If you have ever faced the PST file corruption then you surely must be aware of Scanpst.exe utility. This is the recommended utility for scanning the possible errors in Outlook PST file at preliminary stages. As this is a free inbuilt utility in MS Outlook so no extra effort is required to use it. You just need to locate the Scanpst (Inbox repair tool) in your computer system as per the Outlook version. Then you can apply it to your corrupt PST file. However, the entire phenomenon of repairing the file is not that easy with Scanpst and several times this utility fails to repair.
There are some specific reasons which cause failure of Scanpst.exe:
Reasons for Scanpst.exe Failure:
• Repairs only header section of file: This is one of the issues with Scanpst.exe that it can only repair the file when there is low-level corruption or only the header part is corrupted. If the body of the file corrupted then ScanPST.exe is not able to handle it and eventually fails.
• Not able to repair PST larger than 2 GB: This is one another limitation of this utility that if the size of PST file exceeds more than 2 GB then it does not work. The size restriction makes it difficult for the utility to repair and recover the PST file.
• PST file data modification: After repair of the PST file, there are chances that the data in your PST file get modified. So you may get a file which may not have some of your important data. So the problem of data loss is also one of its main issues.
Above mentioned issues, makes this utility less reliable, especially when you have an instant requirement of repairing your PST file. As mentioned earlier, the success of Scanpst many times depends upon the level of corruption or type of error occurred in Outlook. If you have tried this utility and this didn’t help then still there are other options for fixing this issue.
Alternatives to Scanpst:
If you want to repair your corrupt PST and wants to restore all its objects then a tool for repair PST is required. For repairing the file, a tool is helpful which repairs PST file of all Outlook versions like 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, 2003, 2002 and 2000. To fulfil this need, Stellar Repair for Outlook completely assists in recovering the data from the corrupt PST file.
Although, a Stellar Repair for Outlook is somehow similar to the Scanpst in its working. But it is highly advanced and powerful than Scanpst.exe. Apart from the basic functionality, the Outlook repair tool lets you recover deleted mails and recover selected emails from the large group of emails. Thus even when Scanpst fails, you can still get access to your Outlook with a repair tool.
