"Unable to start processing services. The file c:\...\Outlook\Outlook.pst
is not a personal folders file"
When Outlook is opened from a desktop shortcut, the error message comes up
once the Outlook window has opened, but a shortcut on the taskbar gives this
message before Outlook can load.
I notice in Windows Explorer that in the Outlook folder: the dates on her
yearly archives seem to be updated each time Outlook is opened, and the
contents of these is still intact; but the date on the Outlook.pst folder
stays on 27 May, and it is disturbingly showing '0kb'!
Interestingly, messages can be found by Google Desktop Search, but,
unfortunately, if any attachments on these are clicked, this opens Outlook
with the same message.
Searching for similar on Google, I found one fix for 'unable to start
processing services', which was to rename either OutItems.log, or
Offitems.log. We do not appear to have an 'offitems.log', but I found an
OutItems.log and renamed it. Unfortunately this made no difference.
What has happened; and what, if anything can I do to get her proper pst
folder back?
Any lifesaving help would be much appreciated!
S
> My partner went to open her Outlook this morning (O2003, XPPro), and
> got the message:
>
> "Unable to start processing services. The file
> c:\...\Outlook\Outlook.pst is not a personal folders file"
Please don't multipost.
--
Brian Tillman [MVP-Outlook]
I did not know which of the two Outlook groups was the main one - generally
use OE myself. Perhaps you can enlighten me?
Regards,
S
"Brian Tillman" <tillm...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:OBocSilw...@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> I did not know which of the two Outlook groups was the main one -
> generally use OE myself. Perhaps you can enlighten me?
Technically, no one should post in microsoft.public.outlook, but that and
this are used interchangeably. Crosspost instead and then those who see it
in one group (with a newsreader) will have it marked read in the other group
automatically.
--
Brian Tillman [MVP-Outlook]
Thanks Brian,
I didn't know cross-posts worked like that. It is good to hear the
reasoning behind these things.
I'll unsubscribe to public.outlook, after the current thread.
Cheers,
S
It turns out that our Google Desktop can find mail that no longer exists as
far as Outlook is concerned, so things turn out to be not quite as desperate
as it seemed at first. Certainly it did not help that we had not
appreciated that all the 'boxes' in Outlook were not individual pst folders
in their own right. (Well worth sticking with OE as far as I am concerned!)
From the event logs it appears that Outlook hung on closing one day, and
then 'windows was unable to load the registry' on the next. Followed by
'cannot load the locally stored profile', with 'DETAIL - The process cannot
access the file because it is being used by another process.
then: 'Windows has backed up this user's profile. Windows will automatically
try to use the backed up profile the next time this user logs on.'
"Windows cannot find the local profile and is logging you on with a
temporary profile. Changes you make to this profile will be lost when you
log off."
And then back to 'windows was unable to load... and so on.
These message strings have not come back since making a new pst, but I would
like to know where the 'backup' that the error log says it made is, if such
exists!
Can you recommend software that can recover corrupt pst files direct from
the hard drive? (Or how we might recover them to Outlook with GD for that
matter.)
Kind regards,
S
(Incidentally, my spell checker wants me to replace pst with 'pest': Quite!)
"Pat Willener" <nob...@devnull.spamcop.net> wrote in message
news:uvqjyxFx...@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
Sorry, I am not an expert on data recovery - my recovery method is
always from the last backup, should the need arise.