OL97: Using the Inbox Repair Tool to Recover PST Information

• Microsoft Outlook 97

SUMMARY

This article provides tips for using the Inbox Repair Tool to recover folders and items from a corrupted Personal Folders file (*.pst).

MORE INFORMATION

The Inbox Repair Tool is a tool designed to help repair problems associated with Personal Folder files (*.pst files). The Inbox Repair Tool ships with Microsoft Windows 95 and is contained on the Microsoft Outlook 97 and Microsoft Office 97 CD-ROM.

For more information about installing and running the Inbox Repair Tool, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q168648
   TITLE     : OL97: How to Find and Run the Inbox Repair Tool

What the Inbox Repair Tool Does

When you run the repair tool on a Personal Folders file, it does the following:

• The repair tool analyses the PST directory structure and item headers, attempting to recover all folders and items.
• If the repair tool recovers the PST file, it means that the repair tool found problems and fixed what it could.
• The repair tool will attempt to turn any file into a PST file. (If you rename an executable file to "Something.pst," the tool will change it into a mountable PST file.)

Recovered Personal Folders File

After running the Inbox Repair Tool, start Outlook using the profile that contains the Personal Folders file that you tried to repair. On the View menu, click Folder List to turn on the Folder List view. In your Folder List, you should see the following recovered folders:

   Recovered Personal Folders

      Calendar
      Contacts
      Deleted Items
      Inbox
      Journal
      Notes
      Outbox
      Sent Items
      Tasks

Recovering Repaired Items

You should move as many of the items from the "Lost and Found" folder to a new Personal Folder in your profile. First, create a new "Personal Folders" in your profile. Then, drag any recovered items from the "Lost and Found" folder to the appropriate location in the new Personal Folders.

To create a new Personal Folders in your profile, follow these steps:

1. Start Outlook with the profile that contains your Recovered Personal Folders.

2. On the Tools menu, click Services.

3. Under the Services tab, click Add to open the "Add Service to Profile" dialog box.

4. In the "Available information services" list, click to select "Personal Folders," and then click OK.

5. In the "Create/Open Personal Folders File" dialog box, select a directory and file name for the new Personal Folders file (*.pst), and then click Open.

6. Click OK to close all dialog boxes.

Recovering Items from the Backup Personal Folders File

NOTE: If you are unable to open your original PST file before running the Inbox Repair Tool, it is likely that the procedures below will not work. If you are able to open the original PST file, then there is a small chance that the procedures below may allow you to recover additional items from your damaged PST file.

When you run the "Inbox Repair Tool," by default, the option to create a backup of the original PST file is on. This option creates a file on your hard drive called <filename>.bak that is a copy of the original <filename>.pst file with a different extension. The BAK file resides in the directory of the original PST file.

You may be able to recover items from the BAK file that the Inbox Repair Tool could not. Make a copy of the BAK file, giving the file a new name with a PST extension, such as "Newname.pst."

Open Outlook using the profile that contains the new Personal Folders file from step 4 in the "Recovering Repaired Items" section, and try to import the "Newname.pst" folder by using the Outlook Import And Export Wizard. Follow these steps:

1. In the wizard, click to select "Import from a personal folders file (*.pst)," and click Next.

2. Under "File to import," select your Newname.pst file. Under Options, click "Do not import duplicates," and click Next.

3. Under "Select the folder to import from," click to select the Personal Folders, and click to select "Include subfolders." Click to select "Import folders into the same folder in," and select your new Personal Folders file from step 4 in the "Recovering Repaired Items" section.

4. Click Finish.

REFERENCES

For more information about the Inbox Repair Tool, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   Article-ID: Q140719
   Title     : How to Use the Microsoft Exchange Inbox Repair Tool

Keywords          : GnlCrpt kbtool kbfaq
Version           : WINDOWS:97
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbinfo