How To: Fix Outlook Data Corruption
So I had a weird morning today. My computer woke up from sleep a little grumpy, definitely not the typical experience which is usually smooth as a baby’s bottom. Anyway, I fire up outlook and I’m greeted with an error that says Outlook can’t launch because the OST file is corrupted. I sigh in annoyance because the last thing anyone wants to do is create a new OST file and transfer an entire exchange account back on to a new Outlook profile. I quickly Googled Lived the problem and started a trouble shooting process.
Amazingly, rather than being greeted by an authoritative link to a Microsoft knowledge base like Office Online, TechNet, or MSDN, I was greeted things I’d like to classify as “crapware”.
Which search engine is which?
Both Google and Live were filled with a load of junk utilities. The reality is in most cases you don’t need to download anything. Just run one of two commands:
SCANPST.exe
SCANOST.exe
Look in your “PROGRAM FILES –> MICROSOFT OFFICE –> OFFICE 12” folder
The latter is more user friendly because it has a GUI but SCANPST is useful if you are scanning unmounted PST files.
There you go, run SCANOST.exe your email corruption should be gone and the log file will be generated inside your “deleted items” folder in Outlook.
*UPDATE*
Some of you maybe wondering how in the year 2008, Outlook corruption can still be an issue. Well, I have a theory, with Vista's sleep and hibernate experience being a huge leap ahead of XP, more and more people are choosing not to shutdown their machines. A combination of software design choices and poor OEM hardware lacking in shock protection can lead to corruption while the machine is proverbially manhandled into the a book bag. I have a feeling that I corrupted Outlook because I didn't wait for my machine to sleep before tossing it into my backpack. Oddly, I postulate that if Outlook implemented its storage more like Entourage 2008, part of Office 2008 for Mac, there would be less of an issue because the file system could self-heal corruption or at least prevent a complete lock out from the application since all items wouldn't be locked away in a database. Bottom line make sure you buy laptops that have software/hardware driven shock protection like those found in Apple or most IBM machines.
https://blogs.technet.com/extreme/archive/2008/02/19/windows-server-2008-self-healing-ntfs.aspx
Comments
Anonymous
January 01, 2003
I ran into this (corrupt OST) recently. We just deleted the OST and reopened outlook (we were already on the domain). The ost file was rebuilt. If you are in the office, is this a valid way to resolve the problem?Anonymous
January 01, 2003
this is absolutely valid way to do it, but it takes much longer usually depending on your quota size. I personally had a 450MB account so on top of downloading the data, my machine would have to reindex all the items which can take A LOT more time. As I move into a 2GB account soon, I would want to avoid your method as much as I can. just for reference, on my Dell D820 Core 2 Duo laptop, SCANOST took less than 5 minutes. Your method can take up to an hour if not more depending on your quota size and usage. You may be able to start working much sooner, but a stable state won't be reached for sometime.Anonymous
January 01, 2003
Recover ost data owing to repair .ost file www.repairost2007.ostrepairtoolbox.comAnonymous
January 01, 2003
OST to PST software is very excellent and helpfull tool to easily recover data from Offline OST file in addition to convert OST file into new running PST file. It smartly fix whole OST file corruption issue within few minutes.
Download this software:
http://www.ostpstconverter.us/
http://www.pdsosttopst.com/Anonymous
January 01, 2003
OST Corruption is the common issue but you can convert your OST File to PST by using OST Converter Software. I tried this software and convert my OST File, so you can try. you can download it from here:-
https://outlookostconvertersoftware.wordpress.com/
https://howtoconvertosttopst.codeplex.com/Anonymous
January 01, 2003
OST Corruption is the common issue but you can convert your OST File to PST by using OST Converter Software. I tried this software and convert my OST File, so you can try. you can download it from here:-
https://outlookostconvertersoftware.wordpress.com/
https://howtoconvertosttopst.codeplex.com/Anonymous
January 01, 2003
Outstanding OST to PST Converter that smartly rectify whole OST file corruption issue and import OST file into Outlook such as EML, MSG and HTML formats without any interruption.
Experts References: http://www.filesrecoverytools.com/ost-to-pst-converter.htmlAnonymous
March 04, 2010
The comment has been removedAnonymous
March 04, 2010
Also, when I attempt to launch SCANOST.exe I get "Quite Outlook before performing a scan with the OST Integrity Checking Tool" and then "Offline synchronization is not supported by your mailbox".Anonymous
March 04, 2010
We've had a recent rash of OST corruptions (Exchange 2003, Outlook 2007) pretty muhc since the new year. ScanOST.exe does not fix them. We have yet to find a cause. Deleting the OST has been our only solution so far.Anonymous
January 23, 2015
I found a more excellent or effective tool
Go for this:- http://www.osttopsttools.com/
Truly works!!
It simply repair data from corrupted OST files and also convert into pst file without any issues.Anonymous
April 01, 2015
If you want to fix Outlook OST file corruption so try best solution which name as OST to PST Recovery Software
http://www.exportosttopst.org/
and
http://ostrecoverytoolfree.wordpress.com/Anonymous
April 06, 2015
Free download OST recovery software which is an effective solution to read OST emails into outlook PST format.
http://www.osttopsts.org/Anonymous
August 25, 2015
Without any problem Exchange OST to PST Converter software convert all OST file to PST and also move OST to other possible and choose able file formats EML, MSG and HTML with supporting multiple type of OST file versions like Also 5.0/ 5.5/ 2000/ 2003/ 2007/ 2010 and 2013. Read more :- http://www.mannatsoftware.com/kernel-ost-to-pst-converter.htmlAnonymous
August 28, 2015
There are many reason stand for your OST file corruption i.e. software of hardware. This time you need a perfect way for this trouble as OST to PST converter tool .This tool firstly recover your data and then able to convert not even in PST but also into EML, MSG and HTML formats. And also split your large OST file into small parts up to 5GB.
read more
http://www.convertosttopsts.com
http://freeosttopstconverteroutlook2013.strikingly.comAnonymous
September 06, 2015
Fix severely corrupted offline outlook data file flawlessly using Convert OST Software, I found this software as most reliable, cost effective as well as user friendly. Try this software it can handle drastic corruption of OST file by converting it into a healthy PST file and recovers all your deleted data items also. Read More: http://www.intrigua.com/convert-ost/Anonymous
March 08, 2016
Go with an advanced solution which is knows as Kernel for OST to PST. It allows you to fix all corruption isuue from MS Outlook data items. Using this tool you can convert the recovered data items to new workable Outlook PST file format. To know more:-http://www.scanost.com
Download free demo version of this tool from here:- http://www.ostpst.orgAnonymous
March 18, 2016
OST to PST Software easily convert OST to PST and split large PST file in few click. OST to PST Software divide large PST in to small PST up to 5GB. This application supports all OST file up to 2016.
Read more- http://www.easyosttopst.com/