Using Ost-pst Conversion Software To Repair Corrupted Ost File

By Author: Dhananjay Kumar
Total Articles: 1
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Microsoft Outlook is used extensively as the most preferred email client application. It uses two types of supporting files to store the Outlook data, OST (Offline Storage Table) and PST (Personal Storage Table) file. Of these two, the OST file is used to work in the offline mode, that is, when there is no Internet connection. You can work in the offline mode and synchronize it with the Exchange server once the connection is restored. However, sometimes the OST file gets corrupt due to various reasons such as virus infections, power outages, header corruption, etc. In such cases, you should try to repair the OST file using the Scanost tool. If you are unable to repair it, then you should convert OST file to its equivalent PST using a third-party OST to PST conversion software.

Consider a scenario wherein you start MS Outlook 2003, but it fails to start. An error message is displayed as a result, that is:

Cannot open your default email folders. The file xxxx.ost is not an offline folder file.

Cause:
There could be the following reasons for this mentioned error:
The OST file is corrupted and MS ...
... Outlook is unable to recognize it. Hence, the error.
The OST file is linked with a mailbox for a particular user on the Exchange server. If this Exchange mailbox is inaccessible for some reason, then this error is reported.

Resolution:
To resolve this problem, you should repair the OST file using the OST Integrity Check (scanost.exe) tool. To do this, you should perform the following steps:
Search and open the Scanost.exe file.
Locate and select the OST file to be repaired.
Select the 'Repair Scan' check box to automatically repair the inconsistencies found in the OST file.
Click the 'Begin Scan' option to begin the scan. The scan will be completed in a while.
Start Outlook and check whether the problem has been fixed or not.

However, if the problem is still not resolved then you should use a third-party OST to PST converter. Such OST-PST conversion tools are able to convert OST to PST file without overwriting the existing OST file and its contents.

Stellar Phoenix Mailbox Exchange Desktop is an OST-PST converter that is able to convert an orphan OST file to an independent PST file. It is specifically designed to convert OST to PST files created in MS Outlook 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002, and 2000. This OST to PST conversion software is capable of preserving the emails, contacts, tasks, journals, calendar items, etc while performing the OST-PST conversion process. Not only this, it is also able to preserve the formatting of the RTF and HTML messages during the conversion. This OST-PST converter is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, Server 2003, XP, and 2000.