Hi all, Well the problem with the errant .pst file has been fixed at last and to say that the granddaughter is very pleased is a huge understatement - she is laughing again:- She rang me 5 minutes ago to say she downloaded & installed all the MS XP updates overnight and this morning tried once again to find & fix the old .pst file and lo & behold it asked if she wanted to fix the problem and all the old emails and more importantly the old address etc came back. One very relieved young lady. The program to fix it all - C\program files\common files\system\MAPI\1033\NT\scanpst.exe - Thank you again to those who responded - I guess she & I have both learned something very useful out of this. Ned Message: 1 Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2008 08:15:36 +0100 From: "Chris" <chris@masquerade.demon.co.uk> Subject: Re: [GEN-COMP-TIPS] Outlook pst file To: <gen-comp-tips@rootsweb.com> Message-ID: <JJEIIPLALFIIBFPLABBJOEMLIEAA.chris@masquerade.demon.co.uk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Ummm. Do NOT throw the PST file away. While one IT person may not have a fix - another might. Chris -----Original Message----- From: gen-comp-tips-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:gen-comp-tips-bounces@rootsweb.com]On Behalf Of ray risely Sent: 08 April 2008 14:05 To: gen-comp-tips@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [GEN-COMP-TIPS] Outlook pst file I want to thank Tony & Chris who made suggestions re my granddaughters pst file. She lives about 260km away, but we saw each other last weekend and the problem appears to be fixed. The IT man who checked her computer tried unsuccessfully to repair the pst file using several methods and programs but the file just couldn't be read or fixed. So the company's 350 odd email addresses are apparently gone. The machine would come up with the BSOD, just sitting idle & not being directly accessed. He eventually changed the mouse and that seems to have fixed the BSOD problem and the computer now works reliably again, but the pst file is apparently unusable. His explanation was that Outlook is very susceptible to failure, if it happens to be active when the machine fails for any reason. I guess that's fairly obvious. She now has an automatic back-up system in place which backs up the selected computer files at the touch of a button. So that's some progress no doubt. Ned ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi all, My granddaughter says she cannot gain access to her Outlook mails or addresses etc from XP. She had a BSOD recently and sent it to the doctor who has got the m/c working again - but now no access to any Outlook files. Notice says 'Outlook cannot access the .pst file'. Can the .pst file be corrupt perhaps - She has found the file, can it be read somehow into a text file or something? Her Outlook contains all her work email addresses etc. Rather important to her. Ned