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Wednesday 20 March 2013
3/20/2013 10:12:00 pm 0

Outlook data files (OST and PST) size issues:

Outlook is the most commonly used Email client in business domain. Various versions of Outlook had been emerged till date. The latest among the Outlook versions is Outlook 2013. ANSI file format was supported by the Outlook 2002 and earlier versions. The later versions of Outlook support Unicode format. The ANSI file format doesn't support maximum file size above 2 GB. That why the Outlook 2002 and earlier versions have a 2 GB size limitation for the OST/PST files. Whenever the file size reaches the size of 2 GB, Outlook can't work perform properly. And later on the data files may get severely corrupt.

Microsoft provides inbuilt free utilites to handle the OST/PST file size and corruption issues.
User can use the PST2GB tool to truncate a PST file that is more than 2 GB in size. Scanpst.exe and Scanost.exe can be used to repair a corrupted .pst and .ost file respectively and to fix other file corruption issues.
          
Default maximum OST/PST file size:
Outlook 2002 and earlier versions            2 GB
Outlook 2003 and 2007                             20 GB
Outlook 2010                                             50 GB

The OST and PST file size can be modified by changing following the registry entries:
  • The MaxFileSize registry entry
  • The WarnFileSize registry entry
  • The MaxLargeFileSize registry entry
  • The WarnLargeFileSize registry entry
MaxLargeFileSize DWORD registry value can be modified if the user wants to extend the deafault maximum file size.

Location of  MaxLargeFileSize DWORD registry:
You can configure the Outlook OST/PST file size limits simply by changing the registry values.

But, while modifying the registry, the user must take special care as, if its some incorrect changes will be done to the registry, it can lead to severe data loss situations. 
So, before modifying the registry, it’s better to backup the registry. So that, if something goes wrong while modifying the registry then you can restore the registry from the backup. Read my upcoming article, if want to know more about registry backup and restoration procedure.
Tuesday 19 March 2013
3/19/2013 08:06:00 pm 0

An introduction to Outlook data files structure:

Outlook data files structure:
Outlook Email application client uses OST and PST file format for storing the user mailbox data.

When you are using Outlook with Exchange, you can save a local copy of the Exchange database on your local system in OST file format. OST file is an exact replica of the mailbox data stored on Exchange. This file provides the ability to work in off line mode. You can read my previous article to know more about,”Exchange cached mode”.

When Outlook is used without Exchange a PST file is created that stores the user mailbox data on his local system. Let’s have a brief look at the structure of OST/PST files.

OST/PST files structure:
It stores the data in B-tree form i.e. the data is arranged hierarchically in form of nodes (512 bytes) and leafs.                                       
  • Outlook 2002 and earlier versions used ANSI file format (extended ASCII with a code page) encoding and 32-bit pointers .This file structure had the 2 GB file size limits.
  • Outlook 2003 and the later Outlook versions support Unicode format for Unicode (UTF-16 little-endian) and 64-bit pointers which overcome the 2 GB limit that occurred in the earlier versions.
If you want to use the PST files created on newer versions of Outlook in earlier versions then, you need to change them its format from Unicode to ANSI.

To do so, follow the given steps:

1.Open Outlook application (2007/2003).
2.Go to File >Data File Management>Add.
3.Select the option Outlook 97-2002 Personal Folders File (PST).
4.Click OK.
5.Click OK to create a new PST file with default name or you can give any desired name to the new PST file to be created.
6.Click OK.
7.Click Close.
8.Go to the bottom of the navigation pane and Click Folder List. Here you can view the new PST file created by you (in step 5).
9.Drag the .pst file data from existing PST to the newly created PST file. It will automatically copy the data from the existing PST file (Unicode format) to the new PST file (ANSI format).

You can easily perform the above steps if you want to use the Unicode formatted PST files into earlier versions of Outlook.

Note: After conversion of the Unicode formatted PST file data to ANSI format, the Unicode characters used in your PST file (messages or other items) will be lost.

These steps are okay if you want to copy data from a PST file to another PST file. But what to do if you require copying data from an OST file to PST file. There can be various possible scenarios when you need to convert OST file data to PST file format. There is no direct method to migrate between the two Outlook data files manually. For migrating OST file data to a PST file, you would require some tool that can help you to perform an efficient OST to PST conversion.
3/19/2013 02:12:00 am 2

How to export GroupWise contacts to Outlook PST file?

If you are a GroupWise user and want to use your GroupWise contacts into Outlook then, you are at right place. GroupWise contacts can be exported into a ‘.nab’ extension file using the Export wizard. The .nab contact file can be converted to .csv file. Outlook import export wizard supports .csv file import option. You can easily import the .csv file into Outlook.

Follow the given steps to export GroupWise contacts to Outlook PST file:

1. Login to your Groupwise account.
2. Go to Toolbar > Address Book.
3. Select the address book you want to export.
Either you can choose to select individual addresses or the whole address book to be exported.


4. Click File>Export Menu.
5. Select "Entire Address Book" or "Selected Items”. (Depending on Step 3.)
6. Give a desired name to the exported file such as XYZ.nab.
7. Choose the desired location to save the file.
8. Click Save to save the file.

Using the above steps, the GroupWise contact data has been exported to .nab file. Now, you need to convert the NAB file into a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file so that it can be imported into Outlook.

Follow the given steps to convert NAB file to CSV file:
1. Open a spreadsheet application (such as Microsoft Excel or any other spreadsheet program).
2. Open your .nab file using the spreadsheet program.
3. Select "Save As."
4. Select CSV under the “Save as Type" option.


5. Click "Save."

You can now easily import the converted .csv file into Outlook using the Outlook "Import and Export" wizard.
To do so follow given steps:
1. Open Outlook.
2. Go to Menu > File > Import and Export.
3. Select "Import from Another Program or File.


4. Click "Next."
5. Select "Comma Separated Values" and click "Next."


6. Click "Browse" to select the CSV file you just saved. Click "OK."
7. Go to “Options" if you want to specify the way how you want to import duplicate items.


8. Click "Next."
9. Select the Outlook contact folder into which the contacts are to be imported.
10. Click "Next."
11. Click "Finish."

Follow the given steps to create new PST File:

1. Click the "File"> "New" > "Outlook Data File."


2. Select "Office Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst)." Click "OK."



3. Name the file and Click "OK."
4. Click the "Go" menu and select "Folder List" to access your new Personal Folders.



Now, you are done. You have easily exported the GroupWise contacts and saved them into PST format.

If you don’t want to go through this sequence of procedure for exporting the GroupWise contacts data into PST file, you can also choose some GroupWise to PST Converter software. The GroupWise to PST Converter can easily and efficiently convert the GroupWise mailboxes items (such as emails, attachments, calendars and address book contacts etc) into PST files within few minutes.
Monday 18 March 2013
3/18/2013 02:40:00 am 1

How to recover lost Exchange server 2013?

The current article is for those who want to recover their lost Exchange server. All the described steps are applicable only for Exchange version 2013.

There can be two cases when a user wants to recover the server:
  • The lost server was not a member of DAG
  • Or the lost server was  a member of DAG
Let’s consider the first case when a user wants to recover the lost server that was not a member of DAG.

How to recover lost Exchange server 2013?

Setup /m:RecoverServer switch command can be used to recover a lost server. This command fetches information and other Exchange settings from the AD (Active Directory). This fetched information is used while rebuilding the Exchange server with the same name.

The server on which you want to perform recovery procedure must have the same operating system, performance characteristics, hardware configuration and disk drive letters databases as the lost server.

Follow the given steps to perform lost Exchange server recovery:
  • Reset the computer account (i.e. the computer account for the lost server).
  • Go to Start>Control Panel >Administrative Tools>Active Directory Users and Computers.
  • After that 'Active Directory Users and Computers' folder will open then, click Computers.
  • Click the Reset Account button from the details pane
  • Note: You can also run the following command using command prompt to reset a computer:
  • dsmod computer <ComputerDN> -reset
  • New server name should be same as the lost server name, remember this while naming the new server otherwise server recovery couldn't be performed.
  • Join the new server to the lost server domain.
  • Now, log on to the server which is being recovered
  • Once you are logged on:
    • Go to Exchange 2013 installation files
    • Run the below  command using command prompt:
Setup /m:RecoverServer /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms
  • Once the setup is completed you can reconfigure the settings if required.
  • Restart the server.
Now, you are done with the lost Exchange server recovery process.

Before running the above steps ensure that the server on which recovery is being performed has the same operating system and hardware configurations as the lost server. Sometimes, these steps will not work as it requires some Prerequisites for Exchange server 2013.

For more details about the required Prerequisites check: https://technet.microsoft.com/library/bb691354(v=exchg.150)

If you want to verify that a successful server recovery was done or not, you can do it by simply opening the Windows Services and there, you can find all Microsoft Exchange services that have been installed and running.
Thursday 14 March 2013
3/14/2013 07:51:00 pm 0

Repair corrupt bookmark.nsf to resolve Note error: "File already exists"

Bookmark.nsf is one of the most important configuration files used by Lotus Notes. The Bookmark.nsf file corruption may lead the Notes user to troublesome situations. It may lead to system slow down as well as the user may face several error messages.
The Notes error message "File already exists” is the one of the most common error message faced by Notes users.


Cause:
Generally it may be prompted if the bookmark.nsf file is corrupt.

This message may be prompted when user launches the Lotus Notes application and the bookmark.nsf file is corrupt. The corrupt bookmark file cannot be accessed by user so, Lotus Notes itself try to create new bookmark.nsf file but as it already exist, and it leads the error message “File already exists to be prompted on the screen.

Resolution:
Consider the case for non-roaming user who only uses the tiled workspace. If the bookmark.nsf file is deleted in this case then the Notes can itself create a new bookmark.nsf with the help of bookmark.ntf.
So, if you are Non-roaming Users and facing any bookmark.nsf file corruption related issues you can easily resolve it by rebuilding the bookmark.nsf file.
The steps to rebuild corrupt bookmark.nsf are:
  • Close Lotus Notes application.
  • Open Windows Explorer.
  • Find bookmark.nsf.
  • Rename the bookmark.nsf to bookmark.old.
  • Re-start Lotus Notes.
  • Now you are done. The bookmark.nsf file is recreated.
  • You can now change the settings for 'home page'  to your desired values
The other cause for the Notes error "File already exists” may be the corruption of local perweb.nsf file

If the local perweb.nsf file is corrupt then, you may face the above error message while trying to open a received HTML newsletter.

Resolution:
You need to delete the corrupt perweb.nsf file. Lotus Notes client will recreate the perweb.nsf file the same way it does for bookmark.nsf file.

Follow the given steps to recreate perweb.nsf file:
  • Run  Lotus Notes
  • Set the browser to Notes or Open Notes with Internet Explorer.
  • Exit Lotus Notes.
  • Search perweb.nsf file in Lotus Notes\Data directory.
  • Rename perweb.nsf file
  • Restart Notes application.
  • Open a web/ HTML document page. Now, Notes will automatically recreate the perweb.nsf file.
So, if you are facing the Notes error "File already exists". First thing you need to know is whether the error is caused by bookmark.nsf corruption or perweb.nsf corruption. After that, you can take the required steps to resolve the error.

If you are Roaming user, you need to perform some additional steps to resolve the above Notes error. You have to contact the Helpdesk to temporarily disable roaming on your Lotus Notes account for all computers on which Lotus Notes is installed. Once roaming is disabled then, you can follow the above described steps to rebuild the bookmark.nsf file.

After the completion of the bookmark.nsf rebuild process, enable roaming again for the computer that was used to rebuild the bookmark.nsf file. Once you enable roaming, the newly created bookmark.nsf file will be uploaded to the server and replicated to all other computers.
I hope it will resolve your problem.
Wednesday 13 March 2013
3/13/2013 08:28:00 pm 0

Top symptoms that indicates Notes bookmark.nsf file corruption

As I have already discussed in my previous article, Lotus Notes database uses various configuration files (i.e. ID File, Names.nsf, Desktop8.ndk, Headline.nsf and Bookmark.nsf) for its proper functioning. Any kind of corruption or loss to these files may lead the Notes user pierce his hair off.

In this article I want to highlight the adverse consequences of Bookmark.nsf file corruption.

Like other data files the Bookmrk.nsf file may also get corrupted due to various software and hardware reasons such as: Unexpected system shutdown, Failure of hardware components, Fatal Virus Infections and Abrupt system shutdown etc.

Symptoms of book mark.nsf file corruption:
  • Lotus  Notes client may crash
  • Lotus Notes may fail to launch or  the welcome page may fail to be loaded
  • Lotus Notes may start & respond slowly.
  • Some items from the bookmark bar or Open button menu may be missing.
  • It may cause you unable to find Applications", or "Favourite Bookmarks" items.
  • Replication icon may be missing.
  • Workspace icon is missing from "Applications" folders on the bookmark bar or Open button menu.
  • Lotus Notes will display the attachment files as images
  • Lotus Notes will open the mailbox on view "All by person" or personal folder.
  • Book mark .nsf file corruption may lead the Notes user to face different kind of errors.
Some common error messages are:
    • "duplicate public name cseventobj in use in module CSEventnotes".
    • "No Frame of Specified Name Exists"
    • "duplicate public name CMEMOOBJECT in USE module Core EmailClasses"
    • "Not a Sub or Function name: DISPLAYGROUPCALENDARLG"
    • You may get error messages when you try to login Notes after up gradation.
    • You may get an error message , "Can't find View". While trying to open your mailbox in Notes Standard.
    • While launching the Lotus Notes application, you may face the Error "File already exists”.
Whenever, the bookmark.nsf file gets corrupt user may have to face many problems and error messages. We need to resolve the problems caused by bookmark.nsf file corruption. Here comes the need to repair the corrupt bookmark.nsf file.

Lotus Notes provides inbuilt repair utilities (such as: fix up & compact) that checks the Lotus Notes data file structure and consistency of database. These tools perform a thorough scan on the selected data files and repair them if some in consistency is detect after scan process.

But sometimes when the file corruption level is high, these tools fail to detect the corruption and can’t perform an efficient repair of the database. In such case, the user has to search some other alternative for Lotus Notes recovery.
Tuesday 12 March 2013
3/12/2013 10:52:00 pm 0

What is Bookmark file in lotus notes?

Lotus Notes is one of most widely used Email applications. It uses document centric databases to store the mailbox data files and other related information. As Lotus Notes uses Document centric databases it provides a better and easy database management. It doesn’t require a schema for storing the data items and also provides built-in document-level access control to the user.

Lotus Notes database comprises of several configuration files. These configuration files play a very important role in Lotus Notes functioning. If these files get corrupt or lost then, Lotus Notes application will not work.
The configuration files used by Notes in user’s data directory are: ID File, Names.nsf, Desktop8.ndk, Headline.nsf and Bookmark.nsf.

A brief glimpse at Configuration files used by Notes:
  • ID File - An ID file is created separately for each Domino/Lotus Notes; which uniquely identifies the specific user.
  • Names.nsf – Names.nsf file stores the data related to configuration settings of specific Domino/Notes user. It also stores the contacts of that particular user account.
  • Desktop8.ndk – Desktop8.ndk file contains the desktop settings and other related information for the specific user.
  • Headline.nsf – Headline.nsf stores the Subscriptions forms .Along with the Headline.nsf file, template headline.ntf file is also created.
  • Bookmark.nsf – Bookmark.nsf file stores all the databases links that are bookmarked by the Lotus Notes user.

Let’s go ahead to know more about the bookmarks.nsf file and its significance in Lotus Notes.
Location of Bookmark.nsf file:
  • C:\lotus\notes\data\
  • C:\Program Files\Lotus\Notes\Data\
  • C:\Program Files\IBM\Lotus\Notes\Data\
Data stored with Bookmark.nsf file:


Each bookmark is stored as a separate document in folder which creates a separate boundary for each bookmark. Thus, it resolves the replication conflict if the Notes is operating on bookmarks for multiple clients simultaneously.

The bookmark file plays a very important & significant role in the Notes client. Like other files, these files are also prone to corruption. Whenever these files get corrupt, Notes client will not work properly that may lead the Notes user to troublesome situations. In my upcoming article I am going to discuss the various issues caused by bookmark.nsf file corruption and its impact on Notes functioning.
Monday 11 March 2013
3/11/2013 08:08:00 pm 1

How to remove duplicate contacts in Outlook 2003?

For an Outlook user, it is a common scenario when he finds a duplicate item in his Outlook mailbox.
While adding contacts to the contacts list he can get some contacts duplicated. The duplicates are of no use instead they create troubles for the users. Anyhow the Outlook duplicates need to be removed.

Consider the case when you are using Outlook 2003 and needs to remove duplicate contacts.

Follow the given steps to remove duplicate contacts in Outlook 2003:

1. Go to Contacts to select the contacts folder where there are duplicate contacts. 
2. Go to Navigation Pane>Current View>click Phone List.


3. Go to View >Arrange By>Current View.
4. Click Customize Current View.
5. Go to Fields>Available Fields list> Modified
6. Click Add.
7. Move 'Modified' at the top of the list (by clicking 'Move Up’).
8. Click OK two times.
9. Select all duplicates from the contacts list (you can do this by holding CTRL).
10. When you have selected all the duplicate contacts, press DELETE.

Outlook's Duplicate Detection feature can help you to avoid duplicates:
There can be various ways to add contacts. Here I am considering two specific cases.
  • Whenever you import contacts(lets say you are importing from a .pst file or .csv file) to Outlook, the Outlook  Import and Export Wizard  provides you an option:
    • Do not import duplicates
    • Or the Replace duplicates with items imported. 


You can choose one of the options if you don't want duplicates in the Outlook Contacts folder
  • If you save a recipient's contact information with the same name or email address as one that already exists in your Contacts folder, Outlook displays a dialog box that allows you to do one of the following:
    • Add the new contact.
    • Update your existing contact with the new information from the new contact.
If you choose add the new contact then, it will get duplicated. If you choose to update then, it will update the information to the existing contact.

Outlook's Duplicate Detection feature is a great way to avoid duplicate contacts while adding contacts to Outlook contact list. But sometimes, users prefer to turn off the Duplicate Detection feature.

Consider the case when you are importing thousands of contacts then, the Duplicate Detection feature will cause and interruption and slow down the copying process. In such situation it’s better to turn off the Duplicate Detection feature. After copying, check if duplicates arrived then, they can be removed using the above process.
Friday 8 March 2013
3/08/2013 12:55:00 am 0

Facing Duplicate Contacts in Outlook: Read This

For Outlook users, it is a very common to face duplicates items in Outlook mailbox. An Outlook user can receive duplicate mails or can have the same duplicates copy of other mailbox items like contacts, calendar entries in his mailbox. The duplicates in Outlook are tolerable up to some limit but this might create a severe problem if user gets thousands of duplicates in his mailbox.

If the duplicate items count is less, you can choose to delete/remove the outlook duplicates manually but manual deletion of thousands of Outlook duplicates will be wastage of manpower as well as time.
In such case, the user has to search for some other Outlook duplicate remover alternative method rather than performing manual deletion.
So, it’s better for the user to adopt some preventative measure to avoid duplicates in Outlook.

Duplicate Contacts in Outlook:
Like other mail items, you can also get duplicate contacts in Outlook contact list. This may happen while: 
  • Creating fresh new contact
  • Creating contact from an email message
  • Creating  contact from electronic business card
  • Or importing a list of contacts/PST file/other e-mail application.
'Duplicate Detection feature' in Outlook helps you to avoid duplicate contacts. Each time you add a contact, it checks if the same name or Email-address already exists or not. If it finds so, it will prompt a dialog box to ask you for confirmation, you can choose the 'add new contact' or ' update option'.

While importing contacts from a file, it’s better to turn off the Duplicate Detection feature to speed up the copying process.

Once you are done with adding your contacts you can delete the duplicates manually.
To perform an easy deletion you need something that can distinguish the newly added duplicate contacts from the previous existing contacts.
You can do this by:
  • Changing views:
First, Change to contacts then select a view (such as phone list view) that will let you easily sort and find duplicates.

  • Changing the list :
You can customize the view to show the modified field.
For that: Go to View >Current View>Customize Current View.
  • Adding the modified field :
    • Click 'Fields' button then, 'Show Fields' dialog box will be prompted
    • From the list on the left choose ‘Modified’ and click ‘Add’.
    • Move the 'Modified field' up in the list by clicking ‘Move Up'.
    • Click OK twice. 
  • Sorting the list :
You can sort the list on basis of different sorting criteria such as: sort by Full Name or File As.
You can choose the sorting option by clicking header at top of any column and then, selecting the criteria for sorting to be applied.
  • Then, you can delete the duplicate contacts from Outlook by selecting the duplicate contacts and then, pressing 'DELETE'.
The step by step duplicate contact removal process varies for different versions of Outlook. Though, the general steps are quite similar for all Outlook versions. You can read my upcoming article to know,”How to remove duplicate contacts in Outlook 2003”.
Wednesday 6 March 2013
3/06/2013 06:53:00 pm 0

Most prominent features of an efficient PST repair software

Outlook provides inbuilt repair utilities to repair the corrupt PST files. Though the Inbox repair tool (ScanPst.exe) possess several limitations.

Have a look at my previous article to know limitations of the Inbox repair tool.

When the ScanPst.exe fails to fix the PST corruption issues then, the user is left with no choice except purchasing some “PST repair software”.

Most prominent features of a PST repair software are:
  • It can perform an efficient recovery from all types of PST file corruption.
  • It can repair all Outlook mail items (i.e. emails, attachments & calendar items etc.)From the corrupt PST file.
  • It allows the user to preview all the recoverable items.
  • It allows user to search for specific mails from recoverable items list (by using different searching criteria, such as Sender, Recipient, Subject, and Date.)
  • It can recover the corrupt/damaged/inaccessible .pst file and save them to PST file format.
  • It can recover accidentally/intentionally deleted mails from the PST file.
  • It allows the user to save recovered PST file at any desired location
  • It can recover the mailboxes as well as other mail items (Attachments, Contacts, Notes) from a password protected or Encrypted PST file.
  • It can repair the PST files of file size 2 GB or larger than 2 GB
  • It allows the user to perform selective recovery of the mailbox folders or mailbox items.
  • It provides support for multiple Outlook versions: Outlook 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007, and 2010
  • It provides high range of compatibly with  various operating systems: Windows 7, Vista, Server 2003, XP, and 2000
  • It provides you ‘Search’ or ‘Find’ option to search the mails from the recovered items list.
  • It allows the user to save the recovered items to an existing PST or create a new PST for saving the recovered Outlook items.
  • It doesn’t change the actual formatting of RTF and HTML messages after repair process; those remain intact in the recovered PST file.
  • It allows the user to save a single mail in either EML or MSG format
  • It creates unique profile for individual PST files
  • It allows the user to search his system for the PST file to be imported. If its exact location is known then the user may import it simply by using the ‘Browse’ option.
  • It performs fast and efficient recovery as compared to ScanPSt.exe.
  • It provides an easy to use and auto guiding interface to the user so, that he can easily recover the PST file without need of any extra assistance.
Well, this is a check list only. When it comes to actually purchasing a PST repair software you need to analyze a few more things such as: your operating system, Outlook version as well as the systems configuration (processor, RAM, hard disk etc.).
Besides all this, you must also assure that some additional support or technical help will be offered to you, if any problem arises while using that particular software.

So, before choosing some software make a wise analysis, run the Demo version. If the Output of the Demo version appears to be satisfactory then, you can go ahead for the full version purchase.
Tuesday 5 March 2013
3/05/2013 10:03:00 pm 0

What to do if Inbox Repair tool fails to repair the corrupt PST?

PST files are of vital importance to an Outlook user. Any kind of corruption to the PST file will hamper the proper functioning of Outlook client. So, technical experts always advise to take regular backups of PST file. In case of any data loss, the data can be imported from the backup files.

The most panicking situation arises for the user, when he doesn’t have any backup copy and have lost access to the PST file data due to corruption. Luckily, Outlook has provided free inbuilt tools to repair the corrupt PST. You can easily repair the corrupt PST file with the help of Inbox Repair tool (Scanpst.exe). But sometimes, this tool fails to repair the corrupt PST files due to several limitations and it may also prompt some error messages indicating the failure of the PST repair.

Some situations in which Inbox repair tool fails to repair corrupt PST:
  • It cannot repair the PST file that is 2 GB or exceeds the 2GB limit).
  • It cannot resole the Outlook error message: Unknown error “80040801”.
  • It can only resolve minor corruption such as PST files Header corruption related issues.
  • It fails to repair the PST file if the corruption level is severe.
  • You cannot recover the accidentally or intentionally deleted Outlook emails
  • It fails to recover encrypted or password protected PST files
  • Or if you have forgot the login information for the PST file, Inbox Repair tool can’t help you to repair the corrupt PST file
  • Sometimes, it may take a long time to repair the corrupt PST file.
  • Sometimes it fails to detect the corruption issue after scan but the Outlook still complains.
When Inbox repair tool fails to repair the corrupt PST file then, You may face any of the following errors:
  • The Inbox Repair Tool does not recognize the file xxxx.pst...
  • An unexpected error prevented access to this file. Use ScanDisk to check the disk for errors, and then try using the Inbox Repair tool again.
  • Inbox Repair Tool (Scanpst.exe) hangs endlessly and does not perform the repair.
  • The PST file fixed by Inbox Repair Tool (Scanpst) is empty or does not contain the wanted items.
  • Sometimes the Inbox Repair Tool fails due to some internal system error. In such situation you will get the error message:
“Internal errors were found in this file. They must be repaired for this  file to work correctly”.
  • When you try to open a PST file more than 2 GB (MS Outlook 2002 and previous versions) you may face the error message: “Properties for this information service must be defined prior to use” 
If you try to fix this PST issue using Inbox Repair Tool then, it will fail and gives the error:
“An error has occurred which caused the scan to be stopped. No changes have been made to the scanned file.”
  • Other common error message indicating the failure of Inbox Repair Tool are: 
    • PST can't be accessed
    • Unknown error 0x8004018 has occurred
    • Client error: 0x80040600 has occurred
    • Not able to find.PST file
    • File path cannot be found
Though, Inbox repair tool is a great utility but the user is helpless if it can’t recover the file.

If Inbox repair fails to repair the corrupt PST then, user need to find some alternative “PST repair software”.

There a lot of PST repair software available online along with Demo version. Different PST repair software varies from each other in price as well as the offered feature-set. In such situation, the user needs to make a wise choice and find the best one that suits his needs as well as budget.

3/05/2013 01:15:00 am 1

What is .MBOX file format?

Email is the most efficient source of communication among business organizations for inside and outside communication both. As the business needs are increasing, various kind of Email clients are coming into existence .Each email client uses some specific file format for storing their mail database.

You might have heard of the file format .MBOX. This file format is used by many of the Email clients (such as Thunderbird, Entourage & Eudora etc.) for storing and organizing mails. 

MBOX format:
MBOX is a plain text file which contains the email as 7-bit ASCII text and the rest things such as attachments are stored in encoded format.

In MBOX format all mail messages are concatenated and stored in a single plain text file.
The beginning of each message is indicated by "From_" i.e. “From” followed by a white space character. The finish of each message is indicated by with a blank line appended at the end.

MBOX family:
The MBOX family contains several modified formats.
The four popular variants of MBOX format are:
mboxo, mboxrd, mboxcl, and mboxcl2.
  • mboxo:It is a variation of the original Mbox format in which the constant string "???@???" is used in place of sender's e-mail address.
Eudora is one of the popular email clients using mboxo format. In this case the messages are not saved intact as they were received as the attachments in the messages are separated and kept in a folder separately as individual files.
  • Mboxrd: It is a variation of mboxo mailbox format. The starting of a message is indicated by a "From” string at the beginning of a line in either the header or the body of a message.
The popular among the mboxrd using email clients are “qmail” and other Mozilla family of MUAs such as Netscape, Mozilla & Thunderbird, etc
  • mboxcl: mboxcl and mboxcl2 mailbox formats were used by Unix 'System V' mailboxes.
When a new mail needs to be appended to the "mboxcl" mailbox file, it is transformed before appending to the file. The mail message has a single '>' character pre appended to any line of the message, in either the header or the body, that begins with the five characters 'F', 'r', 'o', 'm'.

For locating the start of the message From_ line scanning is not used, instead of it the mboxcl uses a Content-Length: header. It denotes the length of the message body, after transformation, in octets. That helps in locating the start and end of a message.
  • mboxcl2:"mboxcl2" mailbox format is similar to mboxcl. It does not use any “From quoting", it also uses Content-Length: header for denoting he start and end of a message. In case of mboxcl2 no transformation is done before a message is being appended to an mboxcl2 mailbox file.
Default Location of MBOX File Format:
The MBOX files can be found at the default location:
“/User/Library/Mail/Mailboxes/ directory”
However, this location may differ from client to client.

MBOX supporting clients: The common MBOX using clients are: Thunderbird, Entourage, AppleMail, Eudora, Mulberry, SeaMonkey, Spicebird, Pocomail, Netscape, Mozillamail, Evolution, Sylpheed, Cone, Mutt, Gnu Mail, ClawsMail, OperaMail etc. To know more MBOX supporting clients visit: http://mahogany.sourceforge.net/clients.html

While working with a particular Email client, many situations may arrive when you need to use the Email files from one email client into another email client. First thing you will do is trying to import the mailbox file from one Email client to another Email client with the help of its Import wizard. But all mailbox file formats are not inter-operable and compatible with all Email clients.

Consider a situation when you need to use the MBOX file into Outlook. How will you accomplish the migration task? Quite obvious, you will search for some method to import the MBOX file into Outlook. But Outlook doesn’t support MBOX mailbox format. So, you need to convert the MBOX file to PST format that is supported by Outlook. For converting the MBOX to PST format, you require some MBOX to PST converter software can find online.

PS: Any online software purchase to convert MBOX files to PST is the matter of choice, we advise you to read the company performance and software specification before buying any software.