Usage of an effective measure to access data from a corrupt Outlook OST file

As, I was aware about the true fact that Microsoft Outlook is the only application that allows to access Outlook data

even in the absence of Internet connectivity. This is the reason I have installed a Microsoft Outlook in my laptop.

I am in field work, so I have to go on tours regularly. This is another reason why I have chosen an Outlook messaging application as my e-mail client. Many times it happens that while traveling, a problem of unreliable Internet connectivity arises. So, such kind of problematic situation can be handled easily where I cannot access my Outlook e-mails properly due to unreliable Internet connectivity through the use of an Outlook OST file. OST file is an Outlook data file that permits user to access Outlook data even if the Internet connectivity is no more. However, OST file is also prone to corruption. Before going to find a solution, let us discuss an error message that I have recently faced while using Microsoft Outlook:

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

Appearance of this error message has disturbed me a lot. All the data saved in the Outlook OST file became inaccessible. However, I tried to find out the cause and solution for it. Cause came out to be the corruption of Outlook data OST file. In order to get rid of OST corruption, I ran ‘Scanost.exe’ utility to get data of an OST file back, but not found any results. Data contained in Outlook OST file was precious to me as all my business related e-mails are there. Losing all those e-mails could fall me into serious problems. So, I started searching over the Internet and came to know about some third party tools. But, for making use of any of such tool, I have to pay money. Irrespective of this true fact, I prepared myself to invest for a third party tool because I was in a great need to recover all my lost data.

Through Internet, I came to know that in market, there are plenty of specialized software available in the market that repair OST file instantly. Moreover, such tools convert OST to PST as well. These third party software recover all the inaccessible data of OST file objects, such as contacts, attachments, appointments, tasks, journal, events, etc. Thus, after knowing about third party tools now my search started for a reliable third party OST to PST converter tool. After doing research for long, I found Stellar Phoenix Mailbox Exchange Desktop software. I found that this tool has numerous satisfied users.

Even after studying about this tool on Internet, firstly I used a demo version of the software. I was amazed after seeing its remarkable performance. I was glad, that in just a small amount of time the tool has performed OST PST conversion and recovered all the data from the corrupt OST file. But, in demo version, I was unable to save the recovered items. After complete satisfaction, I have purchased a full version of the software and recovered all my lost data from the OST file.

Want to access your orphaned OST files? Convert OST to PST

When you try to access Exchange server 2000 or 2003 mailbox through MS Outlook e-mail client application, you fail to log on to Exchange server database and one of the following error messages appears on your screen:

“Unable to display the folder. Microsoft Office Outlook could not access the specified folder location. The operation failed.”

The above mentioned error occurs in the Active Directory directory service when the Create named properties in the Information Store permission is not assigned to the Everyone group to the CN=Configuration, DC=Domain, DC=com, CN=Services, CN=Microsoft Exchange, CN=Organization object. A second possibility could be the corruption in .ost file or Outlook has some synchronization problem with Microsoft Exchange Server.

First, let us go back and find out more about Exchange Servers and OST files.

In a corporate environment, MS Exchange Servers are deployed as an efficacious means to manage business communication through emails. In the absence of Exchange Servers, MS Outlook users work on their mailboxes using OST files. The .ost files are exact replicas of their Exchange Server mailboxes. Whenever, the connection to the MS Exchange Server is re-established, the OST files synchronize with the user mailboxes on the server and all the changes are reflected in the current mailboxes.

But what happens when the same OST file fails to synchronize with the Exchange Server? The user mailbox data and all the changes made to it are rendered inaccessible for future use. When the user mailbox becomes permanently unavailable, the OST file becomes orphaned.

Causes of OST file corruption

OST files become orphaned/corrupt pertaining to multitudinous factors, namely:

• Network connection failure
• Abrupt system shutdown due to power failure (dirty shutdown)
• Bad sectors on the hard disk
• Errors during synchronization
• A virus attack

Both these hardware and software reasons forfend the automatic synchronization of OST files with MS Exchange Server. Outlook users are often left gaping helplessly due to loss of paramount data when the OST files are corrupted.

The silver lining in such a situation, is the recovey of all the user data from the OST file in a usable form. Liberating the vital emails and user mailbox data from corrupt/orphaned OST files is a third party OST to PST Conversion software. This is the best solution to convert .ost file to .pst and regain access to all the valuable data that is left on the OST file.

The internet is jam-packed with teeming OST to PST Converter tools, that recover emails, attachments, drafts, contacts and journal entries etc. from the OST file in the form of a usable PST file that can be easily imported into Outlook.

A veracious OST to PST conversion utility is “Stellar Phoenix OST to PST Converter”. This software is a top-notch, power packed solution that successfully converts .ost files into .pst. This tool allows to perform selective recovery and the demo version offers a preview of the user mailbox and it components before the actual recovery. Exhibiting a vast array of compatibility, this software supports MS Outlook 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002 and 2000.  

Convert OST to PST to Recover Corrupt OST file

Corruption can be classified in two ways. One is physical and the second one is logical. Logical corruption of files (which are used by software application) occurs because of numerous reasons. These reasons include malicious virus, unexpected system shutdown, operating system failure, and many other reasons. Same is the case with Outlook OST file, which is highly prone to corruption. If the file is logically corrupt, then the reason responsible will be same as those mentioned above. But there is no need to worry, corrupt OST file can be repaired easily by applying a number of repair methods. In order to get better results, it is better to opt for a third party OST to PST converter. These are specialized tools that convert OST to PST in an effective manner.

To exemplify the above issue, let's consider a practical example. Suppose, when you try to open an OST file, Outlook OST file cannot be opened and you receive an error message that appears similar to the following one:

"Event Type: Information Event Source: Outlook Event Category: None Event ID: 30 Date: 5/10/2008 Time: 8:33:44 AM User: N/A Computer: SBS-Computer Description: The store C:\Documents and Settings\user.domain\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\outlook.ost is being reconciled with the indexer for the following reason: Non-matching max change numbers.”

Data of the mail-objects cannot be accessed from an Outlook OST file. Same error message is seen every time you try to access data of Outlook OST file. Situation of data loss occurs.

Cause:
The one and only cause for the occurrence of the above error message is the corruption of OST (Offline Storage) file.

Resolution:

To solve above error message, you have to repair OST file. OST file can be repaired with the help of a OST Integrity Check tool. The tool checks the OST file and repairs it if it is corrupted logically. But if the file is badly damaged, the tool simply refuses to repair it. In such cases, if you really need to convert OST to PST manually. For this, the best possible solution is using third-party OST 2 PST converter tool. These tools convert OST with much ease and in a few mouse clicks. After using these tools, you will be able to access data of the OST file. All the mail-objects, such as contacts, attachments, appointments, tasks, journal, events, and more can be easily recovered.

OST PST Converter is a self-explanatory tool used to convert OST to PST and retrieve all the OST components. The tool performs advance scan if normal scan is unable to recover OST file. It restores the RTF and HTML formatting. It restores the OST file as a PST on any disk that can be detected by a host operating system. The tool recovers OST file of Microsoft Outlook 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002 and 2000.

How to Recover Deleted Emails or objects from Exchange Mailbox

If you intentionally or by mistake delete an email or other object from the Exchange user mailbox and later you realized that the deleted email or object is of your use. You can simply restore that from the Deleted Items folder.

But in case if you or the system administrator use permanent delete (Shift+Del) option to delete the same from the mailbox. In this case deleted email or object can not be restored from the Deleted Items folder.

That doesn't means that there is no way to retrieve the deleted mail. You still have the Outlook.ost file that is stored on your local system. OST file is replica of the Exchange Mailbox that is used by MS Outlook to facilitate the users to work in offline mode. OST file contains all the data of your Exchange mailbox at the time of last synchronization.

The big question arises here is, How to access the OST file? As ost file directly can not be accessed with MS Outlook. To access the OST file it has to be converted into PST file. Third party OST to PST conversion softwares are available to convert OST to PST file.


OST to PST Converter is an efficient, affordable and easy to use utility to convert OST file to PST file. Software supports MS Outlook 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002, 2000 and is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2003. Stellar ost pst tool is able to convert encrypted or password protected OST to PST file. Demo version of the software is also available to evaluate the efficiency and ease of use of the tool.

Solve issues of Outlook and Exchange 2010 mailboxes because of RPC connection

Those who work in a collaborative messaging environment of Exchange server, quite often suffer problems related to synchronization. OST files of the Microsoft Outlook application cannot be synchronized with MS-Exchange server. In Cached Exchange mode, a backup of Exchange mailbox is stored locally as an OST file. Sometimes, it happens that the OST file annoys while an attempt is made to convert it into a PST file. In such a situation, you need to convert OST file into the data of PST file manually. This is necessary for updating the content of the OST file and Exchange server mailbox. Convert OST to PST data with the help of a third party ost to pst converter tool.

“Outlook could not log on. Check to make sure you are connected to the network and are using the proper server and mailbox name. The connection to the Microsoft Exchange Server is unavailable. Outlook must be online or connected to complete this action.”

Or

“The name could not be resolved. The connection to the Microsoft Exchange Server is unavailable. Outlook must be online or connected to complete this action.”

It is not necessary that error occurs only when Exchange server is not working correctly. When above error message is received Exchange server is finely working. Above error message makes you unable to perform OST to PST conversion.

Cause:

Reasons responsible for the occurrence of above error message are as follows:

• Above error message is received because RPC encryption is required by default Exchange server 2010 RTM configuration whereas RPC encryption is not used by MS-Outlook 2003.
• When MS-Office Outlook 2007 is used and you disable the Encrypt data between Microsoft Office Outlook and Microsoft Exchange setting of profile.
• Unusable or orphaned OST file.

Resolution:

To resolve above error message you need to do below steps:

• Update the existing profiles of Outlook 2003 for RPC encryption using customized .prf file.
• Manually make your Outlook profile with RPC encryption.
• Make sure that encryption requirement on all CAS servers are disabled.
• Apply Group Policy setting for updating the existing profiles of Outlook with RPC encryption.

The above statements should help resolve the problem. However, if it remains unresolved, then probably the OST is orphaned or unusable. And, you will need to use highly-advanced conversion algorithms to effectively convert the unusable OST file to usable PST file. For this, you may use the conversion tools that are available in the market. They offer easy ost pst conversion, and feature a self-descriptive and rich graphical user interface. Such tools do not overwrite, modify, or re-index the original contents of OST file.