Simple Solution to Crop your Oversized OST

OST files are also known as Offline Folder File. It contains all the information & data of the Exchange mailbox. It is the local copy of the mailbox data of the Exchange Server. We can access and store the information in offline mode with the help of OST file. There are several failures that results in OST file corruption, they are as follows:

1. Data storage devices.

2. Network connection failure.

3. Sudden power failure.

4. Improper maintenance of files in the OST file.

Overview to Reduce OST File Size

1. All these circumstances leads to the abruptly shut down of Microsoft Outlook when connected to Exchange server which may corrupt OST file. OST file size may increase due to frequent receiving of bulk mails in the Outlook mailbox.

2. The limitation of OST file size is 50 GB in case of UNICODE and 2 GB in ANSI format. So if standard file size exceeds to the threshold memory limit & the OST file gets oversized, then this may result as as cardinal reason for the PST file corruption.

3. It can be observed that while deleting the OST file, the volume of the file size doesn’t get reduced with respect to the size of deleted file. So if this situation occurs with Exchange server, OST Recovery is the only solution to repair those corrupt files.

Precautionary Steps

There are some precautions that needs to be taken to avoid corruptions in OST file:

1. Regular maintenance of the OST file.

2. Over sizing of the OST file should be avoided.

3. Regular back up of the OST file.

Most of the users forget to take precautions and let their OST file to exceed above the maximum capacity. There is not any automated tool provided by Microsoft that warns the users to cross the maximum capacity. But we can use the Microsoft free utility “Scanost.exe” to repair those corrupted OST.

How to reduce the file size of the OST file?

It is very important to maintain and manage the file size of the OST file for the proper functionality of the mailbox. We can reduce the file size of the OST file and increase the performance of the Microsoft Outlook.

1. Clear the archived files that are formed as a log.

2. Delete the unwanted and unnecessary emails from the folders.

3. Use Compact Now, it is a free utility provided by Microsoft to compress the OST files.

4. The file size of the OST file increases significantly while syncing the public folder favourites. It can be avoided by using cached Exchange Mode.

5. Auto Archive mailbox items to manage the mailbox.

Steps to Crop OST files Manually

Delete the unwanted files from the mailbox. It is applicable in all the versions of Microsoft Outlook.

Applicable to Microsoft Outlook 2007

1. Now go to Tools menu.

2. Click on Account Settings.

3. Select on Microsoft Exchange Server from the list and click on Change.

4. Click on More Settings.

5. Click on Offline Folder File Setting located on the Advanced tab.

6. Click on Compact Now.

For Microsoft Outlook 2003 and previous versions

1. Go to Tools menu.

2. Select the E-Mail Accounts.

3. Click on View or change the existing e-mail account.

4. Click on Next.

5. elect the Microsoft Exchange Server & then change.

6. Click on More Settings.

7. Click on Offline Folder File Setting located on the Advanced tab.

8. Click on Compact Now.

9. Click on OK when the operation is performed.

10. Click on Next and then Finish to complete the action.

For Microsoft Outlook 2010 and later versions

1. Click on File menu.

2. Select the Info tab.

3. Go to Account Settings, again click on the Account Setting option located in it.

4. Select the Microsoft Exchange Server from the list and click on Change.

5. Select More Settings.

6. Select the Offline Folder file Settings in the Advanced tab.

7. Click on Compact Now.

Alternate Solutions to crop the OST file

1. Recreating the OST file: It can be used as an alternate options instead of compacting the OST files.

2. Sync Filters: Synchronization filters enables the selected files to store in the OST file.

3. Sync Slider: This option can be used to cache only the recent items instead of complete mailbox.

4. Disable Share Folder or mail cache.

5. Remove Public Folder favourites.

6. Remove duplication created by Gmail.

Conclusion

There are many factors affecting OST file to corrupt. Some of them includes: viruses, phishing, malware, etc. Several precautionary measures can be taken to protect the OST files from corruption. So it is not easy to manage & recover corrupted OST file. So if you want to retain all the important data without affecting and truncating any of them, then a third party software i.e OST Recovery Tool can be helpful in such situation. One of the known software review websites like One Stop Blog has also recommended OST Recovery Tool for the retrieval of lost OST Data after deletion or file Corruption. It acts as an OST crop tool and split the OST file when it is larger than it’s file size.

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Connect Zarafa to Outlook & Perform Zarafa to PST Migration

Zarafa is an open source application for Linux server that can be used by multiple professionals for their email managements. It provides its own Web-based e-mail client which includes the multiple utilities such as e-mail, calendar, and contact and task management. It has to store the entire content online which is available on server side using MySQL database. Zarafa server that stores the data items in its native file extension i.e, .ibadata and .frm. It has supported multiple number of email clients like MS Outlook, Web access via Firefox and smart phones etc. Users allows to store and manage their contacts on Zarafa mail server through these client programs.

Zarafa has a complete bundle of features such as emails, my calendar, video conferencing, audio conferencing, chat & presentation sharing with colleagues. Zarafa has one more advanced feature i.e. File management for accessing the files & documents and it can be shared with colleagues from anywhere. If a user have an internet connection for accessing the documents and files that has stored on Zarafa mail server.

However, Zarafa was designed to integrate with Microsoft Outlook which has supposed to be used as an alternative to MS Exchange Server for Linux users. It has been provided to access an email and other related services through web access. Sometimes, users upgrade to migrate Zarafa based data items into some commonly used file format to widen the range of accessibility. Microsoft Outlook is the best alternative for Zarafa users, most of them switch from Zarafa to Outlook because of it helps to store emails, calendars & contacts data items in an offline folder. In the following section, we will discuss on the scenario which leads user to Zarafa to PST migration. Also, gives a manual approach to export Zarafa to PST.

Reasons to Connect Zarafa to Outlook

Due to various reasons or issues, many Zarafa users prefer to export the data files from Zarafa to PST file in Outlook. Some of the major reasons that necessitates users to switch to another email application are mentioned below:

1. Support Windows Platform: Zarafa Server can be accessed through Linux Operating system. It helps to migrate the data items into Outlook PST file that makes it ease or convenient for users so they can access the files on Windows application.
2. Data accessibility Online: As Zarafa permits Web access, thus the data files can always be accessed online. However, Outlook PST files that are present at local location that allows users to access the files in offline mode.
3. Supports in Adverse Condition: It is beneficial to connect Zarafa to Outlook PST while in case breakdown of Zarafa mail storgae. Outlook files can easily accessed independently with Exchange Server for the interval.

Manual Ways to Zarafa to PST Migration

After observing various shortcomings of Zarafa files, many users search for a reliable and efficient solution Outlook PST files. The best manual approach is to migrate data without any kind of data lose. It performs the conversion in following steps:

A. Installing the Outlook Client

1. To install Zarafa mailbox
2. Now, assure Zarafa free Outlook is configure as email application by default as Control Panel >> Internet >> Applications.
3. After this, place the Zarafa CD in specific drive and wait for starting the CD automatically and then, select the uppermost tab as Windows Client.
4. In case, if the users got the client from another source, Now, enter the file name zarafaclient.msi with clicking twice.


B. Instructions for Outlook 2003

For Outlook 2003 and XP, Creating a new mail profile. The following steps are occurred as:

1. Now, go to option Control Panel >> Mail >> Show profiles.
2. Enter Add and fill the text box. Press OK on Zarafa.

For combining the Zarafa mail filters to this profile the steps are:

1. First, create new account and then, click on Next option which shows after adding the mail profile.
2. Go to last option and select option Next >> choose >> Zarafa 6 Server and then, click on Next tab.
3. Now, enter the server host name in the field. Optionally, users can select HTTPS connections which are available.
4. After that, fill the login and password details of user.
5. Now, there are 3 possible connections choose them according to users need those are Online, cached Zarafa mode and Detect at Startup.
6. For closing the Window, choose OK.

C. Create new profile for Outlook 2007

1. Turn to Control Panel >> Mail >> Show Profiles.
2. Go to Add option and enter the title in box. Press, OK button.
3. Now, choose the option to configure Server settings manually and Select Next option.
4. Again, Choose Zarafa mail Server and then, press on Next.
5. Fill the address in Server field. Optionally, users can choose HTTPS connections if available.
6. Enter the required details i.e. user name and password.
7. Press OKbutton. After this, users can store personal or public folders in Outlook after combining the Server.
8. For finalizing the profile, click on Finish option.

Conclusion

This article has been written to help out Zarafa users who attempt to transfer the data from Zarafa to Outlook PST files. We have tried to cover multiple reasons associated with Zarafa to PST migration. The manual procedure has been explained so that the users can clearly understand “How to connect Zarafa to Outlook.”

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