Repairing PST Files

Note: Before committing to any repair of any PST file, please make sure there is a pristine original PST. Always work on a copy!

Discovery Attender does not have a function to repair corrupt PST files, nor does Gimmal offer another tool to do so. However Microsoft does offer an ‘Inbox Repair Tool’ (aka ScanPST) which is installed with Outlook.

Unfortunately, ScanPST does not always do the best job of repairing PST files. It can fail to repair all the errors in a PST, delete large number of items while attempting a repair or fail utterly in an attempted repair. At this point users may want to attempt to re-acquire the PST file.  If that isn't an option, or  if it achieves the same result, an additional PST repair tool may be required. If you process PSTs regularly, you will want to have an additional PST repair tool in your arsenal.

Gimmal does not recommend any PST Repair tools in particular. However, over the years, customers have mentioned a variety of PST repair tools that have worked in their situation:

• Stellar Toolkit for Outlook

• Datanumen Outlook Repair

• Kernel for Outlook Recovery

We would highly suggest a tool that allows the creation smaller files as it repairs the PST file. This is a function which ScanPST does not have. Smaller PSTs are more helpful because they can be searched faster and are less likely to become corrupted.

If you do encounter a PST repair tool that is not listed above, please let us know about your experience.