PST
or Personal Storage Table is data container of MS Outlook that stores
emails, attachments, contact lists and other data of user mailbox.
Microsoft has set specific storage limit of PST file with different
versions of MS Outlook. Old Outlook versions such as MS Outlook 97,
98, 2000 and 2002 can store mailbox data up to 2 GB in a single PST
file. Whenever PST file of MS Outlook 2002 or earlier versions
reaches or surpasses 2 GB storage limit, it starts showing error
messages.
Corruption
errors of oversized PST files
Oversized
PST files prevent Outlook users from accessing their mailbox folders.
When PST files crosses 2 GB storage capacity or other limits of MS
Outlook, it shows different error messages as below:
- xxxx.PST cannot be accessed - 0x80040116
- The file xxxx.PST has reached its maximum size. To reduce the amount of data in this file, select some items that you no longer need, then permanently (Shift + Del) delete them
Inbuilt
options of PST File Repair
Microsoft
has added inbuilt tool scanpst.exe in MS Outlook to deal with various
corruption issues of PST files including 2 GB storage cap of Outlook.
Scanpst.exe resides in the MS Office folder of your system drive. MS
Outlook versions store inbox repair tool in different locations of
Windows drive:
If
you’re using MS Outlook 2002 and Windows XP, the location of
scanpst.exe file will be:
- C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MAPI\<locale ID>\NT\scanpst.exe
If
you use Outlook 2010 and Windows XP, the scanpst.exe will be located
in
- C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14
You
can start repairing oversized PST files with Scanpst utility in
following steps:
- Click on icon of scanpst.exe application
- In the application tray, click on browse button to select oversized PST file from specific location
- Press start button to check selected file for errors
- Select specific system location for the backup file
- Then press “repair” button
You
must copy recovered mailbox folders in a new PST file to access old
data of your Outlook Profile. However, there is possibility of data
loss while repairing an oversized PST file with scanpst tool.
If
you are using Outlook 2002 or older version then it is possible to
convert your mailbox into
higher
version such as MS Outlook 2003 or above. You can move corrupt
Outlook.PST file from Outlook 2002 to Outlook 2007 profile in
following steps:
- Copy corrupt Outlook.PST file at another location
- Uninstall MS Office 2002 application
- Install MS Office 2007 application
- In the file menu, click on Import and Export
MS
Outlook 2003 or higher versions store mailbox data more than 2 GB in
a single PST file. However, if oversized PST files are still
unmanageable with inbuilt options, you are required to select an
external email recovery program.
PST
File Repair Software
PST
file repair is a versatile tool to fix all corruption issues of PST
files including 2 GB size limitation. It successfully extracts
emails, attachments, contacts, journals, tasks and other data from
corrupt PST file and restore in a new Outlook data file.
PST
file repair completely maintains text formatting and order of Outlook
data in recovered files. It can also recover permanently deleted,
compressed or highly encrypted emails from corrupt PST files. All key
features of PST file repair can be assessed in evaluation version.
However, you shall be able to save recovered mailbox data only with
the licensed version of PST File repair utility. For further information, you can visit http://www.nucleustechnologies.com/Microsoft-Outlook-Mail-Recovery.html











