If you are having difficulty accessing your Outlook data files, you may have noticed a message such as “Unable to display the folder”, “Fatal Error: 80040818”, or “Errors have been detected in the file C:\windows\outlook.pst”. A corrupt .pst file or .ost file within Microsoft Outlook could be to blame for the issue.

Don’t panic! Most Outlook users run into a corrupt .pst file at least once. It is a well known problem with this product and affects most every version of the software. If you are receiving one of these errors and cannot access your data there are some steps you can take to help repair and reclaim it, but a little diagnostics are in order. Let’s look at some options available to help recover your lost Outlook data.

Microsoft has included an inbox repair tool, also known as Scanpst.exe, within Outlook which they note will verify the error and help to repair the data. Although many have had success in using this tool, there are quite a few who run into problems along the way.

Some Common Problems with Running the Outlook Inbox Repair Tool

• Scanpst.exe will crash during the final stages of the repair causing further corruption or unrecoverable data
• A missing .dll file within Scanpst.exe causes it not to run
• Repair Tool cannot fix larger .pst files
• Scanpst.exe file is missing
• Restores files, but cannot restore formatting
• Cannot repair larger files created in a previous versions of Outlook

While some of these problems are existent only in certain versions of Outlook, having to wade your way through the various tech boards to locate yours can be extremely time consuming. There are several ways in which a file can become corrupt, a number of versions, and a number of errors, so locating yours can take awhile and there is no guarantee that this fix will even work.

Thankfully, many third party software developers have done the work for you. They have located known conflicts in each version of Outlook, resolved them, and created an easy to use repair tool which will quickly scan your .pst file and repair your data regardless of the error type or Outlook version you are currently running. Many of these software versions will also go a step further, assisting in the recovery of deleted emails and hard to recover encrypted files.

If you are not having any luck utilizing the Microsoft Inbox Repair Tool or if you are unable to locate it, you may want to check out some alternatives and get yourself up and running quickly. The sooner you can repair PST file the sooner you can get back to being productive with Outlook.

“An unknown error has occurred. 0×80040600” is a common error Outlook users may receive while they are attempting to send/receive or delete an email. It can happen during other operations within the program, but this seems to be the most common occurrence. The error is usually the result of a corrupt PST file within the Outlook program. The .PST or Personal Storage Folder file is the file within Outlook where your data is stored.

The PST files can become corrupt for a variety of reasons which makes them completely inaccessible through the Outlook program. In order to repair them and access the data once again, you will need to locate and repair the corrupt file.

One of the quickest ways to repair error 0×80040600 is by utilizing Microsoft’s Inbox Repair Tool. This is an executable file (Scanpst.exe) which is installed as part of the Outlook program and resides in the same folder as the rest of your Outlook application files. Scapst.exe is an effective way to scan, repair, and restore your corrupt PST file.

To use the Scanpst.exe program you must first locate the corrupt PST file. It is generally located within the Outlook program folder which resides in the Microsoft Office program folder on your computer and by default is named outlook.pst. After you have located the corrupt file, locate and run Scanpst.exe. This is also located within the Outlook program files and can be easily located by conducting a file search for it in windows.

After locating the file and starting it, you will need to browse for the corrupt PST file you located earlier and then choose the ‘Start’ button within the program to run a quick scan of the file to check for possible errors. If errors are found in the program, Scanpst.exe will ask you to choose the ‘Repair’ button to complete the action. If you are able to complete the repair, this should be the end of the process and you will now be able to work in Outlook normally.

Some users experience error messages while the initial scan is taking place and they are unable to scan or repair the PST file by utilizing the Inbox Repair Tool. Other times, the tool will cease while in the various scan phases or it may not perform the scan at all. In some cases, the scan may complete, but the repair fails.

If this is happening to you and you are unable to utilize the Inbox Repair Tool, you may need to do some further diagnostics on the corrupt file or the Scanpst.exe tool itself. The tool itself could be corrupt or missing components of the application which were missed or installed incorrectly during the initial installation of Outlook.

Since there is no way to download the Scanpst.exe file from the Microsoft website, you may have to work with a third party application to do the PST file scan and repair. It is not recommended to download Scanpst.exe from anywhere else on the web as these files may be spyware or infected with a virus.

The problem is that the Microsoft Office/Outlook installer places the repair program in hard-to-find locations and makes it a hidden file. So make sure you search all your system files and you should be able to find it (more details on this below).

Scanpst.exe Errors

The other challenge you will have is that this free tool does a rather poor job of fixing the errors and recovering all the data from an Outlook.pst or Personal Folders File, which is the single file in which all your email messages, contact records, shared items, appointments, journal entries, calendar events, alarms, schedules and other valuable information is stored. Because of that, there are several third-party PST repair tools available that do a much better job at PST recovery and repair.

Fortunately, all of the good utilities have trial versions that you can download and try out on your own Outlook files to see if they will be able to solve the problem better than Scan Pst. It would be nice if there were reviews for each of these programs, but that just isn’t practical. There are an almost infinite number of ways that a PST file can get damaged.

There are known bugs that can cause things like an 0X80040600 error, or you might lose power and have your computer shut down while Office was in the middle of updating your email or contact records. Or your file might have grown larger than the 2gb file size limit some older versions weren’t able to handle. Or a bad bit on your hard drive could alter the encoding of the file, which is a database file under the covers, making it impossible for Outlook to read it properly. (The list goes on…)

PST Repair Tools

So even though you’d like to be able to find out which is the best *.pst repair tool, and which ones are no good, you really have to try one or more of them yourself and see how they work for you. And if you have a big file, the process might take a while. But if you data has any value to you at all, it might be worth the time, hassle, and expense to buy a tool that can repair the damage, recover your data, and reduce your file size.

Here are some options to consider.

[Note that most of the products listed here advertise that they have a money back guarantee. So if you do buy one of these just make sure you use it promptly and, if it fails to solve your problem, ask for a refund before the 30 days has gone by. Also look for a vendor that provides online support, as these do, since recovering a broken .pst file can be tricky and you might need help.]

1. Stellar Phoenix has been around for a long time and specializes in data recovery in general. They have an award-winning Stellar Outlook PST Repair program that you can download and try out here. Many consider them one of the best, so you might want to start with them first. Stellar Phoenix Outlook includes a password recovery and file splitting utility as part of their package.

2. Another well-established vendor is Nucleus Data Recovery, makers of the Kernel for Outlook PST Repair Tool, which you can download and evaluate from here. Kernel is available in three different licenses, Personal (single user), Corporate (install on multiple machines at the same company) and Technician (use to fix PST files for clients), which might be handy, depending on how many files you need to repair.

3. Data Numen has been around a long time and makes a variety of data recovery products, including their Advanced Outlook Repair (AOR) tool. This could very well be the most expensive option of all, so be sure to read more about it and download the free demo before making a final decision.

4. Disk Doctors has an Outlook Mail Recovery Program with a demo download and more information here. However, they do NOT offer any refund on this product, so this might not be the best first choice. Make sure you evaluate this one fully before you consider purchasing it.

What about newer versions of Office, such as Microsoft Outlook 2010, demonstrated in the following video? Unfortunately, even newer versions are prone to errors, crashes, and corruption, just like Outlook 2007 or Outlook Vista.

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