Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Recover lost data by simply performing the OST to PST conversion


Presence of corruption in OST file may occur due to various reasons. Whatever may be the reason? Corruption of Outlook OST file is a serious concern which no one can ignore as it can pose major issues later on. The major problem that occurs after corruption of Outlook OST file is inaccessibility of OST data. OST file contains data of objects, such as contacts, e-mail messages, attachments, appointments, tasks, notes, journal, events, etc. Important e-mail operations cannot be carried out at the same time. These all are the difficulties that directly result after OST file corruption. Still, there is no need to be hopeless. Today, several third party tools are available in the market that are enough capable to perform OST to PST conversion. These tools have been specially designed to perform conversion of OST data into PST.

Below stated are some symptoms that are observed when synchronization of Outlook OST file cannot be carried out easily with Exchange Server:

  • Appearance of several error messages at a time when Outlook OST file in Outlook is synchronized with your mailbox on a server that is executing MS-Exchange Server.
  • Absence of some Outlook items, such as e-mail messages, appointment, contacts, tasks, journal, events, notes, posted items and documents from Outlook OST file or from the mailbox once a synchronization of OST file and mailbox is made.

Cause:
Reason behind the occurrence of above mentioned symptoms is a corruption of Outlook OST file. Some other issues related to synchronization of OST file is also the result of OST corruption.

Solution:
For solving the above stated problematic situation, you have to follow the below stated measures. These measures include:

  • Use of Scanost.exe tool: Outlook versions like Outlook 2003 and 2007 make use of an OST Integrity Check tool to verify the inconsistencies contained in Outlook OST file. But, Outlook 2010 does not provide any tool to solve errors or inconsistencies in Outlook OST file as of earlier versions. However, if there is an issue with a specific folder, then it is suggested to resync the folder in MS- Outlook 2010. Below stated are the steps:

    1. Select Properties by doing a right click on the folder.
    2. Select Clear Offline items, and then select OK.
    3. Select the Send/Receive tab on the Outlook 2010 ribbon.
    4. Select Update Folder.

However, if the problem still remains the same, then it is good to opt for a third party OST PST converter tool. Yes, number of third party software are easily available online. The best thing is that a facility of a free demo version of the software is available on Internet. You just have to download a demo version of the software. Demo versions help you to evaluate the features of the product easily.

One such tool is Stellar Phoenix Mailbox Exchange Desktop that is specially designed to convert OST to PST. Once OST PST conversion takes place by this tool, data of Outlook OST file can be read into PST format of Microsoft Outlook. Developed with an interactive user interface, the tool is easy to operate. There is no need to have a sound technical knowledge for using this tool.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Bid adieu to the crunch of OST file corruption with OST to PST Converter


Microsoft Exchange Servers efficaciously handle business emails and are put into service in various corporate sectors. Professional users are cognizant about the fact that Exchange Servers are not free from faults. By the same token, some users would require to access their mailboxes and data from multiple devices and locations. It is not expedient that accessibility to Exchange Server can be maintained every time, everywhere.

As a resolve, Microsoft offered Exchange users a perk to work on their emails and Outlook items even in the absence of connectivity with the Exchange Server. OST files are Offline Storage Table files that are the clones of an Exchange user mailbox and are stored on the local machine. Whatever changes are made to the user mailbox or emails in the OST file get updated on the Exchange Server mailbox by synchronizing the .ost files with the server.

OST Corruption

Though, it does seem like a piece of cake to work both on-line and off-line on MS Outlook without the shackles of device or location dependency, there is a flip side to the coin as well. The OST files succumb to corruption owing to multifarious reasons like:

  • Hardware failure (disk crash)
  • Power failure (dirty shutdown)
  • Abnormal Outlook termination
  • Virus attack or Trojan malfunction
  • Errors during synchronization

Resolution

These factors forestall the automatic synchronization of Outlook OST file with the MS Exchange Server. Such a situation of .ost file corruption calls for OST repair using Microsoft in-built utility 'Scanost.exe'. This utility is apt at repairing the .ost file in major cases of corruption; however, Scanost sometimes begets a situation of data loss, as it completely restructures the OST file and removes the items it fails to recognize. Therefore, it is admonished to keep a backup copy of the original OST file before running any utility to repair it.

As Scanost falls short to repair the OST file at times of severe corruption, a third party tool to convert OST to PST becomes imperative. Copious OST to PST Converter tools are available in the market that successfully recovers all the vital data from the corrupt OST files. Veracious third party software for OST to PST Conversion is “Stellar Phoenix OST to PST Converter”.

A staunch solution for OST corruption, this tool restores the original RTF and HTML formatting of messages. Prior to recovery, this software offers a preview of the user mailbox and items in a tree-view format. The newly created PST file can be imported into Outlook to regain access to the user mailbox and data. Crafted on the grounds of efficiency and user-friendliness, this software uses advanced mechanisms to recover data and supports MS Outlook 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002 and 2000.  

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

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.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Start trusting on a third party tool for successful conversion of OST file


It is a true fact that without a proper Internet connection with Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Outlook OST file cannot be synchronized. But, in many cases due to various reasons like, down Exchange Server, OST file corruption etc. synchronization of Outlook OST file cannot be carried out. Non-synchronization of Outlook OST file may result into hectic situations. The worst thing is that non-synchronization leads to inaccessibility of data. Well, inaccessible data can easily be restored from a backup. In the absence of backup also, there is no need to worry. A third party OST to PST converter tool is a best option to use in such a pathetic situation.

For better understanding of the above issue, let us study this issue in detail. A friend of mine has a laptop with her. In that laptop, Outlook OST files are there. Laptop when used in office gets connected to Exchange. But, she is not aware about the fact that without the connection with Exchange, OST files cannot be used. She was quite disturbed after knowing that she has Outlook OST files but she cannot use the data contained within them without the synchronization of OST with MS Exchange Server.

The only way left with her to get out of this situation is through recovering the Outlook OST files. After the recovery of Outlook OST files, she has an option to convert OST to PST through third party tools. Ample of third party tools are available in the market that can perform the conversion of Outlook OST file within a small fraction of time.

Through Internet, she came to know about Stellar Phoenix OST to PST Converter tool. This third party tool is fully capable of converting an Outlook OST file into a usable PST file. After conversion, data of Outlook OST file, such as contacts, attachments, appointments, calendar-entries, tasks, events, are recovered within a short period of time. Developed with an interactive user interface, the tool is easy to understand. A well described user manual and installation guide come along with the software that help to perform successful OST to PST conversion.