Working With Ost Integrity Check Tool

By Author: Technova
Total Articles: 70
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Most of the times we get error messages while synchronizing the Offline Folder file .OST in Microsoft Office Outlook with our mailbox on an Exchange Server. In addition some email items get missing from the OST file or from the mailbox after synchronization of .ost file and the mailbox.
In such situations OST to PST conversion becomes the apt choice. But before you can try your hand on using OST Integrity Check tool, also known as Scanost.exe used for checking your .ost file. The OST Integrity Check tool runs only on .ost files and can be used to diagnose and repair synchronization issues.
This Integrity Check tool scans both your .ost file and your mailbox on the server running Exchange, compares the items and folders in each, and attempts to reconcile synchronization differences between them. This tool simply records any differences in a scan log so that you can see the discrepancies that it found and get it resolved. The scan log also identifies any situations that the tool could not correct which you will need to fix manually. The scan log can be found in your ...
... Deleted Items folder.
To use the OST Integrity Check tool, you must connect to your Exchange account so that the tool can scan your mailbox folders and items. If you previously set up Outlook to start offline automatically, the OST Integrity Check tool will not be able to access your mailbox on the server running Exchange. Therefore, before you run the tool, you need to change your Outlook startup settings temporarily.
The OST Integrity Check tool (Scanost.exe) is installed when you install Outlook. It is usually located at:
drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE12.
Using Scanost.exe - OST Integrity Check tool
First of all exit Outlook if it is running.
Double-click Scanost.exe, located at drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE12.
If you have set up Outlook to prompt for a profile, the tool will also prompt you for one. In the Profile Name list, click the profile that contains the .ost file that you want to check.
If you are prompted to Connect or Work Offline, click Connect.
Select the options that you want.
To have the tool automatically resolve discrepancies that it finds during the scan, select the Repair Errors check box. If this check box is cleared, the tool will log the problems but not make the necessary corrections.
Click Begin Scan.
This way you will be able to repair OST. But this tool doesn't guarantee all time recovery (there may be data loss); it fails most of the times. So it's better to go for OST to PST conversion, which is the safest option. There will be no data loss either.