Link to home
Start Free TrialLog in
Avatar of CharlesReid
CharlesReid

asked on

Backup of PST file

Windows XP Pro
Outlook 2000
Gateway Laptop P4 1.7GHZ, 256 RAM, 30 GB HDD, CDRW

I need to back up ALL my Outlook data (Calendar, contacts, inbox, sent items, everything).  I have formatted a CDRW to allow drag and drop file copying to it.  It works with all the other data files I need to backup (Quicken, Word, Spreadsheets, CAD files, etc)so there does not appear to be any problem with the hardware. I know where the PST file is located so I go into Windows Explorer and I drag the file to the D: drive.  Everything appears to start correctly.  The drive spins up, the drive light comes on, and a window opens showing flying papers, a progress bar, and an estimated time left.  The progress bar gets all the way to the end, the time shows 15 seconds remaining, the papers continue to fly and it just sits there.  The disk quits spinning, the drive light goes off and it just sits there.  I have left it as long as 30 minutes,...... nothing.  I can not open the drive door, (message about it being in use), I cannot close the copying window (even through Task Manager, cannot got to START - SHUT DOWN - SHUT DOWN, it tells me I need to wait until that job is complete.  The only way out is to hold down the power button to force it to shut down.

Okay. Since the other data files I try to copy work fine I figure it must be something with the file.  I run SCANPST.  I says there was nothing wrong with the file.  I ran it 2 or 3 times.  So I try to drag and drop it to another temporary folder on the hard drive.  It copies complete without any errors in about 15 seconds.  But I need to get the copy to a removable disk so next I try right clicking on the PST file and "send to" the D drive.  Hangs up again.  I try doing an EXPORT to a backup.pst file from within Outlook.  Hangs up again.  I checked to make sure there is plenty of free space on the disk and it is only about 1/4 full.

Any ideas?  Please!!!! Would the PST backup add-in be of any help?

Thanks
Avatar of Hendro
Hendro

Make sure your *.pst file is not larger than 2GB. This is a problem with Outlook.

Try and divide the data and save it as backup.pst & backup1.pst files if the original is too big
well it looks like your next step would be to copy the file to a CDR instead of CDRW and see what happens.  You simply drop a blank CD in the recorder, right click the pst file, select send to drive "X" ( this is your recorder drive letter) and it will copy the file to a temporary folder and then notify you that you have files waiting to be written to cd.  Follow the prompts and you should be good to go.

Todd
Never tried it myself but how about exporting through outlook direct to the CDR?  

You never know could be worth a try.
Sounds like it might be a problem with big files rather than with PST files in particular.  How big is your PST file?

Check this out to see if it's applicable:

328600 Roxio DirectCD 5.1 Stops Responding When You Copy Large Files to CD-ROM
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=328600
Avatar of CharlesReid

ASKER

The PST file is 85 Meg.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Avatar of Member_2_193590
Member_2_193590

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
Thanks.  The article uses the figure 100 Meg, though it does not say that is a hard and fast number.  My file is only about 85-86 Meg.  But I did not have any other ideas so I downloaded the patch, installed it and everything works.  I appreciate your making me aware of this problem.  Since everything else worked I had not thought to look at the Roxio site.  They recognized the problem and had the fix available for free download.

Again, THANKS!!