In order to increase the performance of the MS Outlook and get rid of the sluggish behaviour of the Outlook, the PST file that is used to store the all the Outlook data should not be corrupted. When the PST file gets corrupt it takes more time to download the attachments and access the data inside the PST file. The size of the mail server can be reduced by transferring the emails to the PST file. This helps to free the storage space of the mail server. The large PST file can be split into independent files in order to reduce the chances from exceeding maximum size limit of the PST file. See that the content is distributed evenly into small folders.
The error that is displayed when the PST file is corrupted is “Cannot start Microsoft Outlook, Cannot open Outlook Window”. The set of folders cannot be opened. Errors have been detected in the file. C:\…. Outlook PST”. In addition to this, other error messages are also displayed like “Errors have been detected in the file <path>” and “The file <Path> is not an Outlook data file (PST)”. The fore most work to be done when you think the Outlook is processing slowly and PST file becomes inaccessible is to search for the inbuilt tool that is provided by default with Outlook. Inbox repair tool (scanpst.exe) is used to repair the corrupt PST file. Inbox repair tool error arises when it fails to repair severely corrupted files.
When you find the tool, it prompts for the location of the corrupt PST file to scan. You can find the PST file path through the Mail Applet in Control Panel. This is the other way to find the PST file. Go to the Mail Applet in Control Panel, then click data files button. If you are using multiple profiles and the scan should be done on the PST file which is not your default profile then search for your profile by pressing show profiles. First analysis is done by the tool. The procedure continues in eight phases. After analysis scan is completed, a window will be appeared with scanning report. You have an option to view the type of the corruption by pressing Details button. Then click repair button to proceed with the actual repair of the PST file. The time taken by the inbuilt tool actually depends upon the size of the PST file. When everything goes correct then the dialog box appears as “Repair complete”.
If the tool is unable to repair corrupt PST file, third party utility comes into picture. I suggest using Remo Repair Outlook (PST) that helps to recover deleted or lost data from the corrupt PST file and is more advanced than the scanpst.exe. This software helps to repair the corrupt PST file when inbox repair tool (scanpst.exe) fails. Just download and install the demo version of the software on your system. It repairs the severely corrupted PST file and retrieves the Outlook data from the PST file. You can preview the recovered data and estimate the recovery chances. Once satisfied with the obtained results, activate the full version of the software.