Inbox Repair Tool or scanpst.exe is an inbuilt tool in Outlook developed by Microsoft. In order to repair any corrupted or damaged PST file, the tool is used. When working on Outlook we face so many issues regarding corruption in Outlook items like Email, Calendar, Tasks, Contacts etc. To fix the issues or the errors we use Inbox Repair Tool (Scanpst.exe).

Where Can We Find SCANPST Utility?

SCANPST tool’s location may vary in different Microsoft Outlook versions. To find its location you can follow these steps (regardless of any Outlook versions):

Why Do We Need Inbox Repair Utility?

We might encounter another error i.e., 0x800CCC0F Outlook error.

How to Find and Run Inbox Repair Tool?

These steps are to be followed:

• At first, close your "MS Outlook".
• Go to (C :) Drive >> Select "Program Files" >> "Microsoft Office" >> "Office14" >> click on "SCANPST".

• Now, you will see a pop-up window, choose "Browse" button to select the PST Outlook File & click "Start" button.

Location to find PST File: C:\Users\admin\Documents\Outlook Files:

• Click on "Start" button, and the tool will analyse the file.

• Now, you’ll see a new window, where the location of PST file will be shown, along with the number of folders found and total items found in this PST file. Make sure to check the option: "Make backup of scanned file before repairing". And then, hit "Repair" button in order to repair the corrupt Outlook PST file.

• The Inbox tool repair utility will display a "Repair complete" message. Hit "OK" button.

Points to Remember:

• Create a backup of PST File before performing the SCANPST operation.
• The all above steps are for MS Outlook 2010, however, these can be performed on any version.

What to do if SCANPST not found?

There can be a scenario where you won’t be able to find SCANPST on its default location. You have to make sure that you haven’t disabled this option:"Show hidden files and folders"

To Check (Window 10 OS):

• Go to "Ask me anything" and then type "Folder Options" >> Go to "File Explorer Options".

• You will see a new window with the name "File Explorer Options" . Visit the "View" tab inside the "Advance settings", enable this option- "Show hidden files, folders, and drives" and Hit "OK".

What if Inbox Repair Tool doesn’t work?

If Inbox Repair Tool fails to repair corrupted PST file, then it only happens when your PST file is severely damaged. This tool is capable to repair only minor level corruption in Outlook PST files. If you need a utility to repair major level corruption of PST files, you won’t find any such tool in web. In that condition, you can switch to any third party source which is capable to repair corrupted PST File in Outlook.

Microsoft Office 365 is the most discussed topic in both technology and business worlds. With the help of Office 365, users can work online, share files and spreadsheets. It is the perfect business cloud which allows users to work anywhere, anytime & on any device. But, due to its flexibility, the chances of data corruption or loss in the Office 365 is more. So, for recovery of lost or corrupted data, backup of Office 365 is necessary. Here, we will also discuss that why Office 365 backup plays an important role with top 5 reasons.

Why do I Need to Backup Office 365?

There are many reasons behind creating backup of Office 365 data. But, in this section, you will come to know the top 5 reasons to backup Office 365.

1. Office 365 is an Ecosystem in the Cloud

Office 365 is a complete ecosystem of many applications & data structures that are stored in the cloud. So, users don’t know exactly where is their data. Thus, If they didn’t have back up of data, then it is very difficult to find any data from the Office 365 ecosystem in the cloud. However, the backup is the only way to restore and find all of Office 365 data. Backing up Office 365 data is not an easy task and sometimes it is nearly impossible to do with the native Office 365 backup tools.

2. MS Outlook Doesn’t Backup After 30 days

Microsoft Outlook does not allow to take backup data older than 30 days that have been deleted from the recycle bin. Also, Outlook has limited email storage, so, sometimes users forced to delete some old emails. If end-users delete their old message to free the space, then it may possible the potentially destroying records that may be needed for legal or regulatory compliance. In such case, the backup should be necessary.

3. Data Loss due to Ransomware Attack

In this new world of hackers and data hostage viruses, data loss or corruption is a very common issue. There are many organizations that have faced the ransomware attack that literally took down their business. According to a recent research in 2017, there are more than 300,000 systems were taken down by Wanna Cry ransomware only. The only way to protect the firms from a ransomware attack is having a full and complete backup of Office 365 data.

4. Business Continuity doesn’t Keep Safe the Data

You should ensure that your business continuity is having full and accurate records of your data. The organization cannot exist large amounts of data that are creating, capturing, storing, and using every day. Therefore, data backup and archiving process are the good insurance policy against the risk of business data loss. Because the out-of-the-box tools of Office 365 cannot provide full and complete records in case of data loss.

5. Regulated Industries have Stricter Backup Regulations

If an organization comes under the regulated industry like Finance, Healthcare or Legal. Then, users may have regulations & requirements for access the information that goes well beyond regular backup methods. There are some regulations like HIPPA, GDPR, Can-Spam often require to maintain complete & accurate records of email, attachments, files etc from several years. However, Office 365 backup process is limited time backup, so it doesn’t provide a guarantee to complete backup with the out-of-the-box tools that come with Office 365.

Summing Up

In this write-up, we have discussed that why Office 365 backup plays an important role nowadays with top 5 reasons. However, it is known that data is not safe in the cloud. But, protection and security of Office 365 data are necessary and it is your responsibility to secure the corporate data. So, a user needs the same level of protection, administration, and security for MS Office 365 that is on the premises. In such scenario, the Office 365 Export tool is the best solution is to create Office 365 backup. It is a quick, simple and effective remedy to create backup of Office 365 data.

A few days ago, one of my clients send me an oversized PST file of Microsoft Outlook via email. Now, I am unable to open it in Outlook. I tried many manual tricks as a solution such as disabling the add-ins, opening Outlook in safe mode, or by running scanpst.exe but did not get satisfactory results. Therefore, I just want to know is there any way through which I can repair corrupt PST file- Outlook 2013? It is really important for me, please suggest me a solution.

Microsoft Outlook is used by most of the business organizations for email communication and exchange of information. As it is a pretty much popular email application so, users must be aware of the PST file format supported by Outlook to store mailbox data. All data items like emails, contacts, calendars, tasks, notes, etc., are stored in it. But at the end, it is like other file formats and very much prone to corruption. PST file can also become damaged or corrupted due to many reasons like large size PST file, virus or malware infection, sudden shutdown, etc. However, if Outlook data file (.pst) gets corrupted, it becomes inaccessible and slows down the performance of Outlook. Thus, to get access back to the PST file data, it is really important to repair damaged PST file as soon as possible.

How Does a PST File get Corrupted?

There are multiple reasons that result corruption in PST file. At this point, the Outlook data file stops working normally and a user is unable to access the data inside it. Here, are some of the major reasons behind corrupt PST file:

• Oversized Outlook PST File
  Every version of Microsoft Outlook has different PST file size limitation. For example, Outlook 2002 and below versions has to file size limit of 2 GB only. But, as the time passes, the need of space will increase because of large data communications. In this case, the size of PST file will exceed and results in file corruption.
• Hardware Related Damage
  Any type of physical damage to the sectors where PST file is stored can cause also damage PST file badly.
• Abnormal Termination of Outlook
  Another possible reason can be an abrupt shutdown of Microsoft Outlook application. If a user is working on Outlook and in between, it terminates due to some reason, then it is possible that PST file is not saved properly. So, when a user tries to open PST file next time, then it may display some errors.
• Virus & Malware Attack
  As everybody knows, no device in the world is totally free from virus or malware so is the PST file. It might be possible that a user has opened an email containing virus-infected attachment. After that, virus or malware enters the Outlook application, corrupt the PST file and make it inaccessible.

How to Repair Corrupt Outlook PST File?

When it comes to recover severely damaged PST file, there are various solutions available. Here, we have discussed both manual and professional solution for the same:

Solution #1: Using Inbox Repair Tool

If a user is looking for some manual solutions to repair corrupt PST file, then Microsoft provides an inbuilt utility named as Inbox Repair tool. It is a free utility that is designed to repair all common issues like corruption faced by the Outlook users. Now, to run this scanpst.exe in a proper way, follow the steps mentioned below:

1. To start the process, you need to locate scanpst.exe application in the Microsoft Outlook. Now, to find scanpst.exe location within the system, follow the steps mentioned below:

• First of all, right-click on the TaskBar and then, click on the Task Manager
• After that, click on the Processes tab
• Next, simply right-click on the Outlook and choose Open File Location. It will open the window containing the scanpst.exe file

Now, you have to double-click on the scanpst.exe file

Then, click on the Browse button to locate and add corrupt PST file, which needs to repair

At last, click on the Start button in order to begin the repair process.

Limitations: The scanpst.exe can be used only to repair minor level of corruption from PST file. However, in the case of severely damaged PST file, this manual procedure fail badly. Thus, in the case of badly corrupt Outlook data file, look for some alternative solution.

Solution #2: Professional Solution to Repair Severely Damaged PST File

There is no manual solution available that a user can try to have a guaranteed solution while repairing a PST file. Thus, in the case of badly damaged PST file, a user is suggested to use a third-party tool. Outlook PST Repair software is one of the popularly used tools across the world to repair corrupted PST file. It is a simple, quick, and reliable application to recover PST file of Microsoft Outlook. Using this application, one can repair all data items like emails, contacts, calendars, etc. stored inside the PST file. Moreover, the software is also capable to repair both minor and major level of corruption from PST file.

Conclusion

Corruption in PST file is one of the frequently encountered problems by any Outlook user. As PST file stores a large amount of important information which no wants to lose at any cost. So, if Outlook PST file gets corrupted because of any reason, then it is really important for the user to repair it as soon as possible. Therefore, this blog will let users know how to repair highly corrupted or damaged PST file of Microsoft Outlook. If the manual solution does not work according to the requirement, then the third-party tool suggested above will be a savior.

What is OST File?

The term OST is an abbreviation of Offline Storage file. It is an offline folder created by Microsoft Outlook email applications to hold copies of emails from the Exchange server. Users can work on the mail server, store the file, and when internet connectivity is available, the file immediately gets synced with the server files. Users will be able to access data items in Cache Exchange Mode and hence, operate emails even in absence of the server.

Why Outlook OST File is Important?

Even in unreliable network connectivity, a user can work with their data without any trouble. It contains the copies of items, which are saved on the mail server. The extendible storage capacity of up to 50 gigabyte allows a person to store galore amount of data within it. Moreover, it helps in recovery from lost mailboxes in case of any damage to mail Exchange server.

What is the Location of OST File?

The OST files are saved at different location, depending upon the version of Windows OS:

Windows XP: drive:\Users\My Documents\Outlook Files

Windows 7 and Vista: drive:\Users\Documents\Outlook Files

Windows 8: drive:\Users\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

Windows 8.1: drive:\Users\admin\Documents\Outlook Files

Windows 10: drive:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

Limitations of OST File

Despite its storage abundance, the file type has some flaws:

1. It is useless in the case of email profile lock-out / damage.
2. The files with large numbers of data affect the performance of the Outlook.
3. Process of re-creating a damaged file is time taking.

Why Do OST Files Get Corrupted?

When OST files get corrupt, they are either deleted or become unreadable. These files might be broken / damaged due to the following causes:

a) Hardware Reasons

• Storage device might encounter bugs.
• Hard drive might have bad sectors.
• Issues with network connectors during sync.
• Power loss during sync.

b) Software Reasons

• Abnormal termination of MS Outlook while logging out
• When storage is about to reach its limit, files tend to get corrupted
• Virus or other malicious malware
• Deficiency in Microsoft Outlook itself

Procedures to Repair Damaged Outlook OST File

Even though the OST files get damaged or corrupted at times due to some unforeseen reasons but still they can be restored to their previous state. Various tools and procedures are available to recover the damaged OST files, which includes the procedures to recreate a similar copy of previous form or to fix the broken OST file.

a) Manual Procedure to Repair OST File

You can use SCANOST.EXE tool to repair corrupted OST file. But, this free utility is available only in Microsoft Outlook 2007 and its earlier versions. If you are working on MS Outlook 2010, 2013 and 2016, then first you have to convert OST file into PST format. After that, run SCANPST.EXE tool to repair converted PST file. Besides, you can directly repair corrupted OST file with the help of automated solution. Let’s see the solution in the next paragraph.

b) Automated Solution to Repair Corrupted OST File

The best way to repair damaged OST files is to use OST repair tool to fix the broken OST file, automatically. There are many eminent feature provided within this utility and few of them are mentioned-below:

1. Extract and recover deleted messages from OST file.
2. No limitation on the size of OST files to be restored.
3. Repaired damaged OST file can be restored in 3 formats.
4. Email Meta-data like read / unread status is maintained.

Conclusion

It would be safe to say that MS Outlook and its OST feature is a crucial material, which caters emailing over wide range of business or an individual. It helps in both internal as well as external communication and keeps mailboxes up to date. However, OST corruption and recovery is a delicate matter that must be dealt immediately to avoid further damage of the online storage. It is a recommendation that one should consult for professional tool to repair damaged OST files because these are safe and secure techniques to deal with this problem.

If you are the frequent user of Microsoft Outlook, then no doubt you will be familiar with OST and PST files. The entire data of Outlook including emails, contact, calendars etc. stored within these files. But, sometimes these files get corrupted due to many reasons like virus, malware etc. If we precisely talk about the corruption in PST files, then there are inbuilt solution like scanpst.exe or Inbox Repair tool available with MS Outlook to repair damaged PST files. In case, if scanpst.exe tool does not work properly then you can try SCANPST.EXE alternate solution. In the following segment, we will discuss the best alternative of scanpst.exe or Inbox Repair tool.

Best Alternative of Inbox Repair Tool

There are various situations where scanpst.exe or Inbox Repair tool fails to repair corrupted PST files. The tool also takes a long time and more efforts to perform the repair process. However, it is only efficient for minor corruption. In a simple way, you can say that the success of scanpst.exe is a completely depends upon the amount of corruption present in the PST file. In case, if a user faces severe problem then, users prefer an alternative of scanpst.exe tool like Outlook Recovery Tool. It is the best solution to recover the inaccessible and damaged Outlook PST files with their attributes. By using this alternative, a user can repair and restore a block of corrupted files within few minutes. Also, this application supports the latest versions of Outlook such as 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, and all below versions. How to Repair PST File Using SCANPST.EXE Alternate?

1. First of all, click on the Start menu and go to the All Programs >> SysTools Outlook Recovery.

2. After launching the tool, click on the Add File button.

3. Then, an Add File window pops up. Here you will see two options Select File and Search File. Now, click on the Select File radio button then click on the “...” button to browse the PST file.

4. After that, search the desired PST file & click on the Open button.

5. If you have selected Search File option then you will see two more options Search All Drive and Search Selected Drive for searching the PST files.

6. After completion of the searching process, the tool displays the entire list of PST files.

7. You can also see the storage path of PST file. Then, select either Quick scan or Advance scan mode and click on the Add button to proceed further.

8. Now, the Outlook Recovery software will start the scanning process.

9. Further, a dialog box appears which confirm the success of scanning process. Click on Yes button if you want to save the scan results for the .pst file.

10. In this step, you can preview all the added mails on the software interface.

11. Next, you can see all the folders & mailbox items. Click on the Mail tab to view only emails.

12. Click on Calendars tab to view events from all mailbox items.

13. Click on Contacts tab to view the address book information in the software.

14. Now, click on the Export button to migrate mailboxes.

15. If you have selected PST radio button then click on the Advanced setting option.

16. Now, choose Split PST option, Date Filter, and Categories according to your requirement and click on Save button.

17. Then, choose the final destination to save the exported files and click on Export button.

18. Now, the software will start the export process. After completion of process click on OK button.

19. Further, click on the Save button to save the report in the CSV file format.

20. At last, you can view the final PST files in the specific final location.

Summing Up

Scanpst.exe is an inbuilt utility which is provided by Microsoft and the main motive of this tool is to repair the corrupted Outlook files. But, it is only efficient for minor corruption. In this circumstances, users are looking for an alternative of scanpst.exe or Inbox Repair tool. So, we have discussed the best alternative of scanpst.exe or Inbox Repair tool in this blog and noticed that Outlook Recovery tool is the perfect solution to repair all type of corruption. It is very easy to use and recommended by many data recovery experts.

An eDiscovery tool is used to export Office 365 mailboxes to the Outlook PST file in the Exchange Admin Center (EAC). The search results consist all the components from the Office 365 mailboxes. It completely depends on the sources of the content from the eDiscovery search. These Office 365 mailbox items can be sent to other people also within the same organization. But, sometimes a user faces an error eDiscovery PST export tool stuck calculating while running migration of PST file in Office 365. eDiscovery PST export tool failed to retrieve search configuration. Hence, in this write up, we will tell you the method to resolve the issue when eDiscovery PST export tool sticks in calculating state.

What Are The Symptoms Of This Problem?

There are some situations given where the eDiscovery PST export tool sticks in calculating state:

• When a user is running Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 in an Office 365 Dedicated/ITAR environment.
• If a person is the member of the SSA-Discovery Management baseline role group or of a custom role group that uses the SSA_Mailbox Search management role.
• When a user is trying to perform a PST migration by using the eDiscovery PST Export Tool.

When you enter your credentials and you get a scenario like this, then surely the tool is stuck in a calculating state.

What Are The Main Causes Of This Problem?

There are many reasons behind the eDiscovery PST export tool sticks in calculating state error message. If the below mentioned following conditions are true, then it may the tool is stuck in a calculating state.

• When the External Exchange Web Service (EWS) access is disabled in the environment.
• If a user tries to start the PST migration process over the Internet.

How to Resolve eDiscovery PST Export Tool Issue?

To resolve the error eDiscovery PST export tool stuck calculating issue, it is the best to use Office 365 Export PST tool or Office 365 Exporter. This software allows users to easily migrate selective or entire data from Office 365 mailbox to Outlook PST without any data loss. By using this tool, a user never sticks to a calculating state. Moreover, this utility also provides many facilities like multiple naming convention options, move multiple Office 365 accounts to PST at once, apply date filter, etc. It also compatible to work with all versions of Microsoft Windows.

Are you willing to know how to use Office 365 eDiscovery? eDiscovery or Electronic Discovery is a platform that is used to locate, collect, and produce “Electronically Stored Information” (ESI) for legal purposes. Items like emails, voicemails, databases, documents, presentations, audio/video files, social media, and websites are considered as ESI. However, in-place eDiscovery of Office 365 can also be used for identifying, searching and exporting O365 mailboxes. In order to use Office 365 eDiscovery, users need to be aware of the complete procedure. Here we will learn the method to run Office 365 eDiscovery with step-by-step description.

How to Use Office 365 eDiscovery

In-Place eDiscovery is situated in Exchange admin center of Office 365. Follow these steps to use eDiscovery in O365.

1. Assigning Users Permissions for Security & Compliance for eDiscovery

Users have to be assigned to the roles in Security & Compliance Center in order to perform any eDiscovery tasks. There are two role groups in eDiscovery, called ‘Reviewer’ and ‘eDiscovery Manager.’

• Reviewer: In this restrictive role group, members are only permitted to open and view eDiscovery cases of Security & Compliance Center. They are not permitted to perform any other task like creating searches or adding members. However, the members do have access to Advanced eDiscovery cases for performing analysis tasks.
• eDiscovery Manager: This role group allows its members to create and edit searches, add and remove people to a case, export content search results, etc. It also lets users create search results in Advanced eDiscovery for analysis.

Allow Permissions to Access Permissions Menu of Security & Compliance Center

• First of all, select the permission of your choice and click Edit icon to modify the option. On the next page, click on + icon to add users to ‘Administrator role’ and ‘eDiscovery Manager.’

• Repeat this process to add Reviewers, but select to edit ‘Review role group.’ Now the permissions are set and assigned users can execute different eDiscovery Center tasks.

2. Creating an eDiscovery Case

• Users have to access Security & Compliance Center to create a new case in eDiscovery. Then click on Search & investigation>> eDiscovery, and then click on + Create a case button.

• In the right panel, boxes will appear where you have to enter case name and description of the case. Click Save.

• A new case has been created. It will be displayed on the main page of eDiscovery.

3. Adding Members to the eDiscovery Case

On next step, members have to added to the case. Only members of role groups ‘Reviewer’ or ‘eDiscovery Manager’ can be added as the case members.

• Go to Security & Compliance Center. Click on Search & investigation >> eDiscovery. All cases of your organization will be displayed.
• Click on the case name where you want to add members. ‘Manage this case’ page will appear. Click on + Add button to add members.

• Select users from eDiscovery Managers list and click on Add button.

• After successful addition, confirmation notice will appear on screen.

4. Placing Legal Hold on Existing Content

Using eDiscovery case, users can place hold on certain contents to preserve it. Users can put hold upon mailboxes, group mailboxes, OneDrive for Business sites, SharePoint sites and sites associated with Microsoft. Once hold is placed on content location, that content will remain there until you remove the hold or delete the hold from that location. There are options for placing hold that determines the scope of hold:

• You can place either infinite hold or query-based hold. The infinite hold is placed on all contents while query-based hold is placed only on contents that match a particular search query.
• Hold can be placed within a specific date range when the contents were created, sent, or received. Otherwise, you can place hold on all contents.

Adding Hold on Contents

• Navigate to Security & Compliance Center and click on Search & investigation >> eDiscovery to get the list of cases. Click Open button beside the case that you want to place hold upon. Click Hold tab from Menu of the case homepage.
• Click on + icon to create a new Hold page.

• Give a name for the hold that is unique to your organization.
• Now, choose the location where the hold will be placed. The location can be a mailbox, sites, and even public folders. To add SharePoint, click on + button, then enter the URL you want to place hold on and finally click Add.

• Click Next after addition is done.
• If you want to create a query-based hold, enter values that you want to search in the box. Or else, leave it blank to put hold on all contents.

• Extra conditions can be added to narrow down the results.

• After configuring, click Finish to generate the query-based hold. It takes some time for this process to get completed.
• You can see the detailed information of the new hold created in the right pane of the Hold page of that particular hold. These information will give you complete idea about how much eDiscovery case content is put on hold.
• Users can also click on Update statistics to learn the latest hold statistics. They can also click Refresh to update these statistics in the detailed pane.

5. Creating and Running Content Search

After performing these steps, users can create and run searches for contents related to the case. Case Content Searches can be accessed only by users who are members of both the eDiscovery Manager role group and the case.

• Go to Security & Compliance Center, click Search & investigation >> eDiscovery. Find out in which case you want to create a Content Search and click Open. Wait till the case loads and select Search.

• Click + button to load a search window. Enter a name for the search.

• Choose from these options to select your search location. You can choose the first option if you want to search contents put on hold. To search other places like mailboxes, choose Search everywhere or Custom location selection options.

• If you select Search everywhere option, also select all options that will appear under it.
• If you select Custom location selection option, choose your preferred location from the list of options.
• After location selection is done, click Next. Enter conditions and keywords to generate a search query. Users can use Sensitive Type syntax here.

• Users can also add similar conditions that were used while putting hold on content. Save the search to make it run.
• Once the search is done, its results can be exported. Mailbox items get downloaded in PST format or as individual messages. SharePoint and OneDrive for business contents get exported as native Office documents and also other documents.

Conclusion

We have learned how to use Office 365 eDiscovery from this post. These are the basic steps to perform some elementary tasks using eDiscovery in Office 365. Apart from these, there are many other tasks that can be performed using this platform. However, users need to have in-depth knowledge to perform advanced level eDiscovery tasks. eDiscovery helps to protect documents that are important for litigation from being edited or deleted. The usage of Office 365 eDiscovery in the court of law will prove to be more beneficial in coming days.