MS
Outlook is one of the most versatile email clients till date. Even though the
storage formats differ, it is fully functional in both Windows and Mac operating
systems. You can use it in cache enabled mode with Exchange server and also can
make its use when offline. All these factors have largely contributed in its
popularity worldwide and thus has emerged as one of the most used email clients
on a global level. There are different versions of Outlook available and thus
different users may be working on different versions.
The
only time when Outlook might pose problems for its users is when they have to
face issues related to the size of the PST file.
Why To Truncate Outlook Email Messages?
The
previous versions of MS Outlook i.e. MS Outlook 2002 and earlier versions stored
their data in ANSI type PST file. This ANSI PST file has the size limitation of
2 GB. In case you are still using the earlier versions of Outlook, you might be
experiencing corruption issues in your PST file. This is because your PST file
has reached its maximum size limit and the data exceeding the limit usually
gets deleted. In order to fix this problem, the users can opt to truncate their
email messages so as to reduce the size of their PST file.
Before
moving on to the procedure to truncate the messages, let us first have a look
on the errors that usually arise when the ANSI PST file crosses the 2 GB size
limit.
Errors Due To Oversized PST File
- When the users try to access an oversized PST file, you will encounter below mentioned errors.
You
can also see the following error displayed:
- When your Outlook PST file reaches its maximum size limit, new messages cannot be saved in the PST file.
Furthermore,
Outlook will not receive any new messages. At such instances following error
may arise:
All
the above mentioned errors can be avoided by a truncation utility.
PST2GB: PST Truncation Utility
In
order to truncate Microsoft Outlook
email messages, Microsoft provides a utility named PST2GB. The tool helps the
users to truncate the PST files in smaller parts so as to truncate the email messages
of Outlook. This enables the user to overcome the above mentioned errors
encountered due to large sized PST file. The users can specify the size limit
of the PST file up to which the file has to be truncated.
Note: Before truncating the PST file using PST2GB, make sure to
back up the PST file data in order to protect the data from getting permanently
deleted.
Limitations Of PST
Truncation Utility
· A lot of time is
consumed while truncating the PST file. In case the user gets unsuccessful, he will
need to try again and again till the file is truncated.
·
The tool while
truncating the PST file may permanently delete some of the data residing in the
PST file.
Conclusion
Although
PST2GB deletes some data from your PST file, it can still be used to truncate Microsoft Outlook email messages after taking
backup of the PST file. And thus can
avoid the occurrence of the PST file errors.
