1.9GB .pst filesize cap in Outlook 2007

Hey all - hoping someone has the magic touch for this one.  It's eating my lunch!  One of the old Outlook XP issues was the 2GB max pst file size, which as I understood it, was eliminated in the release of 2007.  I have about 30 users that we upgraded from Outlook XP to 2007 Pro Plus and one of them started receiving the warning message that the pst had reached its maximum capacity.  This user was upgraded to 2007 Pro Plus.  I have another user that did a fresh install on a new build of XP Pro SP3 and his pst is over 4GB with no problems.  We are archiving, but some of the media staff need to be able to keep large amounts of mail available.  Either way, after completely uninstalling Office 07, rebooting, reinstalling in a new directory and importing the pst files, I am receiving the same 1.9GB max file size error.  I'M STUMPED!!  How do we eliminate that max file size threshold without registry editing or hacks?  Thanks in advance!

It has been a while since I had to deal with this, but I believe the 2 GB limitation is the default, but it is customizable. Microsoft actually has some really good forums for discussing their products, so if you do not get answer in short order here, I would advise going to the MS Exchange forums and doing a search. I am certain this will prove to be a well-read issue.

Hello there, I think the reason you are getting this issue, is due to residual Office stuff in your registry.  The only way to accomplish your desired goal, will be to edit the registry.  Click here for the Microsoft KB on increasing the size of your PST file.  Hope this helps.

Best of luck,

Gary

I just had a user exceed their PST and it has been a mess trying to fix it with out loosing data.  There are different file options for the pst file in 2007.  the default I think is 4 gb but if you just brought the pst file over from xp I would guess it still has the 2gb limit from the previous version of outlook.

Dave

If Gary's fix doesn't work, you might have to create a brand new Mail Profile (from the control panel) and import the items from the old PST into the new PST.  You'll also want to search for a file of type .NK2 and copy it to the new profile as well.  Its probably because the old .PST file was created with Outlook XP and has the limitation that Dave spoke of - its still an Outlook XP format file, even if Outlook 2007 is using it (unless the upgrade converted it to an outlook 2007 PST file, then Gary's KB article should work).

The default PST and NK2 files Outlook makes in Windows XP are:  "documents and settings\<user>\local settings\application data\microsoft\outlook\outlook.pst" and "documents and settings\<user>\application data\microsoft\outlook\outlook.nk2"  So if you made a new profile called "Chris", then Outlook would gather all email into the "documents and settings\<user>\local settings\application data\microsoft\outlook\chris.pst" file.  To make sure the .NK2 file copied over, you'd just have to browse to the directory and copy the outlook.nk2 file into a chris.nk2 file (with outlook not running).

Please notice that .PST and .NK2 files are in different directories.  One is in Application Data, the other is in Local Settings\Application Data.  Yes, I also think this is weird.

The NK2 file is important because its the database file that stores auto-fill email addresses.  Like when you start typing Chris Shipley it will start showing all the emails that fit this text pattern and you can select it with your mouse.  A lot of users get touchy when you get rid of it because they don't store all their email contacts in the Contact folder - they figure they don't have to since they have this NK2 file.

I hope that's not super complicated.  Let me know if it is.

I think the key words in the detail of the problem you are experiencing is that the user with this issue was upgraded to Outlook 2007.  If the PST file in question was created in a version of Outlook prior to Outlook 2003, then it is still in the old format.  Upgrading the software gives the ability to have PST files up to 20 GB in size, but it does not reformat the existing PST files.

Since a PST cannot be 'converted' to the newer format, you must create a new, empty PST file in the Outlook 2007 format (it is the default type selected in Outlook 2007 when you create a new PST) and then import all of the items from the older PST into the new one.  You could do this manually by copying each folder one at a time to the new PST, but it is easier to use the Import command found in Outlook's File menu.

If Outlook will not let you import the old PST file due to its size, you may have to manually move at least 1 or 2 folders first, assuming that Outlook can still open the PST and you can access its contents.  Then you will need to compact the PST file to shrink the PST size before you can import the remainder of the contents.

If you cannot access the PST file at all for import or manual moving due to its size, you will need to find a way to handle the large PST outside of Outlook.  That's the situation I am currently in.  I found a piece of software that looks like it may do the trick, but since I haven't yet used it, I can't say for sure.  I'm running it on the PST file I am having problems with now, and am keeping my fingers crossed.  This is what I am trying:  http://www.outlook-pst-repair.com/.

Good luck with your issue.  I hope this helps a bit.

Hey guys - WOW this forum rocks!  I've searched and posted in quite a few over the years and I've never seen such a complex issue solved so quickly...shipley.c - your solution worked perfectly!  I created a new profile, Outlook created a new .pst in 07 format and then imported the legacy .pst.  VOILA!  Thanks so much for the direction!

jenray:

I found a piece of software that looks like it may do the trick, but since I haven't yet used it, I can't say for sure.  I'm running it on the PST file I am having problems with now, and am keeping my fingers crossed.  This is what I am trying:  http://www.outlook-pst-repair.com/.

Hi jenray,

The outlook-pst-repair.com site doesn't list any license information on the software.  It lists extensively free down load but it doesn't list anything about the cost to actually run and use the software.  Do you have any information from them about the actual cost of the software, or is it one of the hidden triggers that yes you have problems now send me a hundred bucks and I'll fix it for you?

Dave

Yes, they are touting the download as free.  It wasn't until I installed it and ran the split procedure on my PST that it said there was a fee.  It let me go through the scan process and at the screen where it asks how I would like to split, it says you can't continue without buying it.  That's when they provided a link to the page with pricing information.  It's about $130.  I'm still looking for a different software package.  I don't trust programs who deceive potential customers about the price.  Just tell me up front what you want for the software, right?

jenray:

Just tell me up front what you want for the software, right?

I agree, and I'll bet that is $130 per incident, not a license for a reusable product.

PST repair seems to be one of the scam areas on the net, allot like malware removal and registry repair.

There is a PST trim from Microsoft but unfortunately it doesn't give you allot of control of what gets deleted, but it will open up a locked file and let you recover most of your data.

The scanpst tool also seems to do a fair job at repairing pst files.

Dave

gcalaway, awesome! glad to have helped.  If you've found us helpful and think you can help others, please consider coming back here when you ahve to time to perhaps answer some questions other people might have ;)

jenray - why do you need to split the PST file if you are moving it into Outlook 2007?

shipley.c:

why do you need to split the PST file if you are moving it into Outlook 2007?

Hi Chris,

The upgrade to 2007 does not convert the pst to the new format, so converting from 2003 to 2007 you have a 4GB limit in file size.  When the user exceeds that amount, the trim utility from Microsoft just seems to delete newest data from the file so you loose the most important information trying to recover.  The split utility would allow you to save all the data from the overgrown pst.

Dave

Thanks, Dave.  I missed this

jenray:

If Outlook will not let you import the old PST file due to its size

Hey guys, I hate to beat a dead horse, but it sounds to me like there might be a little miscommunication going on so I figured this may help.  Dave, what Chris offered as a solution to my issue worked right away and my .pst was 1.9GB.  Outlook would open, but I could not send or receive mail and I couldn't even delete mail or empty the trash.  This sounds like what you are running in to.  The key difference I am hearing is that in your case you are trying to use the upgrade to 2007 to fix the problem.  All of my users are upgraded installs from Outlook XP (2002).  Simply upgrading the Outlook install doesn't fix the problem, as the .pst originated in a version that had the 2GB cap.  Thus, we need to create a brand new .pst from scratch in Outlook 2007.  By doing this, a new .pst with a default 20GB cap is created.  Then, Outlook will allow us to import the 2GB .pst file.  The process for doing this was foreign to me, but it worked perfectly.  As Chris stated, I had to go through the Control Panel / Mail / Profiles / Create a new profile and tell Outlook to prompt me for which profile to use.  Then launch Outlook and choose the new profile.  You need to set it up to connect to the user's mailbox and perform a send & receive.  Only after that is done can you import the old pst in legacy format.  The new profile, which has a 20GB cap will convert the old pst...

My apologies if you've already covered that, but it sounds like you're having all of the same issues I was.

P.S.  As a test, once the new pst was functioning, I imported a 4.7GB pst file from a native Outlook 2007 user that had been using 07 for 2 years and never archiving...worked perfectly.