While earlier versions of Microsoft Outlook, such as Outlook 97 and Outlook 2002 make use of the Import/Export feature of PST files, newer Outlook family products can open up a PST file directly without the need of special user driven functionality. Having this in mind, users are able to benefit from the capability of importing and export a PST file in order to make use of data from newer versions of Outlook onto even older computers or older software configurations.

In order to import a PST file, the user must first identify the version of Microsoft Outlook that is currently running.

Outlook 2003 / 2007 and 2010 Users:

click on “Open” in the “File” menu of the top toolbar. Then, as a new dialog box appears, browse to the location of the PST file that needs to be imported and click on the “Open” button. Depending on the hardware configuration of the computer as well as the size of the PST file itself, the import process may require somewhere between 5 and 30 minutes, in the case of very large PST files.

The Personal Folders (.pst) file is used in combination with all version of Microsoft Outlook, including Microsoft Outlook 2002, Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007. For this reason, regardless of the version that your favorite email client has, PST problems may interfere with productivity at any time.

In order to locate the ScanPST.exe file, it is recommended to use the Microsoft Windows search function. In this way, by searching for “ScanPST.exe”, one of the following locations will be revealed, depending on operating system and Outlook versions: You May Also Download ScanPST.exe from here

• C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE12
• C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Mapi\1033\
• C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Mapi\1033\NT
• C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\1033
• C:\Program Files(x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12
• C:\Program Files(x86)\Common Files\System\Mapi\1033\
• C:\Program Files(x86)\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\1033

Once located, in order to use the Inbox Repair Tool, the user first needs to be aware of where the problematic PST file is located in order to be able to backup, restore or attempt repair operations on it. Below are the paths but you may want to check out our article ( Default PST File Locations )

Vista / Windows 7 users will find their PST file at the following location:

• %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook

XP and Windows 2000 users will find their PST file at the location:

• %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

Please note that once located, the PST file size should be checked as a measure of precaution. If the file size has reached the critical 2GB limit, it is recommended to split the file in smaller multiple parts using the PST/OST crop tool.

Now BACKUP the pst file. Just make a copy of it and save it to your documents folder. That way if something goes wrong during the scan you have the original pst file to try again.

After making sure that the PST file is of the proper size, run the Inbox Repair Tool by executing ScanPST.exe and click on “Browse” in order to choose the PST file that needs to be repaired. Once that the PST file has been loaded, click on “Start” in order to begin the repair process. At this point the ScanPST utility should have already started to fix the problems related to the PST file, displaying a set of errors that have been found.

Immediately after the process has been completed, click on “Ok” and open Outlook, making sure that the correct profile has been selected from the PST file that has been repaired. If the repair has been conducted properly then a list of recovered folders will be displayed.

If Scanpst.exe was unable to fix your problem than your PST file needs a more advanced software application. We recommend out this Outlook PST Repair software program. It’s one of the few programs that can repair PST files, however it’s a little costly so be sure to try the scanpst software first.

At this point it is recommended to create a new Personal Folder and drag the recovered items into this new file, for backup purposes.