Office 2016 problems

dasadler
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Office 2016 problems

Post by dasadler »

My Outlook 2016 is unable to open my outlook.pst file. That is a file that needs a lot of work to reduce since it is 11Gb in size. Fortunately, I have been able to still open and use Outlook 2007.

I tried to run the scanpst.exe but I get an error message as seen below. Problem is... Outlook is not open. I did a restart of the computer and tried to execute scanpst.exe with nothing else open and I still receive this error. Any ideas on how I can convince scanpast.exe that the pst file is not use by another application?
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Don

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HansV
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Re: Office 2016 problems

Post by HansV »

Does the problem persist if you run Scanpst.exe after restarting Windows?
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dasadler
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Re: Office 2016 problems

Post by dasadler »

Well, I did a restart of my computer... I presume that is the same as restarting windows. Or, should I shut down for a couple of minutes then boot?
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HansV
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Re: Office 2016 problems

Post by HansV »

Restart should be OK, but I gather it didn't help.
Can you see if Outlook.exe is running in the Processes tab of Task Manager?
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dasadler
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Re: Office 2016 problems

Post by dasadler »

Good call on the Task Manager - while Outlook was not running, I did find a Copernic Desktop Search Outlook connection process. I ended the process and scanpst.exe did launch correctly.

Now, when that is done - what is the best way to reduce that file size?
Don

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HansV
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Re: Office 2016 problems

Post by HansV »

Create new .pst files and move items from the large .pst file to the new ones. You can organize it the way you want - by year, or by subject, or by sender - whatever.
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dasadler
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Re: Office 2016 problems

Post by dasadler »

That sounds good in principle... how would I actually do that? I have never heard of that being done. Sounds similar to using two instances of file explorer to move files between folders. I doubt it is that simple. I think I will start by deleting a lot of items I do not want.
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HansV
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Re: Office 2016 problems

Post by HansV »

You can open multiple .pst files in Outlook, and you can drag individual items, or entire folders, from one .pst file to another.
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dasadler
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Re: Office 2016 problems

Post by dasadler »

I need to learn more about PST files - since I am no longer able to speak, I dare not risk messing up my only means of communication until I am sure of what I am doing. I understood outlook.pst to be the file where all email, notes, contacts, and calendar items were stored. I have no concept of how multiple PSTs would/could be used.

Thanks Hans, I will look into it.
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HansV
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Re: Office 2016 problems

Post by HansV »

See for example How-To Create a .PST Using Outlook 2003 or Outlook 2007 for illustrated instructions.
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dasadler
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Re: Office 2016 problems

Post by dasadler »

Thanks a lot Hans.
Don