The Adept Way To Convert Ost To Pst Outlook 2003 Files

By Author: Peter Pepe
Total Articles: 1
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Outlook OST files also known as the offline folder files are the local copy of the Exchange Server mailbox which can be accessed from a local system. OST files allow users to work offline when connection with server fails or the database in the Exchange Server crashes. Work done offline gets stored in the OST files which later get synchronized with the Exchange Server upon reestablishment of connection. Since the OST files contain a replica of the Exchange Server user mailbox, whatever work the user does in offline mode automatically gets written in the Server mailbox when a connection is set. Therefore, offline mode provides an ideal work platform under limited or no network connectivity.

All is fine till offline mode get converted to online mode upon availability of connection. But problem arises when the connection gets severed permanently or the Exchange Server crashes. Lack of data synchronization between the OST files and the Exchange Server mailboxes result in permanent loss of offline work. This means, whatever updates you made to your mailbox items or the emails you composed in the offline mode is gone forever. ...
... Since the local copy of these updates stored in the OST files cannot otherwise be accessed in any way apart from synchronization with the server mailbox, the OST files become orphaned.

The only way out of such a situation is to convert OST to PST file format, so that they become accessible from your local system through Outlook email client. Conversion from OST to PST is not only a method used to access orphan OST file contents but also to open corrupt OST files. Like PST files, OST files are also susceptible to corruption because of logical or physical errors. Therefore, users can convert OST to PST Outlook 2003 files not only during server downtime but also when the OST files get damaged.

The next question is how to convert OST to PST? You cannot directly convert an OST file into PST format because there is security that binds the OST file, the Exchange mailbox and a MAPI profile together. In order to open an OST file, you have to be logged in with the original MAPI profile. Once that is done, you can export or copy the OST files to PST files. However, the catch is that you cannot open the OST file with a different MAPI profile. The same profile must be used which created the OST file. Also, it is not possible to rename the OST file to PST file and expect an automatic conversion.

Therefore, the only solution that remains is to use a third party tool which will convert OST to PST Outlook 2003 files. Once that conversion is performed, the offline work stored in OST files will become accessible using ms Outlook email client. As a suggestion, Kernel for OST to PST conversion is suitable tool to convert OST to PST. This software automatically converts the OST files to PST with their data structure, properties and metadata intact. Furthermore, you can save the converted file into .EML, .MSG and .DBX file formats other than .PST.

Author Bio:

The author of this article is a MVP and a technical analyst with more than a decade experience. This article explains everything about OST files in addition to why it is important to convert OST to PST Outlook 2003 and how users can convert OST to PST files.