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Cannot open PST file, does this mean that my data file is corrupted?

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This article describes typical problems which occur when users cannot open PST files with MS Outlook data, yet the Personal Folders file is not corrupted and does not need to be recovered.

Often for certain reasons it happens that users cannot open PST files. Users immediately think that they are dealing with a corrupted PST file and begin to search for a PST recovery tool. But before beginning to repair PST files that are “corrupted,” it is important to make sure that they are actually corrupted. A PST error can result when the rules for working with such files are violated.

Multiple users or programs cannot open PST files or work with them simultaneously.

If it is necessary to access or open PST data files on a network disk or other computer, close all programs that might be using the file you need and then try to open the file after that.

Attempting to open PST data files stored on read-only drives will cause an error.

File system errors such as Cyclic Redundancy Error.

It is possible to open PST files on a network disk only if read/write permission is given. Additionally, a Personal Folders file may be open by only one user at once.

Older versions of Microsoft Outlook (versions 97-2002) cannot open PST data files in the new “Microsoft Outlook Personal Folders file (.pst)” format, or the Unicode PST format, as it is also called. Unicode PST supports multilingual Unicode data and offers extensive space for storing items and folders, but is not compatible with earlier versions of MS Outlook. If it will be necessary going forward to open PST files in earlier versions of MS Outlook, save them in “Microsoft Outlook 97-2002 (.pst) Personal Folders file” format.

If you cannot open PST files even after all of the above recommendations, the Personal Folders file in question is truly corrupted. There is a simple, effective PST recovery tool to repair PST files: Outlook Recovery Wizard.

This article describes typical problems which occur when users cannot open PST files with MS Outlook data, yet the Personal Folders file is not corrupted and does not need to be recovered.

Extremely happy with the turn around time.

Jim

I was in kind of a bind to get a directory structure of messages into an Outlook pst. I was successful and the Attorney was extremely happy with the turn around time. Thank you.

Quick and user-friendly and easy to use software.

Andrew

I have been looking for a tool to convert my e-mail EML files to Microsoft Outlook. I have found the Outlook Import Wizard and managed how to import all my EML files including the folder structure in seconds. Quick and user-friendly and easy to use software.

Brilliant software! Makes my work so much easier.

Sam Young

I have bought and used Outlook Import Wizard for a couple of days and I have to say how brilliant this software is. Your team have done a wonderful job – makes my work so much easier, especially to be able to convert directories of the hard drive to Outlook folders. Thank you very much for a superb product at a very reasonable price.

Your software saved the day for me!

L. Peterson

I wanted to take some time to tell you how much Outlook Import Wizard saved the day for me! I had the same computer for years and had all my outlook emails saved on that computer. Well, the day finally came where the computer just needed to be replaced (my old computer was 10 years old!). I didn't want to lose all my emails that I had stored over the years and had no idea where to start even trying to get them to be on my new computer. Nobody I knew or called was able to answer the question for me so I started searching online for a solution. That's when I came across Outlook Import Wizard. Read more...

Thanks to your software

Joel

My migration is now completed, thanks to your software. I used Outlook Import to convert about 10,000 emails located in hundreds of directories and Outlook Export Wizard to convert my .pst archives - again more than 10,000 emails. My Mac has indexed all these files with Spotlight - it was not automatically done but I managed to force it to do so. I am now ready for 2011 with a brand new Apple environment. Once again thank you very much for your valuable support and exceptional reactivity! I wish you and the whole Outlook Import team a very joyful and successful year 2011!

Your Outlook Import Wizard did the job perfectly.

BA McEwen

I was using Windows Live Mail, which randomly decided not to work one day. So I urgently needed to restore all the .eml files and profiles from Windows Live Mail into the only other working email app that I had, which was Outlook 2007. Your Outlook Import Wizard did the job perfectly, quickly restoring hundreds and hundreds of emails into outlook replicating the original folder structure I had. It literally saved the day. Many thanks for a very useful and functional app. Just need a program now that removes duplicate emails across several sub-folders.

Your software was easy to use and seemed to work fine.

Owen Johnson

I am a fan of Mozilla's Thunderbird email client and have used it on my work computer for years. Recently, however, my company installed an Exchange server to handle our email hosting (it had previously been through a third-party service). So, in order take advantage of the capabilities of our Exchange server, I had to migrate from Thunderbird to MS Outlook. In looking for an easy way to accomplish this, I found that I was not alone in the need to convert from Thunderbird to Outlook, and I was somewhat surprised that there seems to be no one-stop solution for this. I first had to convert Thunderbird's mbox files to eml, and then use Outlook Import Wizard software to import the eml files into Outlook. Your software was easy to use and seemed to work fine.

Best utility for Thunderbird to Outlook migration.

Bob

I used the wizard as a way to import eml files into Outlook. Basically, my company moved us to Outlook, and I wanted to get emails from Thunderbird under Outlook as well. Now I have all my old email and current email under Outlook on one computer. It worked fine. I can't really say too much as I was following instructions I found on the web on how to do this with outlookimport. My initial reaction was that it probably wouldn't have been obvious, had I not had the instructions. It seemed like I was bypassing the main page to do the import. For what that's worth...

Worth the cost in the time saving alone.

Simon

Hi, I had tried one mbox to eml converter but it didn't deal with a folder structure which meant converting folder by folder of which I probably had over a 100, the Outlook Import Wizard appeared to manage folder structures without a problem and it took me about 5 minutes to do the conversion. Worth the cost in the time saving alone.

The program is a real time saver.

Bernard Draper

I purchased your program as I had just updated my OS to Windows 7 from Vista. I wanted to import all my old saved emails into Outlook. As you know Windows 7 does not have a Microsoft Mail program anymore, so Outlook Import Wizard really helped me. The cost of the program compared to the cost of my own time was a real time saver and the low price made it even more attractive..... The fact that it works so good and fast was also a big asset to me. My only suggestion would be to see if you could make a conversion program to import Vista contacts into Outlook as well.

It was a great piece of software and it did what it advertised.

Keith Kozak

I used Outlook Import Wizard to import and covert my Windows Mail (eml) to Outlook PST, since my future upgrade to Windows 7 will not included an embedded email program. I'm sure, once more people realize this when they make the upgrade, you will be seeing more business. I found your software while doing an internet search and it appeared high up in my Google search. The software did exact what I wanted. It was a great piece of software and it did what it advertised.

Really cool tool and saved me a lot of time.

Doug

Due to an acquisition of my company, I am moving from using Entourage on the Mac to using Outlook again. I am thus moving over the folders of email history from Entourage (.mbox) back to a .pst file in Outlook. The only suggestions I would have would be to be able to directly convert an .mbox to a .pst would be really, really cool and save me a lot of time.

It works so good and fast was also a big asset to me.

Bernard

I purchased your program as I had just updated my OS to Windows 7 from Vista. I wanted to import all my old saved emails into Outlook. As you know Windows 7 does not have a Microsoft Mail program anymore, so Outlook Import Wizard really helped me. The cost of the program compared to the cost of my own time was a real time saver and the low price made it even more attractive..... The fact that it works so good and fast was also a big asset to me.

Thanks for your product, it saved 10 years business email history.

Richard Bowser

I used your product for a VERY specific problem that I think many consumers are going to have, and that is converting from Windows Vista Mail to now windows 7, which offers either windows mail live (useless) or add outlook, so I had to buy Outlook, and outlook did not want to import Vista mail directly, so I had to convert my dbx files over to a pst files for outlook to recognize my mail so I was able to properly import it, why Microsoft did not think of this I will never know, buts it typical, that's all I can say about Microsoft. Thanks for your product, it saved 10 years business email history.

It worked better than I expected.

Steve

I found Outlook Import Wizard because Microsoft dropped the ball when they removed Windows Mail from Windows 7. They did not build a converter into the new operating system, and forgot that not everyone rushed out to buy the latest Microsoft Office or Microsoft Outlook to go along with the new operating system. I have Office 2003 and that version of Outlook does not know how to import .eml files. Read more...

Thank you for a really useful piece of software.

Ian Todd

A friend had suffered partial damage to the hard disk on a Vista equipped computer. He used Vista Winmail for his email. I was able to salvage the email files from the hard disk, but I did not have access to a Vista computer. He had decided to use Windows XP. I used your program successfully to import his files into Outlook. My friend had nearly 8GB of email files (ridiculous I know), and as I eventually discovered Outlook .pst files are limited to a maximum of 2GB. I was able to split his files into 5 lots, and create 5 separate .pst files, which I then imported into Outlook one at a time. Thank you for a really useful piece of software.

Thunderbird to Outlook migration was easy.

Ignacio Gaxiola

I had to use thunderbird portable for a couple of weeks as my principal computer was down. I reinstalled everything and I had to migrate my emails in that client to my outlook installation. I use 7 email accounts personal/business, so using Outlook Import Wizard was an option, I needed to have them all together. So, I exported thunderbird's emails to .eml and then import them to Outlook.

Migrate emails from Thunderbird mbox on Linux to Outlook 2007

Jonathan

I bought the software to be part of a solution for a very specific problem: I needed to migrate emails from Thunderbird (mbox format) on Linux to Outlook 2007 on Windows 7 RC1. I had been using Thunderbird for some time to collect POP3 email before starting to use Windows 7 – and for a while I was running them both and collecting mail (POP3) on both clients. Read more...

We especially like the feature which remembers folder structure.

Elaine Bienvenu

The software is great. We are using it as a litigation support tool. When we get client emails produced to us natively as .msg's, we can compile them all into one .pst file so the attorneys can review it using Outlook. We especially like the feature which remembers folder structure. Nice product.

This software saved us a remarkable amount of time and was quick and efficient.

Laura

We had a .pst file that got corrupted so we used a program to recover everything from the corrupted PST file, however, in this instance we were required to convert everything into Outlook Express format. All the messages were in .eml format and there was 20,000 of them so your software was fantastic and was able to convert all the files and imported them perfectly into Outlook 2007. This software saved us a remarkable amount of time and was quick and efficient.

Your software saved the day of work!

Jim McCool

I was having continuing Microsoft Vista operating system problems on my daughter’s laptop computer and decided to upgrade it to Windows 7. Before installing Windows 7, I understood the new operating system did not have any supporting email software built into it as did all previous Windows operating systems did, and thus required the use of a separate email software, Outlook, etc. Read more...

Your product is a good.

Mark Thomas

I wanted to move back to MS Outlook 2010 from Thunderbird. Going over various forums your product and another was recommended. When testing the other product it was to fiddly but left the individual email as a EML format which opens it like an attachment within Outlook. Your product is a good.

It was relatively painless process.

Mogens Holst

I have over the years used several e-mail programs - Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Bat and Barka. It was easy to immigrate from OE to Thunderbird and again to TheBat that was perhaps the most powerful of them all. Unfortunately, it is against HTML-formatting so I moved on to Barca that in many ways was ideal for my purpose with one exception, it was unable under certain conditions to render my national character set (Danish) correctly. Read more...

Your software saved me a lot of time.

Conrad Tillman

Your software saved me a lot of time and aggravation. A friend had been using Outlook Express as a filing system, & had thousands of emails in dozens of folders- about 6 GB all together. The prospect of importing the whole mess into Outlook was both daunting and depressing, since the built-in Outlook converter choked at 2 GB. I managed to export the OE folders into a msg file system, and your software took it from there. I would gladly have paid a little more for the ability to import to a pst directly from an OE dbx hive, but I'm not complaining. Good luck to you,

I will be glad to tell others of your and your company’s good work.

Doug Treadway

I went to a Thunderbird forum and described my problems, and within 10 minutes I had an excellent download add-on for Thunderbird. I used it yesterday and then used your program and had terrific success. Everything I wanted to move from Thunderbird to Outlook 2010 (except my address book) went just as slick as could be. Thank you very much for your kind offer of assistance. I will be glad to tell others of your and your company's good work.

Many thanks for a very useful utility.

Steve Fisher

The software was used for one of my business customers who was upgrading his Vista based laptop to a new Windows 7 Laptop. Was using Windows Mail and we needed a method to transfer these emails over to Outlook 2010. Thought the software was great, easy to use and most importantly did what it said it would do. Many thanks for a very useful utility.

I am more than pleased to have selected this company.

Dave Hansen

All too frequently customer service and software don't mix. NOT HERE! Service should be this company's first name. I experienced challenges in migrating from Live Mail to Outlook (which makes little sense since they are Microsoft products and leave the consumer high and dry). Outlookimport support stayed with me every step of the way when I needed it. There are more expensive options on the net, but I am more than pleased to have selected this company. The value is incredible.

Very good experience with your software.

Rick Lohmeyer

I had a very good experience with Outlook Import Wizard v.3 And the price I paid was very good value for the time and hassle I saved. I had a thumb drive with the .dbx files from the Outlook Express v.6 on another system. I turned them into .eml files - more on that below - and used Outlook Import to bring them into Outlook 2007. After successful import, I found the same folder structure in Outlook that I had in my working export files, with all converted emails intact... I also used a free program to convert .dbx files to .eml files. It is dbxconv.exe. The dbxconv converted 10,616 emails in just a few minutes and your program brought them into the correct file structure in Outlook in about 12 minutes. Compare that to the several hours required by an older computer running XP and Outlook Express to export to .dbx files in the proper directory tree.

Thanks to your program, I was able to successfully migrate.

Ray LeCara, Jr.

The product did everything I hoped it would, and I am most grateful for that. I have Windows Mail 7 through Vista Home Premium. Somehow, someway, the mail program began crashing two weeks ago every time I tried to compose an email (or reply/forward). There's no fix, either. With several messages and folders already established, I was very much concerned I would lose them all. Even more troubling, no matter if I chose to use a more advanced contact software or not, I still had to migrate my accounts, folders, and emails. Your program allowed me to do that successfully without needlessly spending more money. Thanks to your program, I was able to successfully migrate everything intact to an older version of Outlook. Thank you!

Your software was easy to use and solved my problem.

Tony

I had backed up all my 'Windows Mail' in Windows Mail format before installing Windows 7 on a new hard drive. Couldn't work out how to restore emails into Outlook (I hadn't realized Windows Mail was not included in Windows 7!). Your software was easy to use and solved my problem.

Your software worked perfectly and saved me lots of headaches.

Hazen

I installed windows 7 on my computer a week ago. Only after performing a clean install I found out that Windows mail and outlook express are no longer usable in Win 7. Since I saved all my email in .eml format, I was stuck looking for a way to transfer those emails to Outlook. Your software worked perfectly and saved me lots of headaches, and the price was right too. Thanks for saving my butt.

Great! Keep it up!

Anand

Outlook import helped me import Windows Mail (the mail client on Vista) .eml files to Outlook (on Win XP). As you can see, mine is a curious case. I moved to an older OS but a more sophisticated mail client. Microsoft tools being what they are, I could not find a way to point Outlook to the Windows Mail files in order to do an import. Outlook import did this seamlessly. Even the folder organisation was preserved. What I like the most is that it allows you import to your present .pst file or create a new one.

Your program did the job admirably.

Sandy Picot

I bought Outlook Import Wizard because I am upgrading from the hated Vista to Windows 7 which does not support a mail program. I had been used to Outlook Express so I used it's successor in Vista which is Windows Mail and as I had organised my emails into folders for the various committees on which I sit I needed very much to keep what I had already and Windows Mail seemed to have no system of exporting in a sensible fashion. I already had Microsoft Outlook and we discovered your program which addressed the email problem and did the job admirably.

I am an IT professional and think your tool works great.

Bruce Speidel

I used it for a one-time event. I just bought a MAC (still being shipped). I have been using PC's for years. I have been an Incredimail user for many years. In order to migrate everything to "iMail", I had to get all of my Incredimail saved in a format compatible with Outlook 2007. This tool is called Incredimail Backup Pro v3.4. This program exports the Incredimail format to .eml format. I then used your tool to import all of the .eml files into Outlook2007. Now I have everything on Outlook2007 and I've setup my accounts to read all of my mail from Outlook2007. I am an IT professional and think your UI looks and works great. I will tell you that my .eml files took 2 1/2 hours to import into Outlook2007. If that tells you how much mail I have...

We use it on a daily basis and it is a real time-saver.

Ben Danilevski

We have a hudge amount of eml and msg archives from our users stored at the backup server. I tried using another software to import email files to Outlook, but soon became bored of the long processing time, not to mention the high price tag. I started looking for an alternative, and found Outlook Import Wizard. This program is brilliant, and costs so little. I haven't looked back, and am very pleased with it. I would like to thank you for your great program. We use it on a daily basis and it is a real time-saver.

My money well spend!

Tue Barfod

I imported 16000 emlx messages that were recovered from a deleted mailbox on a Mac. Your tool did an extremely good job, restoring, everything including attachments. It was easier to use your tool on a PC than trying to get the import to work on the Mac, and since the ultimate destination was an Exchange mailbox, this was a natural solution... THANK YOU. My money well spend.

Your product worked perfectly importing over 20,000 emails!

Rick Braunberger

I was changing from Intellect mail to Outlook and there was no built-in way (in Outlook) that I could find to import or convert the Intellect emails. Your product worked perfectly importing over 20,000 emails, maintaining my folder structure and everything. Saved me days of tedious and error-prone work. So, thanks for a great product!

Your software has saved me a whole lot of aggravation.

Mark Jordan

This product is awesome – It has converted Windows Mail EML export files directly into Outlook 2016 seamlessly. I had 10’s of thousands of stored emails in my inbox and 1000’s of sent emails on an ancient machine, They are all now on my new PC in a little over a couple of hours. Great work!