Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Got an orphaned OST file? Try OST to PST Converter Tool

I have been a regular Outlook user and my company deploys MS Exchange Server for managing our business communication via emails. Over the period of a few initial months I never really understood the technology behind MS Outlook and Exchange Server, as it was not part of my job. I am just a regular guy with a regular, non-technical business profile.

However, that all changed one day when my Outlook OST file became orphaned. Just a day before there had been a lightning strike close at hand which caused a serious hardware failure with our Exchange Server. In order to restore everything, a new server was built. This is where the problem creeped up.

Our administrator created similar usernames as per the previous profiles. Though the sole intention was to keep it as simple as possible so that users don't actually face a problem when they work with the new server, it actually created a serious problem for me.

When I tried to logon to the new server with my old username, my OST file became orphaned as for the Exchange I was a totally different user having a different SID. This threw me in complete panic. I had tons of critical emails, important contacts and all my appointments that I had lost access of.

This brought upon a new revelation about the concept of Outlook OST Recovery and the need of OST to PST Converter tools. An OST file can become orphaned if any of these 3 factors get modified or deleted- MAPI profile on client computer, OST file and user mailbox. In other words, when the user mailbox becomes unavailable on the server permanently, the OST file becomes orphaned.

An orphaned OST file signifies loss of valuable data as it becomes unusable. An OST file can only be accessed with the profile that it was created with. To work around this situation, the OST file needs to be converted into an importable PST file.

An OST to PST Converter tool extracts all the user mailbox items such as emails, contacts, notes, tasks, appointments, journals, To-do lists and calendar entries into a new or existing PST file. More so, the data formatting for emails and messages remains intact after the conversion process.

To carry out OST to PST Conversion, third party tools come handy. There is a huge list of reliable OST to PST Converter tools that can recover data from the orphaned OST file into a usable form for almost all major versions of MS Outlook. After a fair research, I went with “Stellar Phoenix OST to PST Converter”. The software worked wonders for me and I got all my data back within a few simple steps. The demo version of the software showed me all the mailbox items that it could actually recover and once I was satisfied, I went ahead and purchased it. Glad to say, it was worth the money.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Exchange OST Recovery when confronted with error “Exchange is currently in recovery mode”

Exchange OST files are highly popular in the global business enterprises. Not only do they facilitate a collaborative working environment through emails but also provision for accessibility of Exchange user mailbox data in the absence of connectivity with the Exchange Server.

A burning problem that Exchange users often encounter when trying to establish a connection with the server is:

Exchange is currently in recovery mode.”

This error can be the result of two factors. One is that Cached Exchange Mode is enabled and running. Secondly, the user mailbox has been moved to a different Exchange Server.

Resolve:

To resolve the error the following steps need to be followed:

1.Disable Cached Exchange Mode

To do this go to Tools menu, Click Email Accounts-> View or change exisiting Email Accounts-> Next. From Outlook processes email for these accounts in the following order list, choose Change. Under Microsoft Exchange Server disable Use Cached Exchange Mode option. Restart Outlook.

If in case, the user mailbox has moved onto a different organization or Server, Exchange OST Recovery is possible by creating a new Outlook profile. After the change of organization if you try to connect with Microsoft Exchange Server, the OST file will become inaccessible as the signature of OST file will not match with the Exchange database. The solution is to create a new Outlook profile.

2.Creating a new Outlook Profile

Go to Control Panel-> User Accounts-> Mail. Click Show Profile and select Add. Type the name of the profile to be created and click Ok. Follow the instruction and complete the process.

To recover previous data one needs to perform Exchange OST Recovery through the use of third party tools. These commercial OST Recovery software can recover all the important emails, attachments, notes, tasks, contacts and calendar entries from the OST file by converting it to usable PST.

Stellar Phoenix OST to PST Converter” is one such powerful tool. This adroit Exchange OST Recovery tool supports MS Outlook 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002 and 2000. The demo version of the software is available for free download and shows a clear preview of the recoverable items. This utility is completely read only in nature and preserves the original data formatting of messages.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

How to Safely Move Your OST File data to a PST File using reliable OST To PST Converters

MS Exchange Server is widely incorporated in organizations using Microsoft infrastructure. It is a messaging platform that facilitates quick and easy transfer of emails and other information to the users within the organization. Data is stored on the server in the form of user mailboxes and the messages sent by the server are received in the Personal Folders (PST) file on the client side. Another useful file created in MS Outlook is the Offline Folders (OST) file. This file can be assumed as a backup copy of your mailbox on the Exchange Server. It provides offline access to your Exchange data and can be synchronized with the server to reflect changes done to the file in the user mailbox.

In order to access an OST file, you need an Exchange mailbox account. However, you may occasionally run across situations when the OST file becomes unusable. This happens more often due to deletion or removal of user mailbox on the Exchange Server. If the mailbox gets deleted, the corresponding OST file saved locally on the user's computer becomes orphaned. Thus, you might face critical loss of business information. In yet other situations, the OST file may fail to synchronize with the Exchange Server due to corruption in the file or the mailbox on server. OST file corruption may stem from different factors like oversizing of OST (crossing 2GB size limit), malware, hardware issues, application errors, etc. To work around such problems, you should first convert OST to PST, create a new Exchange account, and then import your Personal Folders file with account settings to the new Exchange account. In the event of corruption, the OST file should be repaired and then converted.

There are a multitude of OST to PST Converter utilities on the market, specifically designed to extract all data from your OST file and restore it to an equivalent Outlook PST. These OST Recovery tools provide you with the best remedy to effectively deal with scenarios leading to OST file inaccessibility. You can easily convert all precious data in your OST without affecting the original folder structure and email formatting.

With these third-party OST to PST Converter tools, you have the option to save each converted emails either as an individual 'EML' or 'MSG' files in your system. You can also save them to a network disk recognized by the host operating system. They enable you to perform complete conversion of your offline data file created in the latest Outlook versions, including MS Outlook 2010, 2007, 2003, and 2002.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Utilities to recover your mails from the OST file, in case of Exchange Server crash

OST or .ost files are related to your MS Outlook application. OST stands for Offline Storage Table file and helps in accessing your mailboxes, even if you are not connected to the Exchange Server. Also in cases of any problem with the Exchange Server database, these OST files are extremely helpful, as you can convert OST to PST and again access your mail account through your Outlook.


MS Outlook is an email client and stores all your mail related transactions, including the emails, contacts, calendar entries, notes, journals etc. in a PST file. Similarly, MS Exchange Server is a server side application that allows you to configure a number of email accounts and provides options to manage them easily. Moreover, the Exchange Server database stores all the mail transactions in it. And that is why it has been a great option for organizations to host their own Exchange Servers rather than relying on third-party mail servers.


Now, discussing the significance of the OST files, when you go offline, your Outlook application makes an exact copy of your mailbox on Exchange Server in your local computer as an OST file. The location of the OST file can be - C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook.


With OST files, you can access your mailboxes, make changes in it and the changes will take effect, when the Outlook will get connected to the Exchange Server. These OST files, not only allow accessing mailboxes in conditions of limited or unreliable networks, but helps in recovering mail items in cases of any trouble. Below are some of the instances, when your locally stored OST files can be immensely helpful in restoring your mail components:

-Mailbox got deleted or migrated from the Exchange Server
-The Exchange Server database has been corrupt
-Exchange Server has been down for long or got crashed
-Damage or modification to the Exchange profile
-The name of the mail server has been changed


In any of the above situations, you can take the help of any OST to PST converter utility and convert the OST file into equivalent PST. This PST file can be easily imported into the Outlook and you will get your mail items back. Among many such available utilities, Stellar Phoenix OST to PST Converter is a reliable OST Recovery tool that works well with all major MS Outlook versions and recovers mail items, without making any change in their original format. Moreover, the process of the OST to PST Converter software is pretty simple and is absolutely easy-to-use, even for the non-technical Outlook users.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Perform OST file recovery for Error [0x80040111-00000000-00000000]

Accessing Microsoft Outlook in the offline mode is a great relief for its users. The OST file so created rests on the local machine and contains all the emails, attachments, notes, calendar enties, journals and tasks created just the way they actually are onto the server.

Corruption in OST file:

Since, the OST file is stored on a user's system (either laptop or desktop), the vulnerabilities that the system is exposed to are also applicable to the user's OST file. Virus attack, data storage device failure, network connection failure, power failure and more such factors play a primo role in the corruption of Outlook OST file.

Once corrupted, the data that resides onto that file including vital emails, appointments and contacts become unusable. A frequent error that is encountered when sending emails is:

“This message could not be sent. Try sending the message again later, or contact your network administrator. Error is [0x80040111-00000000-00000000]”

Cause:

This error results in Oulook 2007 when using cached mode. To resolve the problem follow these steps:

Click on Tools and then choose Email Accounts.
Edit the existing account.
For Exchange users, click on 'More Settings...' button at the bottom.
Save changes and quit Outlook.
Rename the exisiting OST file and remove it.
Restart Outlook.


In major cases this seems to resolve the issue. Outlook OST errors can also result post corruption in the file. An inbuilt OST recovery tool is Inbox Repair Tool (Scanost). Scanost.exe repairs the corrupt or damaged OST file and makes the file usable again. However, there is a catch. Scanost works by completely restructuring the Outlook OST file. This can lead to loss of vaulable data such as important emails or contacts. Moreover, under severe degree of corruption, this utility fails.

When Scanost does not work, OST Recovery is possible by converting OST to PST. To convert OST to PST teeming third party tools are available online. One such indigenous software is OST to PST Converter. This adroit utility succesfully recovers all the user data such as emails, attachments, appointments, contacts, notes, calendar entries and tasks from severly corrupt or orphaned Outlook OST file and creates a new usable PST file. The software is compatible with MS Outlook 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002 and 2000. The demo version of this preeminent tool is available for free download.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Troubleshooting Outlook OST Error 'Errors have been detected In the File Outlook.ost'

For a real time collaborative messaging environment Microsoft Exchange Servers are deployed by end number of business enterprises all over the map. What Exchange administrators realize is that any sort of malfunction or Exchange Server failure can result in downtime that can prove to be disastrous for the organization. Even at the time of maintenance or upgrading the server to a higher version would require the Exchange to be brought down making all the user data inaccessible for the time being.

For a business enterprise it can be critical and lead to a great loss. Fortunately, Exchange OST files (Offline Storage Table) are available that can allow the Exchange users to work in the offline mode and serve as the replicas of user mailboxes stored on the local machine. This makes it possible for the Exchange administrators to bring down the server for maintenance or any other purpose without disabling all the access to the user's mailbox data. Once the Exchange Server is back online, the OST files synchronize with it and whatever work has been done offline gets updated onto the server mailboxes.

A banal error message encountered at the time when the Exchange OST file is accessed is:

“Errors have been detected In the File Outlook.ost”

Once you come across the aforementioned error message you loose access to emails, attachments, appointments, calendar entries, notes, tasks and journals. The appearance of this error clearly means that the Exchange OST file has become corrupt and no matter how many attempts are made to access the file, it would remain futile leading to cardinal data loss.

Resolve:

OST file corruption can result due to multifarious factors such as a virus attack, oversized OST, OS malfunction, hardware and software issues. Whenever a user is struck by the bolt of OST file corruption, the primary resolve turns out to be OST Recovery using the inbuilt utility Inbox Repair Tool (Scanost). Scanost.exe is the free utility by Microsoft that scans and repairs the corrupt OST file by completely restructuring the file and removing all the corrupt or unreadable items. This sometimes removes vital data from the OST file. Additionally, Scanost is not able to repair the OST file under severe cases of corruption.

The best resolve for OST file corruption is to devoir a professional third party OST Recovery Software that can successfully recover all the user data from the severely corrupt or damaged OST by using adavanced scans and mechanisms. One such powerful tool is “OST to PST Converter”. This adroit software recovers user mailbox data such as emails, attachments, calendar, contacts, notes, tasks, To-do lists and journals from the corrupt OST file by Converting OST to PST. The software is built with an interactive interface and comes with a step by step user guide that both regular and savvy Exchange users can operate easily. This preeminent OST Recovery Software is compatible with MS Outlook 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002 and 2000.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Resolving Outlook OST accessibility issues owing to RPC Connectivity

Microsoft Exchange Server creates OST files in the cached mode that are the exact replicas of server mailboxes but are stored on a user's local computer. These OST files need to synchronize with the Exchange Server in order to reflect all the work done in the offline mode on the actual server mailboxes. Sometimes when the OST file is tried to be accessed it returns the following error message:

The name could not be resolved. The Microsoft Exchange address book was unable to logon to the Microsoft Exchange Server computer.

Root of the problem:

The aforestated error is the result of one or more missing/corrupt RPC registry entries. RPCs (Remote Procedure Call) protocol registry keys are deployed by Microsoft Outlook to make calls to the network. RPCs permit users to send calls to many different protocol stacks, the most common one being TCP/IP. If one or more of these registry keys are missing, Outlook fails to establish a connection with the Exchange Server. Moreover, in the absence of required RPC entries Exchange Services are not registered to respond to client requests.

Resolve:

To identify and troubleshoot the RPC issues RPC Dump can be used. The three most essential RPC components required by Outlook to connect successfully are:

1.The endpoint mapper
2.Exchange Information Store service with the Universal Unique Identifier (UUID) of a4f1db00-ca47-1067-b31e-00dd010662da.
3.The Name Service Provider Interface (NSPI) with the UUID of f5cc5a18-4264-101a-8c59-08002b2f8426.


RPC Dump should be run through the following command prompts:

rpcdump.exe /i > rpcdump.txt
rpcdump.exe /p > rpcdump.txt



In order to restore the missing RPC registry values follow these steps:

1.Verify registry entries
2.Verify the version of the DLL file
3.Remove and reinstall TCP/IP


If this is still not able to resolve the issue, then the OST file has become corrupt and needs to be recovered by OST to PST Conversion. Myriad OST errors are encountered owing to corrupt or orphaned Outlook OST files. The only way for efficacious Outlook OST Recovery is through reliable third party tools. One such sought after tool is “Stellar Phoenix OST to PST Converter”.

Stellar is a leading name in the world of data recovery and this powerful utility can recover all the Outlook OST file data into an importable PST file for MS Outlook 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002 and 2000. The demo version of the software is available for free download and offers a clear preview of the recoverable items in a three view structure. This is an adroit tool that can recover vital user mailbox data by successful conversion from OST to PST.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

It is feasible to recover data from a corrupt or damaged Outlook OST file


MS Exchange provides users an option to work offline and access their mailbox data even in the absence of a connection using the ‘Cached Exchange’ mode. These changes are automatically synchronized when a connection is made to the Exchange server. If Outlook synchronization with the Exchange server fails, you may lose all the valuable piece of work that was done offline. As a consequence, you could face serious data loss. This usually happens when your Outlook offline folders (.ost) file is damaged. An OST integrity check tool can be used for repairing the corrupt OST file. However, if the problem persists, you can easily convert your OST to PST using a reliable third-party utility.

For instance, you use MS Outlook 2002. When you try to synchronize your OST file (that has crossed the size limitation of 1.82 GB) with the Exchange Server, you may receive the following error message on your screen:

''Task ‘Microsoft Exchange Server’ reported error (0x00040820): Errors in background synchronization. In most cases, further information is available in a synchronization log in the Deleted items folder. ''

Deleted Items folder of Exchange Server mailbox and OST file do not show the synchronization log.

Why an error is occurring?
Above error message is caused because in Outlook 2002 the size limit of an Outlook OST file is 1.82 GB. As the OST file has crossed the predefined size limit, it may be corrupt.

How an error can be solved?
The following methods will help you resolve this problem:
  • Permanently delete all e-mail messages from any server based e-mail folders that are arranged to be in synchronization with the Outlook OST file.
  • Transfer the data from any synchronized folder to a non-synchronized folder on the Exchange Server.
  • Transfer and permanent deletion of data from a synchronized folder to an Outlook PST file.
However, if you are still facing problems, you need to take help of a third party OST to PST converter. These software are capable of efficiently converting all orphaned or corrupt OST files to equivalent PST files. They can safely restore various OST file components, such as emails, calendar items, contacts, etc.

Stellar Phoenix OST to PST Converter is a professional tool that effectively repairs damaged OST files and converts them to corresponding PST files. The dexterous Outlook OST Recovery software supports MS Outlook 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002, and 2000. Moreover, it is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, Server 2003, XP, and 2000.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Consequences of an orphaned OST file and reliable OST to PST Conversion tools


Sometimes, it happens that while using MS-Outlook you get stuck into a serious problem of damaged Outlook OST files. Corrupt or damaged Outlook files are an outcome of Exchange server crash, hardware failures, virus infection, oversized PST etc. In other cases, the OST file associated with a user mailbox may become orphaned as a result of user deletion, mailbox deletion, Exchange server maintenance, etc. In such situations, it becomes hard to retrieve your precious data from an orphaned or corrupt OST. However, if your OST file is corrupt, you can use the built-in ‘Scanost.exe’ tool to resolve this problem. But, due to its limitation, the tool might not be able to repair badly corrupt OST file. In such circumstances, you can go for Outlook OST Recovery using a reliable third-party utility.

For instance-Suppose, you have an Outlook OST file that has become unusable after the deletion of the user mailbox. You have some other account that permits you to login to the old user profile directly. Well, you face no problem while loading Outlook, but the embedded permissions on the file do not allow you to access emails and other items in the file and you receive the following error message on your screen:

Attempting to view permissions in Outlook: Some permissions could not be displayed. Permission information for this folder could not be accessed.”


After receiving this error, you will lose access to all your vital emails, contacts, appointments, tasks, etc. The above error may also occur if the OST file is severely corrupt. In order to regain access to your lost data, you should opt for a third-party OST integrity check utility.
However, if the above resolution fails, it is advisable that you should take help of a third party OST to PST conversion tool. With the help of such tools, you can easily restore all your mailbox items, such as contacts, appointments, contacts, journal, tasks, events, calendar-entries, and more. These tools are specifically designed for the non-technical users and have a self-descriptive interface.

Stellar Phoenix OST to PST converter is a comprehensive tool that efficiently converts orphaned or corrupt OST files to PST files. The software retains formatting of all RTF and HTML messages. Moreover, it is compatible with compatible with Windows 7, Vista, Server 2003, XP, and 2000.