Sometimes, when you start Microsoft Outlook 2000 or access a .pst file using it, you may face the following error message:

“Outlook.pst cannot be accessed – 0×80040116.”

Reason:

The aforementioned error message occurs, when there is some problem with index of the .pst file that you are trying to open. The index might have been damaged or deleted, due to which Outlook cannot open the .pst file.

Solution:

The specified issue can be resolved with the help of scanpst.exe (Inbox repair tool), a built-in Microsoft’s application, which along with MS Outlook gets automatically installed on your computer system. The scanpst.exe performs the following operations:

• Analyzes the directory structure and headers of the damaged .pst file.

• Starts scanning the .pst file to repair it and recover the email messages and other items.

• Creates a folder named Lost and Found after completing the recovery process and places all recovered items in that folder.

Let us now execute the following steps to use scanpst.exe for repairing the damaged .pst file:

1. Navigate to the following path to locate the scanpst.exe:

Drive:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Mapi\1033\NT\scanpst.exe

1. Double-click the scanpst.exe file to execute it.

2. Provide the path of the damaged .pst file and click the Start button. The scanpst.exe starts scanning the damaged .pst file.

3. After the scanpst.exe completes the scanning process, close it.

Now, you can view the recovered email messages in the Lost and Found folder that the scanpst.exe creates during the repairing and recovery process. To access the Lost and Found folder execute the following steps:

1. Starts MS Outlook 2000.

2. Select the Folder List option in the View menu. There you can see a list of the recovered personal folders including Lost and Found folder.

In Lost and Found folder, you can have a view on the recovered email messages and other related items. However, you have to restore those recovered messages in a new PST file. Following steps help you to create a new PST file:

1. Select the Data File Management option in the File menu.

2. Click the Add button. The New Outlook Data File dialog box appears.

3. Now, select the Personal Folders File (.pst) in the Types of Storage section.

4. Click the OK button. The Create or Open Outlook Data File dialog box appears.

5. Specify name and location for new .pst file and click the Open button

6. Click the OK button.

This way you can create a new .pst file. Now, when you have created a new .pst file, just drag the items from the Lost and Found folder into the newly created .pst file. This is how scanpst.exe helps you in recovering email messages from the damaged .pst file. However, sometimes scanpst.exe does not efficiently repair the damaged .pst file especially when the .pst file is highly corrupted. In that scenario, you should use third-party .pst repair and recovery software.

Kernel for PST Recovery is an efficient .pst repair and recovery software, which can flawlessly and quickly repair the highly corrupted .pst file(s). The software perfectly deals with most of the .pst related errors and lets you recover email items with full accuracy. Kernel for Outlook supports MS Outlook 97 and above versions.

Comments are closed.