# MS Outlook 2002 pst file went down from ~1,8GB to 0KB !?



## stuhpa_sheja (Apr 20, 2009)

Hi all, my already 4th .pst file (MS Outlook personal storage file) went down from around 1.5 GB to 0 KB.
(btw. Im familiar with that 2GB limitation against pst files so each time when Im reaching around 1,8GB I would create new personal folder/pst file...so far w/o any problems)
The only extraordinary thing that happen was CHKDSK run.
I did check "found.000" hidden folder and the file is not there + the corrupted pst file did stay at the same location, name and extension are unchanged, the only problem is its size ~ 300 B (0 KB) !
My problem is also that raw recovery applications (Easy Recovery Proffesional, R-Studio...) cant find any file of similar size that would match my "lost"/corrupted file....
I did google this issue and the only promising solution is not free: http://www.experts-exchange.com/Microsoft/Applications/Q_22626056.html
Also that PSTSCAN.EXE application is not working also - file is now to small...
Can somebody here help me pls?


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## stuhpa_sheja (Apr 20, 2009)

Anyone...pls?


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## sobersong (Sep 14, 2008)

is your pst saved locally or on a network drive ?
SCANPST.EXE itself does not work or it did work but couldn't repair the pst ? (might need to close outlook before running it...)


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## tosh9i (Aug 3, 2006)

That Expert's Exchange solution referred to this webpage: http://www.emailaddressmanager.com/outlook/repair.html

However, in the end, that solution didn't work and they just gave up.


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## tosh9i (Aug 3, 2006)

Do you know the amount of free space you had on your HD before this happened compared to now?


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## stuhpa_sheja (Apr 20, 2009)

Re: is your pst saved locally or on a network drive ?
- all 4 pst files are saved on external USB hd
Re: SCANPST.EXE itself does not work or it did work but couldn't repair the pst ? (might need to close outlook before running it...) 
- SCANPST.exe is not helping/cant process the file because the size of the corrupted pst file is to small, ~300B, ie. 0 KB
Re: Do you know the amount of free space you had on your HD before this happened compared to now?
- enough, >100 GB


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## tosh9i (Aug 3, 2006)

stuhpa_sheja said:


> Re: is your pst saved locally or on a network drive ?
> - all 4 pst files are saved on external USB hd
> Re: SCANPST.EXE itself does not work or it did work but couldn't repair the pst ? (might need to close outlook before running it...)
> - SCANPST.exe is not helping/cant process the file because the size of the corrupted pst file is to small, ~300B, ie. 0 KB
> ...


That's not what I meant. What I meant was before this happened did you have, let's say *120 GB *of free space and after this happened did it change to *122* GB of free space.


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## stuhpa_sheja (Apr 20, 2009)

Re: That's not what I meant. What I meant was before this happened did you have, let's say 120 GB of free space and after this happened did it change to 122 GB of free space. 
- i dont know, usually i dont track memory status of my hd's


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## tosh9i (Aug 3, 2006)

Run a search on your computer for files that are over 1 GB in size. In the search field type: *.*


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## stuhpa_sheja (Apr 20, 2009)

Re:Run a search on your computer for files that are over 1 GB in size. In the search field type: *.*
- this is first thing that Ive done - once again, file has not disappeared, its still there, but no data


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## tosh9i (Aug 3, 2006)

Okay, now I'm getting confused. You say that has not disappeared, it's still there, but no data. Is the file you're talking about the 300byte file or the 1.8 gb file. Were you able to find the 1.8gb file or was it there all along, just empty.


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## stuhpa_sheja (Apr 20, 2009)

....after CHDDSK run....a *.pst file which size was around 1,8 GB went down to 300 B....is this clear enough?......


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## tosh9i (Aug 3, 2006)

Well, I spent the last hour surfing all over the internet trying to find a solution to your problem. One thing that I noticed is that you're not the first person whose pst file dropped to 0kb after running CHKDSK. After reading numerous threads about the same problem, all I found out is that practically NONE of them have been able to recover their lost data.


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## tosh9i (Aug 3, 2006)

stuhpa_sheja said:


> ....after CHDDSK run....a *.pst file which size was around 1,8 GB went down to 300 B....is this clear enough?......


Oh, and by the way, you're old pst file is not still there. What happened is that the 1.8 gb pst file was removed or deleted and "replaced" by that 300 b file. Chkdsk didn't just delete your email, contacts and calendar, it deleted the whole file, and when you opened outlook, outlook created a new one (300b).


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## jayjayaa (Dec 4, 2009)

I have the same problem but the thing is it is not my outlook.pst.
It is one of my archive psts.
So the file is not deleted and a new one created by outlook like Toshi said.
The file size just went to 0 Kb.
I know this because my file name is not outlook.pst 
I can not recover it
Did you solve this problem?


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## stuhpa_sheja (Apr 20, 2009)

No...I havent resolved my problem....Ive also googled nearly all net looking for similar bug desc....no luck....theres no solution....except....from now on Im not permiting scandisk to run on any of my drives where I have stored some archive pst files.....


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## djaburg (May 15, 2008)

I'm certainly not trying to insult or anything, but backing up your .pst files can be a life saver. For future reference, Microsoft has a personal folder backup utility that can automatically backup your pst files (including archive) to a location that you specify. You can use an external drive, a network drive, or a directory on your computer.

I've worked with many clients that have experienced the same corrupted .pst file situation as you've encountered, and all have resulted in no recovered data. In just about every instance that I've encountered, there has been some kind of disk corruption/bad spots that chkdsk encountered. As I said, I'm not trying to throw salt on an open wound, but just wanted to provide a possible solution to minimizing this kind of issue in the future.


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## stuhpa_sheja (Apr 20, 2009)

I didnt expect so much philosphy from a MS guy......bottom line is that this all problem is somehow well hidden from the common users and there is no solution of it and once again - Im backing up my data - thats why I placed all my personal pst files to the external HD but it seems when it comes down to MS Outlook, this is not enough....now Ive even burned my pst's on to a DVDs....my suggestion to all MS Outlook users (its very "capitalistic"): find another email client or burn your personal pst's to a DVD!


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## djaburg (May 15, 2008)

I'm not an "MS guy" so much as a person that tries to help where I can. I don't believe there are any MS employees here, although I guess there could be. I was and usually do, try to offer advice where I can, even if it is post-problem so people might be able to prevent issues in the future.

You did mention that you kept your files on an external drive, which can be good and bad. My suggestion was using the utility that would prompt you to backup your pst files to a different location and then would back them up there. This way if you did have a corrupted pst file, you could simply copy the backup copy of the pst to its original location and you'd only have lost the messages since the last backup. I always suggest that people backup their data, ALL their data not just pst files. You can backup to CD, DVD, External HD, Internal HD, or one of the many online providers like Carbonite. 

I would use myself as an example. I had a HD fail to boot and it was due to a failing HD. I was able to recover everything important from online backups so I didn't lose any data. I also had an image of my HD that was about a month old. So I restored the image and then retrieved my updated files from the online backup and was up within a day with a virtually identical system on a new HD. Always remember, it's not IF a HD will fail, but WHEN.


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