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Outlook PST Errors – Reasons and Resolutions

  author
Rollins Duke   
Published: May 10th, 2024 • 8 Min Read

Outlook Personal Storage Table files encounter a number of error messages some of which have been discussed below with a solution each. Read more to acquire detailed information about all of them.

Error 1:

Error 1 Text

Error 1 screenshot

Reason Outlook PST Errors

A PST file is made up of two divisions i.e. header part and the rest of the data part. The header consists of the most important information regarding the entire file like; file signature, compatibility, file size, etc.

If the header gets corrupted or damaged, Microsoft Outlook fails to recognize it. In this case, Outlook considers the entire file as invalid and reports about outlook pst errors.

Read Also – Outlook Out of Memory or System Resources Error

Resolution:

The first thing MS Outlook reads while accessing a PST file is its header part to verify the information within such as; compatibility and signature. In any case, where this verification process fails, Outlook will report about the same via the discussed error message. In addition, you are supposed to run scanpst.exe utility for getting rid of such issues in the soonest possible time as, the longer you avoid an issue, the severe it becomes.

Error 2:

Error 2 Text

Error 2 Screenshot

Reason

When a corrupt or damaged Personal Folder file is tried being accessed on MS Outlook; the above error messages are encountered.

Resolution

There are possibilities that the error either took place due to an oversized PST or because of corruption caused within.

  1. If there are, size-related issues with your PST; try removing unwanted items from the respective Outlook profile. It could be either your emails, notes, contacts, calendar, or any other item from your Outlook account that is not needed; this will help you free some space. Restart Outlook now.
  2. If header corruption or some other corruption-related issue is suspected, you are suggested to use Inbox Repair tool to overcome it. This will help you repair any sort of damage caused within your PST by scanning.

Error 3:

Error 3 Text

Error 3 screenshot

This is an error reported encountered while using Outlook 2000 version.

Reason

The error is generally received because of errors detected within the respective Outlook PST file.

Resolution outlook pst errors

For resolving the issue, you could run scanpst.exe aka Inbox Repair tool which is built to scan and repair detected issues of a Personal Folder file.

NOTE: Before performing the repair process on your PST, quit your Outlook properly and log off.

  • (A) Run scanpst.exe utility and perform a repair on the damaged PST file.
  • (B) If you are still facing issues accessing your PST; do the following:
  1. Run scandisk.exe or any other disk scanning utility on your system hard disk to guarantee the integrity of the hard disk.
  • (C) Move the PST file from your system to any other system to make sure that the issue is with the PST or your system.
  1. Get a new Outlook account created.
  2. Add the moved PST file in this new Outlook profile.
  3. Try starting up Outlook.

This should probably resolve the issue. However, if it is still there, then possibly the damage is beyond repair. In the respective case, you will be required to remove the currently used PST from your Outlook profile and create a new PST instead.

Error 4:  

Error 4 Text

Error 4 Screenshot

This is an Outlook 2000 version-based issue where when the PST tried being opened, the above-mentioned error is encountered.

Reason

A probable cause of this error could be damage of the PST file index.

Resolution

The resolution of this error has been divided into three parts; run 2 GB Truncation tool, then process Inbox Repair tool, and lastly open the repaired PST on your Outlook profile.

NOTE: The steps might vary depending upon the version of the Windows OS you are using. If you notice any difference, check product documentation to complete the process.

Part 1: 2 GB Truncation Tool

  1. Get a 2 GB Truncation tool from the Official Microsoft website.
  2. Now extract 2gb152.exe into an empty folder. You must see the following files:
    1. Msstdfmt.dll
    2. Msvbvm60.dll
    3. Pst2gb.exe
    4. Readme.rtf
    5. Readme.txt
  3. Click on the Start menu and select Search.
  4. Under the Tools menu click on Folder Options and proceed by clicking on the View tab.
  5. Click on ‘Show hidden files and folders’ followed by clicking on the ‘Hide extensions for known file types’. Now select the checkbox for ‘Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)’.
  6. Click on ‘Yes’ to approve that protected operating system files be displayed. Click on Ok to proceed.
  7.  In the “What do you want to search for?” column, click on All Files and Folders.
  8. Type *.pst in the “All or part of the file name” box.
  9. Select Local Hard Drives (C:) in the “Look in” list and click on Search to begin.
  10. Take the path of the PST file that you wanted to repair. By default, it must be named Outlook.pst.
  11. Click on the Start menu followed by the Run window. Type: ‘(pat to the pst2gb.exe file extracted in step 2)\pst2gb.exe –s’ (without quotations) and click on Ok.
  12. Click on Continue and click on Browse.
  13. Click on the personal folder file that has to be repaired and click on Open.
  14. Click on Create and type a unique name for the respective .pst file in the “File name box”. Click Save.
  15. Click on Start in the ‘Oversized PST recovery tool’ dialog box.
  16. Once you have run the tool; click on Ok and then click on Close.

Part 2: Run Inbox Repair Tool

  1. Click on Start Menu and go to Search option.
  2. Choose ‘All Files and Folders’.
  3. In the first search box, type in: scanpst.exe
  4. Select Local Hard Drives (C:) and click Search.
  5. From the list of files found, double click on scanpst.exe.
  6. Click on Browse, and open the folder containing the PST file newly created via 2 GB Truncation utility.
  7. Click on the PST file and click on Open.
  8. Hit “Start” in the Inbox Repair tool.
  9. Once the scan has been completed click on Repair to repair any errors within the PST file. (NOTE: The process might take several hours.)
  10. When a message stating: “Repair Complete” is displayed, click on OK.
  11. Restart your computer.

Part 3: Open Repaired File in Outlook

  1. Start MS Outlook 2000 (As stated initially that the error is Outlook 2000 based)
  2. Go to File Menu and click on Open.
  3. Select the Personal Folders File (.pst) option.
  4. Open folder containing the respective PST created and repaired recently.
  5. Click on the PST and proceed by clicking on Ok.

NOTE: If the PST opens without any inconvenience caused, it will be listed under the file list below: Recovered Personal Folders.

Get the data copied from each folder under Recovered Personal Folders and move it to Outlook Today folders (the default PST).

Error 5:

Error 5 Text

Error 5 screenshots

Running MS Outlook on a computer configured with Windows XP OS may lead to this error message and block Outlook from starting up.

NOTE: It is an Outlook 2010 based error.

Reason

The error is encountered mostly when Outlook faced compatibility issues with Windows XP.

Resolution

For resolving the issue, follow the below steps:

  1. Locate Outlook.exe

Generally, Outlook.exe is located at the following location depending upon the Outlook version being used:

    1. For Outlook 2010: “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14”
    2. For Outlook 2007: “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12”
    3. For Outlook 2003: “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office 11”
    4. For Outlook 2002: “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office 10”
    5. For Outlook 2000: “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office 9”
  2. Once you have located the folder, right-click on the Outlook.exe file and click on Properties.
  3. Go to the Compatibility tab and uncheck the checkbox provided for “Run this program in compatibility mode”.
  4. Click on Ok.
  5. Now try starting up Outlook again. This will probably work.

Error 6:

Error 6 Text

Error 6 Screenshot

Reason

The error comes while using Inbox Repair tool and there are high chances that, the PST selected in this case is too severely corrupted to be repaired using scanpst.exe or; it isn’t a PST file at all.

However, if the size of the PST is less than 265 KB then the file is possibly empty and has nothing to be recovered.

Resolution

The only solution that can possibly be applied to resolve this issue would be a third party solution in case severity of corruption is the reason.

Error 7:

Error 7 Text

Error 7 Screenshot

Reason

This error message is encountered while using the Inbox Repair tool and is faced because the utility fails to be accessed due to some issue.

Disk based errors or associated issues might possibly be responsible for posing troubles in the repair process being performed via scanpst.exe. Otherwise, only a severely corrupt PST could lead to the failure of the Inbox Repair tool.

Resolution

Fixing this error is possible following the below tips:

Running the CHKDSK command on the respective disk might help in resolving the issues; if related to disk problems. This will allow you to successfully run the repair utility by MS Outlook afterward.

However, for other cases where CHKDSK doesn’t succeed in resolving the issue; two ways are recommended to get a solution:

  • If the file opens, try importing its data into a new PST file. This might work.
  • And the cases where PST fails to open; you can either restore its data from the last backup or use a commercial utility to repair it.

The Final Words

If you are still facing some outlook pst errors then, feel free to contact us in our 24 X 7 hours support team.