What can I do about Outlook's huge PST?

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Just the pointer I needed. The only thing to add is if you have an already existing .PST file, you can just open it throguh the file menu as well. Handy for archived mail, or recovering mail from old spots. Thanks a lot.

My pst file is little more than 2gb. Every time i try to open outlook i get this message "Outlook not responding". What should I do now?

Check out http://ask-leo.com/archives/000099.html - "My PST has grown over 2gig, and now I can't repair it. What do I do?"

Good luck,

Leo

If you need to do this on more than just one or two PST files you might want to use something like PSTCompactor (http://www.PSTCompactor.com ).. it can find PSTs all over your PC/network and can zip up attachments too so you get back more space than just compacting.

#1. Outlook 2002: Is it harmful to remaining pst files if I delete a pst file I created that no longer ins useful?
#2. Outlook 2002: Other than the original pair (Outlook.pst/Personal Folder), can I, subsequent to creating additional sets of file/folder names, change one or both of the names in a set as long as I reassociate them?

#1: Nope. I'd recommend closing the PST in Outlook before you delete the file.
#2: well, there's no such thing as a "set", a pst is just a file, and you can certainly rename the file. I'd recommend closing the pst, renaming it, and then reopenning it with the new name.

Can you help me??? Last week my pst was huge so I followed all of your steps and now my contacts are NOT reacting as normal. All of the e-mail shows up on the contact folder but if you go into the v-card it's not there. If I add a new contact it's not showing the name to search??? It's blank. I can't send v-cards to anyone. Also my calander is not letting me put alarmed apointments in. I use this daily. Anything would be much appreciated.

Thanks
In Need

Is there a way to automatically empty deleted items in a personal folder??

In outlook 2003: Tools, Options, "Other" tab, check "Empty the Deleted Items folder on exiting".

I have Outlook 2002 and have a 1.5GB .pst file. It's getting bigger every week. I have tried archiving, deleting the deleted folder, etc., and of course COMPACT. Unfurtunately, NONE of these tactics works, the file always remains the same size! Anyone know what's happening??

Cheers,

Ray

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