Experts,

I have a user, who has left the company, however the manager of the department needs to view this user's outlook pst file. The pst file is 3.4gb. When we try to attach the pst file to outlook, it gives us an error message, saying something about the pst needing repair.

I ran the scanpst.exe program to repair the pst file. The repair program gets so far then just freezes ... task manager says that the program is not responding.

Help ... is there another way to repair this pst file? Is there a website that offers a repair tool other than (better than) the standard scanpst.exe. Are there any 3rd party tools that you recommend that I could purchase?

We are using Microsoft Outlook 2007. Our OS is Windows XP SP3. The pst file is standard run-of-the-mill pst file, nothing fancy about the file, except is probably is too large.

in case scanpst.exe freezes, as you said, then try repairing the same pst in other system or different outlook versions (outlook 2013). Also, you can try download demo version of recover outlook tool and check if it shows mails and other outlook data items.

Receiving error in MS Outlook is a common phenomenon due to the sensitive nature of data files. It is available with.PST extension which is based on the centralized database concept. As per the guidance of Outlook MVP, User should go through ScanPST.exe at primary stage when the error / problem is encountered with PST file. If it is failed to accomplish the required operation, then you can proceed with authenticate utility. 

To check detailed review of PST repair process, must read: http://clintboessen.blogspot.in/2013/03/an-insight-into-stellar-phoenix-outlook.htm

Please try Outlook Repair Set. Solution is designed for repairing damaged email folders in Outlook and fixing email errors, caused by disk issues, file system problems and other errors. 

For more: https://www.outlookrepairkit.com/

• Edited by MichaelG009 7 minutes ago