In Microsoft Outlook 2002 and earlier versions, the PST file is encoded in ANSI (American National Standards Institute) file format, which sets the overall file size limit of 2 GB. PST with about 2 GB size shows abrupt behavior, takes time to load and gets corrupt beyond 2 GB. However, Microsoft Outlook 2003 (except IMAP4 and HTTP accounts) and Outlook 2007 use Unicode format for PST, having 20 GB default file size limitation. But the performance issues are also not an exception in these versions. Thus, to overcome such issues, you are always recommended to maintain PST file size or Split PST File, whenever necessary.Sometimes, when you try to start Microsoft Office Outlook and open the PST file, you might receive the below mentioned error message on screen:
“Errors have been detected in the file
Where, ‘file_path’ refers to the PST file path. As suggested in the error message, running Inbox Repair Tool doesn’t resolve the existing issue and you continue to receive the same error message when starting Microsoft Outlook. This error message is specific to Outlook 2002 and earlier versions.
You might also receive a similar error message while trying to copy files to a PST file:
“Can’t Copy the items. The file %PST filename% has reached its maximum size. To reduce the amount of data in this file, select some items that you no longer need, then permanently (Shift+Del) delete them.”
Cause
The former error message occurs due to oversized PST. When you exceed PST file size limitation, Outlook reports the above error message. Inbox Repair Tool is the built-in utility designed for repairing damaged PST. Thus it cannot solve the existing oversized PST file size issue. However, you get the latter error message when PST file size is approximately 1.82 GB. It primarily occurs when the object to be copied is large enough to make PST file size to 2 GB.
Solution
There are few possible solutions to solve such errors:
• Using oversized PST and OST crop tool (truncates the PST file)
• Saving attachments to a file system folder and deleting them from original messages
• Using commercial Split PST application (splits PST file into smaller PSTs)
Oversized PST and OST crop tool
This tool truncates the original PST file, making it usable with Microsoft Outlook. So, this is not an ideal tool when PST contains important information that cannot be deleted. It cuts a user defined amount of data. However, to proceed using the tool, you should follow these steps:
• Make sure that your hard disk contains at least 2 GB of free space
• Backup the original PST file to prevent failure errors
• Download the oversized PST and OST crop tool
• Create a new folder and extract the 2gb152.exe to it
• You then need start Pst2gb.exe program, included in the prior extracted files
• Browse and open the oversized PST file
• You should next click Create and specify the name and location of data file to be truncated. Click Save
• Next, you need to specify the amount of data that you desire to truncate.
• Use Inbox Repair Tool to check the integrity of smaller PST file. You can open the repaired PST file in Outlook and try to compact it
• If the file doesn’t open, you should try the same process again using Oversized PST and OST crop tool with different amount of truncated data, more than used earlier.
Saving Attachments to a file system folder
Using this process, you can reduce PST file size as all message attachments get saved to different folder.
Split PST Tools
Split PST tools are the commercial applications used for splitting a large size PST file into several smaller PST files. These are read-only tools, built with powerful technology to Split PST File. Such tools feature precise documentations, graphically rich user interface and safe file splitting procedure. They split the PST file into several smaller PST files, each usable with Outlook.
Stellar Phoenix Outlook PST Repair is an advanced tool to Split PST. It is an easy to use application with self-descriptive interface. Designed as an effective PST splitting application, you can use this software to Split PST File on two parameters: by data and by email address. It supports Outlook 2007, 2003, 2002 and 2000. It also allows you to recover lost PST password and repair a damaged PST. It is compatible with Windows Vista, XP, 2003, 2002 and NT.