP2 laptop running Office 2007 had
his whole PST totally corrupted (no recoverable data). A fourth
employee had it happen last Friday, same configuration as the second
employee.
With Outlook 2003/2007, there were these prf###.tmp files being
created. They are equivalent in size to the user's PST file and for
some reason propgate to the server, causing a huge problem with
storage on the server. Many people have PSTs between 500 MB and 1
GB. With Outlook 2007, there were ~Outlook.pst.tmp files being
created.
When the 2003/2007 users logged out, they received a time-out
error with the connection to the server.
What is at fault here? We are running Windows Small Business
Server 2003. Everyone's PST file is stored in a folder called Outlook
in their root profile (i.e. C:\Documents and Settings\username.domain
\Outlook\Outlook.pst). This is the only way to get the PSTs to be
backed up to the server since, for some annoying reason, PSTs are
defaulted into Local Settings\Microsoft\Office\Outlook and don't
propogate to the server.
We event spent $250 buying a recovery software that got some of
the stuff back (scanpst.exe is a piece of shit when it comes to
recovering anything), but there's no way to recover the full PST from
the workstation's hard drive. My feeling is that the PST on the
workstation's would have been in perfect condition when logging off,
and there must have been an interruption when uploading to the server,
then the next morning the corrupted PST is downloaded from the server.
Any comments on how to fix this problem are more than welcome.
My fists are clenched with rage at how this continues to happen.
Our network is set up such that all user profiles are syncronized
between their workstation and the server to facilitate server backups
of everyone's profile. Thus, when people log on, their profile is
brought down from the server, and when they log off, their profile is
propogated back up to the server. My assumption is that the server
only transfers files that have been changed (when logging in, new file
on server => download to workstation; when logging off new file on
workstation => upload to server).
We have had numerous problems with PST files being corrupted
during this process for the past 1.5 months. It first happened to
myself (the IT person) on a Tuesday and I had to revert to the backup
on the previous Friday, losing all of my data from Friday evening
until when I left on Monday. I am running Windows XP Pro SP2 with
Office 2002, on a desktop.
A week later, another employee had the same problem with his
Windows XP Pro SP2 laptop running Office 2003. The following week, a
third employee with Windows XP Pro SP2 laptop running Office 2007 had
his whole PST totally corrupted (no recoverable data). A fourth
employee had it happen last Friday, same configuration as the second
employee.
With Outlook 2003/2007, there were these prf###.tmp files being
created. They are equivalent in size to the user's PST file and for
some reason propgate to the server, causing a huge problem with
storage on the server. Many people have PSTs between 500 MB and 1
GB. With Outlook 2007, there were ~Outlook.pst.tmp files being
created.
When the 2003/2007 users logged out, they received a time-out
error with the connection to the server.
What is at fault here? We are running Windows Small Business
Server 2003. Everyone's PST file is stored in a folder called Outlook
in their root profile (i.e. C:\Documents and Settings\username.domain
\Outlook\Outlook.pst). This is the only way to get the PSTs to be
backed up to the server since, for some annoying reason, PSTs are
defaulted into Local Settings\Microsoft\Office\Outlook and don't
propogate to the server.
We event spent $250 buying a recovery software that got some of
the stuff back (scanpst.exe is a piece of shit when it comes to
recovering anything), but there's no way to recover the full PST from
the workstation's hard drive. My feeling is that the PST on the
workstation's would have been in perfect condition when logging off,
and there must have been an interruption when uploading to the server,
then the next morning the corrupted PST is downloaded from the server.
Any comments on how to fix this problem are more than welcome.
My fists are clenched with rage at how this continues to happen.