NOT a Guru!
Keeping it simple, without the hype. PC tips and Internet advice for mom and pop businesses.
Keeping it simple, without the hype. PC tips and Internet advice for mom and pop businesses.
If you are using Microsoft Outlook as your email client and it crashes, Microsoft has a repair tool that might help you out. For instance, your program might not open at all or your might get a message that the program is corrupted.
Step One – Prep Work.
The repair tool is going to ask for the location of your PST files. By default, the repair kit will open to the location — but you won’t see the files unless you have enabled your computer to view hidden folders. Back in September, I wrote about this. Visit that page (it will open in a new window for your convenience) to see how it’s done. There are screen shots that should help you out.
To be on the safe side, you might want to search your hard drive so you know where the .pst files are located. To run your search, open your search tool and look for *.pst. The asterisk represents a wildcard, so be sure to put that in your search query. You can see how to conduct a search of your hard drive here (the link opens in a new window).
Generally, your Microsoft email data files will be located at the following path:
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\Microsoft\Outlook
The following screen shot shows what the contents of your Microsoft Outlook’s data file looks like.
Step Two: Run Your Repair Tool.
As part of your Microsoft operating system package, you are given a tool called “scanpst.exe” which will repair your email folders. Find the program on your hard drive by typing *.exe (with the asterisk and box) in your computer’s search tool. The program will look like this:
You might want to make this program quickly accessible by right clicking on the icon and then sending it to your desktop.
Click the program and it will ask you what files you want to repair.
You will want to click BROWSE and select your .pst file for your inbox. Generally, the program will open to the location of your .pst files by default. If not, you will need to browse through your hard drive. You will not see these files if you did not enable the “hidden files view” discussed above.
If I were to run scanpst.exe, I would select the Outlook file above. Once you have selected your .pst file, follow the prompts and the repair tool will get to work. If you have a lot of email in your .pst file, it could possible take up to an hour or more for the repair tool to fix the errors. For most computer users, however, the repair tool should only take a few minutes.
Alternative to Microsoft Outlook.
If you are constantly having trouble with your Outlook email program, consider using Thunderbird, which has just as many features and perhaps a better spam filter. Thunderbird is free. Because of Outlook’s database space limitations, I switched to Thunderbird and have been very pleased with the program, which seems to use considerably less system resources and works like a charm.
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