sherpaj:
"No good deed shall go unpunished."
That seems to be the rule whenever computer problems are involved, at
least from my own observations. Hopefully, this particular good deed
shall prove reversible.
First, a short discussion on how OST files work. Unlike PST files,
which are local, standalone archives containing Outlook/Exchange data
types, OST files were intended to serve only as local caches of the
server-based data. Then the concept of Offline changes was introduced,
and the OST file became both the local cache of the server-based data,
and the local buffer for offline changes that need to be synchronized
back with the server at the next possible opportunity. Needless to
say, sometimes this synchronization does not occur as planned; by
default, Outlook/Exchange will not synchronize changes if there have
been conflicting changes made in the OST file and the server. For
example, if I delete a meeting from my calendar while offline, and at
the same time the meeting organizer sends out an update to the meeting
time, when I reconnect to the Exchange server this discrepancy will be
picked up by Outlook, and it will not synchronize in either direction
until the user has the opportunity to state which version of every
discrepancy is the 'right' version.
The recoverability of your friend's month of changes will depend
greatly on the degree of discrepancies that exist between her original
OST file, and the current server data.
The first step is to make sure that her current OST file is fully
synchronized with the server. The easiest way to do this is to go into
her Calendar, and create a new meeting (for example, a meeting that
covers from now until two hours from now, entitled: "Computer Repair
Time"). After you save this meeting, hit Send/Receive and allow the
system to synchronize.
Next, assuming the folder pane is visible (if not, go to the View menu
to activate it), right-click on the name of the user's mailbox, and
select Properties...> Advanced... (button) > Advanced (tab) > Offline
Folder File Settings... (button), and make a note of where the OST
file is stored.
Now, exit from Outlook. Allow Outlook to finish its final
synchronization in the background (Note: this is the source of most
errors, many users assume that when the Outlook window disappears from
the screen, it's safe to disconnect from the network... this is
incorrect, as Outlook will continue to do final synchronization
activities even after the window has disappeared! Always wait for any
hard drive activity to finish before disconnecting from the network
after shutting down Outlook).
Once Outlook has completed its background synchronization, disconnect
from the network (just unplug the network cable). Now, start up
Outlook again, this will eventually result in an offer to work
Offline, accept it. Now go to Calendar, and see if the meeting you
just created is still there. If so, proceed. If not, then the
synchronization process itself may have a problem, we'll need to debug
that first.
Assuming that the synchronization process is working, please shut down
Outlook again (and wait for the hard disk activity to complete). Find
the current OST file (in the location you noted down earlier), and
rename it. You may also want to make a separate copy of the renamed
file to another location on the hard drive at this time, but it isn't
really necessary since all the data is on the server.
Now, copy the old OST file back into this folder. After you have
copied it, start up Outlook again in offline mode, and see if the
offline data is present. In other words, can you see the month's worth
of data that your friend would like back? If so, then you're in a good
position.
Now, create a new PST file (File>New>Outlook Data File), and *COPY*
her sent mail, contacts, and calendar folders to this new PST file.
Make sure you COPY them, not move them. This creates an additional
backup just in case. After you have finished copying the data over,
shut down Outlook (and again, wait for all hard drive activity to
end).
Reconnect the computer to the network, and start up Outlook again. You
will receive a warning from Outlook that the offline file is out of
sync with the server. At this point, it is time to try running the
Outlook OST Integrity Checking Tool, SCANOST.EXE.
Please go to Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\1033\ (the 1033
is the locale ID for 'English - US', if the language setting is
different then it will be some other ID number). You will find
SCANOST.EXE there, please run it.
You can read a bit more about SCANOST here:
http://office.microsoft.com/assistance/category.aspx?CategoryID=CH010502131033&CTT=6&Origin=HP010210631033
After you start SCANOST, you will need to do a test run first by
UNCHECKING the 'Repair Errors' checkbox. This way, SCANOST will only
log the discrepancies, without making any changes. After the tool has
finished, go back to Outlook, look in the 'Deleted Items' folder, and
you should find a message there called 'OST Integrity Check'
containing the log. You can review this to see the extent of the
discrepancies. If nothing looks too dramatic, then proceed with the
next step.
You can now run SCANOST again, with the 'Repair Errors' checkbox
checked. For some discrepancies, SCANOST will ask for user
input/decision, so make sure your friend is nearby to make those
decisions. This step may take a while, but is necessary. After SCANOST
has completed all repairs, everything will be back in sync.
Once everything has been fixed, you can safely 'disconnect' the PST
file you made earlier. Keep it around as a backup just in case,
though. Also, please make sure your friend understands the importance
of letting Outlook completely finish synchronizing with the server
BEFORE disconnecting from the network, otherwise discrepancies will
exist again in the future.
All of the above is predicated on the original OST file not being
corrupted, and on your friend being able to advise SCANOST what to do.
I hope this works out for you and your friend, definitely please let
me know if you run into any problems!
Regards,
aht-ga
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