OST to PST Converter- Resolve for OST file corruption

It happens often that the MS Outlook users loose connection with the Exchange Server. Several times users need to work from client side, from home or out of office. This is where they loose connectivity with the MS Exchange Server. But their work never halts.

That is the beauty of Outlook OST file that allows its users to work in the offline mode, ie, in the absence of Microsoft Exchange. Outlook OST file privileges the users to work on their user mailbox items in a non Exchange environment.

However, there are many chances of OST file corruption that will make all the data unusable. The OST file once corrupted will not synchronize with the Exchange Server and the data stored in the file will remain inaccessible. A number of error messages are encountered by the Outlook users when their OST file gets corrupt. No matter how many attempts they make to access the file, the same error message will flash on the screen.

Once corrupted, the OST file in question needs to be repaired using Outlook OST Recovery measures. Microsoft has provided a free inbuilt utility Scanost.exe that can scan and fix the OST file when it becomes corrupt. Common causes of OST file corruption are virus attack, synchronization error, hardware or software malfunction, abrupt Outlook termination, power outage and more.

Though some of the known factors behind Outlook OST corruption can be avoided, but there are several other known factors that can render your OST file corrupt and beyond usage. Scanost.exe ca help in Outlook OST Recovery by repairing the corrupt or damaged OST file. But, there is a catch.

Scanost deleted the corrupted data from the OST file and rebuilds it. This creates a huge possibility of vital data loss, such as important emails or contacts. Moreover, Scanost is not able to recover data when the degree of corruption is quite high. At times like this, third party OST to PST Converter tools can help recover all the user mailbox data from the corrupt OST file.

A reliable utility is “OST to PST Converter”. The software can recover all the emails, contacts, calendar entries, notes, attachments, appointments, tasks and journals from the corrupt or damaged OST file and creates a new usable PST file at a user specified location. This adroit utility supports MS Outlook 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002 and 2000. The software preserves the data formatting while conversion. The log report of the entire process is generated and can be used for future reference.

The finest techniques to effortlessly extract data from unusable or orphaned Offline Folders file

Offline Folders (OST) file plays a pivotal role when working in an Exchange environment integrated with MS Outlook. An OST file is automatically created when you work in the MS Outlook offline mode. This file is saved as a local file in your system and contains a backup of all the Exchange mailbox data. They are beneficial in Exchange downtime situations when you do not have access to your mailbox on the server. All changes made to the OST file while working offline are synchronized when you connect to the Exchange server. However, if the Exchange administrator accidentally deletes your mailbox on the server, then the OST file will become orphaned. In such circumstances, you can easily get back all your lost data by performing reliable Outlook OST to PST conversion.

Besides deletion of user mailbox, there are a plethora of reasons that bring forth the need to convert Outlook OST to PST. You may occasionally run across various mailbox corruption cases that could make all your Exchange data inaccessible. This may happen due to several factors, such as virus attacks, upgrading from old to new server, rebuilding information stores in Exchange server, unexpected server shutdowns, software malfunctioning or hardware failures. The OST files act as a replica of your mailbox and help you regain access to your inaccessible information in the event of such disasters. You can convert Outlook OST to PST and import that PST back into your Exchange server information stores.

MS Outlook has a provision to copy emails in your OST file to a PST file. To do this, you need to start the application in offline mode and add a service named ‘Personal Folders (PST)’. After adding this service, select the emails that you need to copy and click ‘Copy’ on the ‘File’ menu. In the ‘Copy Items’ dialog box, specify the Personal Folders that you created recently. You need to repeat the process for copying emails in each mail folder. Finally, you can import these copied messages to a new server-based mailbox.

Another method that appears to be more safe and reliable is to use advanced OST2PST Converter tools. These third-party software can effectively extract data from orphaned OST files and restore it to an equivalent Outlook PST. They can easily convert all OST objects, including emails, calendar entries, contacts, notes, attachments, journals, etc. Moreover, they have support for all the latest Outlook versions, i.e. MS Outlook 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002, and 2000.