OL98: (CW) Using the Inbox Repair Tool to Recover Messages

ID: Q181325

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Outlook 98

NOTE: These procedures only apply if you have installed Outlook with the Corporate Workgroup/Other option. This option allows you to use Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) services. To determine your installation type, on the Help Menu click About Microsoft Outlook. In About Microsoft Outlook you should see "Corporate" if you have the Corporate Workgroup installation.

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

NOTE: The examples listed below refer to using this utility on a PST file. The same procedures apply to an OST. To locate the OST file, click to select Offline Folders (*.ost) in "Select File to Scan."

The Inbox Repair Tool (Scanpst.exe) is a tool designed to help repair problems associated with personal folder files (*.pst files). This tool should also repair offline store files (ost).

The Inbox Repair Tool ships with Microsoft Windows 95 and is also on the Microsoft Outlook 98 and Microsoft Office 97 CD-ROMs. It is installed automatically during setup.

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

Q181167 OL98: 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

These folders are usually empty, because this is a rebuilt PST file. You should also see a folder called "Lost And Found." This folder contains folders and items that the Inbox Repair Tool recovered. Items missing are beyond repair.

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 entry in your profile. Next, drag any recovered items from the Lost And Found folder to the appropriate location in the new personal folders.

Create a new Personal Folder in Your Profile

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

On the Tools menu, click Services.

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

In the Available Information Services list, click to select Personal Folders, and then click OK.

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.

Click OK to close all dialog boxes.

You should now have a new Personal Folders in your profile. Drag recovered items from the Lost And Found folder to your new Personal Folders. When you have finished moving all items, you may remove the Recovered Personal Folders, including the Lost And Found folder, from your profile.

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, the option to create a backup of the original PST file is selected. This option creates a file on your hard drive called <file name>.bak and is a copy of the original <file name>.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 Import And Export Wizard.

To import the new file, follow these steps:

On the File menu, click Import And Export.

Click "Import from another program or file" and then click Next.

Click to select Personal Folder File (.pst) and then click Next.

Under File To Import, type your Newname.pst file. Under Options, click "Do not import duplicates," and click Next.

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, and then click Finish.

NOTE: Keep in mind that the backup file was the original corrupted file, and you may find that you cannot recover anything other that what was recovered in Lost And Found. If you are unable to import the Newname.pst file into Outlook, then you have lost any information that is not in the Lost And Found.

REFERENCES

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

Q140719 How to Use the Microsoft Exchange Inbox Repair Tool

Additional query words: damaged damage


Keywords          : kbdta GnlCrpt 
Version           : WINDOWS:
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: July 7, 1999