# Solved: Outlook 2007 - data file 'Personal Folder' was not closed properly



## Tyler23 (Apr 29, 2006)

Hello,
To start off the computer in question is running Windows XP and Microsoft office 2007. I am in the process of resolving this issue as stated in the title that the user did not come across until recently when Outlook had locked up on him and he was forced to improperly close it down. The problem im coming across is that everytime he starts outlook it takes the system around 45 minutes just to analyze the data file all the while not being able to do anything at all in Outlook. The long loadup time I understand because he has an amazing 81,000 emails. The problem arises after the check is finally completed, Outlook opens and as soon as I attempt to erase files immediately, he begins receiving the emails that he has missed out on for the past week which is around 150 MB. This in turn causes Outlook to lockup for some unknown reason and became a vicious cycle. We then opened up outlook in safe mode and deleted about 60,000 emails, then reopened outlook and managed to receive a few days of missed emails. During this process it locked up again and we are back at step one and waiting for it to analyze the data file which is actually taking longer than previously stated when the file was much larger. Any suggestions would be great, I've done a lot of searching around and couldn't find an answer I found sufficient to my own personal problem. I have always had success asking you guys here so thanks ahead of time for anything that you can contribute.

Tyler


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## valis (Sep 24, 2004)

81k emails? Have they ever archived?


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## isaidsnap (Sep 26, 2011)

allot more memory to outlook, store all emails not needed for immediate viewing eslwhere, then uninstall and reinstall outlook


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## Tyler23 (Apr 29, 2006)

Im not as familiar with Outlook as I am with just about everything else so how would I go about checking if they have been archived while also not being able to access Outlook? If all else failed I was gonna make the transfer of the emails he has left that he would like to keep into an external folder to hopefully speed things up and then try the reinstall. Thanks for the suggestion and I will keep you updated on my progress.


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## Derekd04 (Sep 27, 2011)

Tyler, I troubleshoot .PST (Data Files) regularly for my employer as each employee has a .pst data file on our Network storage drives. When you have an oversized .pst file e.g. over 2GB's They tend to create a LOT of errors inside the file. You can run the Scanpst.exe file that is included with outlook.



> Outlook 2010
> 32-bit Windows; C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14
> 64-bit Windows; C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14
> 64-bit Outlook; C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14
> ...


Those are the File locations for the Scanpst.exe

A lot of times when you run Scanpst and the file is larger than 2GB's it will freeze or throw errors and stop responding. I would recommend deleting as many of those 81,000 e-mails that you can, and run Scanpst as this will allow the computer to re-calculate the file size and lower its total size on the hard drive, as well as fix any errors that are in the file itself.

If the Scanpst.exe doesnt work, go to the folder where you clicked the Scanpst.exe and look below it there should be a file called CSCANPST.LOG. If its not there search your computer for it.

Reply back with the log, and depending on what it says you might be able to fix it with another PST utility that will down-size 2+ GB pst files.


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## valis (Sep 24, 2004)

I still think that the size of the pst/ost file could be causing this......what's the size, in gigs, of them?


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## Tyler23 (Apr 29, 2006)

Thanks derek,
Since my last post I have uninstalled, deleted the outlook folder, and then reinstalled outlook in attempt to start fresh with a new .pst file. Once this was complete I started up Outlook and received the same error and a request to allocate the original .pst file to attempt to check and repair. So I suppose my next step will be to post the log you requested and also run the scanpst. As to the deleting of the emails, it will not allow me to delete them by simply exploring the file, it wants to open Outlook every time and delete them there. Then as stated before, it tries to locate and repair the .pst file. 

Also, the file size is 20GB which I understand is extremely large and I was astonished at how large it really was. I made him aware that with this many emails and having such a large .pst file, this was a problem that was long overdue.

Im leaving work now so I should have an update in about an hour. Thanks for the help!

Tyler


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## valis (Sep 24, 2004)

Indeed. I'd also say that there is a very strong chance of that .ost file becoming corrupt enough as to be completely unusable. I've had users lose .pst files that were ~8 gigs; I would strongly recommend creating 10 2 gig archives for that, organized by date.


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## Derekd04 (Sep 27, 2011)

If you are attempting to repair a 20 GB .PST file it's almost a waste of time. Its going to go through all 8 stages, and that is going to take probably 30 minutes to an hour. Then finally it will let you know that there are errors and you will have a repair button available. Once you click that button the program will appear to freeze and might even gray out and stop responding. Just leave the window open for as long as it needs as this repair could take hours depending on the amount of errors in the .PST file.


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## Derekd04 (Sep 27, 2011)

He can't create new archives if the original won't open in outlook. But if you do get the file to open in outlook, you should definitely follow Valis' advice and try and split the file into 10 or 12 data files.



valis said:


> Indeed. I'd also say that there is a very strong chance of that .ost file becoming corrupt enough as to be completely unusable. I've had users lose .pst files that were ~8 gigs; I would strongly recommend creating 10 2 gig archives for that, organized by date.


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## Derekd04 (Sep 27, 2011)

Also,

To prevent Outlook from stalling for 30 minutes when you open it, you can delete the data file in the Outlook *Account Settings* - * Data File *Options menu. This won't delete the file, just the link from the file to outlook. This should keep Outlook from asking for the data file location on startup, and give you the opportunity to receive new e-mails without freezes.


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## Tyler23 (Apr 29, 2006)

Just wanted to say thanks for your guys help, I ended up letting Outlook start up which took about 2 1/2 hrs to check the massive .pst and used Dereks advice from his last post. This allowed me to move the .pst to a folder on his desktop for referencing to old emails and then start off fresh with a new .pst. also set up autoarchive for him which he did not have set up.

Thanks for your guys suggestions! They really helped out a lot.

Tyler


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## valis (Sep 24, 2004)

De nada......glad it worked. 

Again, however, you should probably break that .pst up into something a bit less likely to corrupt itself, especially if those emails are critical.


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