Microsoft KB Archive/830307

= You receive an error message when you start Outlook =

Article ID: 830307

Article Last Modified on 1/24/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
 * Microsoft Office Outlook 2007

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For a Microsoft Outlook 2002 version of this article, see 286162.



SYMPTOMS
When you start Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 or Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, you may receive the following error message:

The file :\ \ .pst could not be found.

When you click OK in the error message, Outlook displays the Create/Open Personal Folders File dialog box.



CAUSE
This behavior occurs if Outlook delivers e-mail messages to a personal folders (.pst) file, and if one of the following conditions is true:
 * The .pst file where Outlook delivers your e-mail messages is located on a server that is unavailable.
 * The .pst file where Outlook delivers your e-mail messages is corrupted, and Outlook cannot locate it.



RESOLUTION
To resolve this behavior, use one of the following methods, as appropriate to your situation.

Open a New Personal Folders (.pst) File
If you want to open a new .pst file, type a name for the new file in the Create/Open Personal Folders File dialog box, and then click Open.

Personal Folders (.pst) File That Is Located on a Network Server
.PST files that are located on network drives are not supported.

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

297019 Personal folder files are unsupported over a LAN or over a WAN link

Corrupted Personal Folders (.pst) File
If you suspect that your .pst file is corrupted, you may be able to recover the file by using the Inbox Repair Tool. To do so, follow these steps.

Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.
 * 1) Click Start, point to Search, and then click Files or Folders.
 * 2) Type scanpst.exe in the Search for files or folders named box, and then click Search Now.
 * 3) In the list of found files, double-click the Scanpst.exe file.
 * 4) Type the name of the .pst file that you want to repair, or click Browse to locate the .pst file.
 * 5) Click Start.

If you receive an error message, you have the option to back up the file before you try to repair it.

The log file for the repair process has the same name as the .pst file with a .log file name extension. If you repair a file that is named Mailbox.pst, the log file is named Mailbox.log.



MORE INFORMATION
Unless you are using either Microsoft Exchange Server or Microsoft Mail services, Outlook 2003 requires a .pst file to store your e-mail messages, calendar, contacts, and tasks. If Outlook 2003 cannot find a .pst file, the only other folders that you can open are the file system folders, by using Outlook 2003 as a document explorer.

Additional query words: OL2003 OL2007

Keywords: kbstartprogram kbcorrupt kberrmsg kbpending kbprb KB830307

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