Member Panel

Another friend's problem...

There seems to be a fault in her Outlook 2000 PST file (outlook.pst).

When we tried the Inbox Repair Tool, it said "An unknown error prevented access to the file C:\Documents and Settings\USER\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\outlook.pst."
When we tried to open the file with a hex editor, it said "Couldn't open 'C:\Documents and Settings\USER\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\outlook.pst' for reading."
When we tried copying the file to another folder, it said "Cannot copy outlook: Data error (cyclic redundancy check)."
When we tried checking the C: drive for errors, it finished Phase 1 then said "Windows was unable to complete the disk check."
We tried using the DOS recover command, but it said "Cannot lock the drive. The volume is still in use."

From this I presume there's something wrong with either the file or the hard drive. Is there anything else we can try - and is the error likely to occur again if we make a new PST file?

Hi JDW,

First thing would be to check the hard drive. The fact that check disk isn't working is not a good thing.

Please download and run ASTRA from the link below. On the left click Diagnotics > HDD Diagnostics. If the hard drive says Bad or Poor then this is most likely the cause of the problem and it will need to be replaced.

What version of Outlook is your friend running and what size is the .pst file.