What Caused Corruption of Your Outlook PST file? What Should You Do in Such Situations?

A PST file is an MS Outlook file format and it is known as the personal storage table. The PST files can store calendar events, messages, and other types of formats in the file. Even though MS Outlook dominates the email client marketing platform, the issues associated with the PST files are so large that the developers include an in-built tool to fix the PST issues. 

Sometimes, the PST file gets corrupted. Corruption can be caused by various factors. Therefore, you need to know the causes behind MS Outlook PST file corruption so that you can avoid them. If you don’t take proper precautions, the PST file corruption will lead to permanent data loss. 

Here are some causes that lead to PST file corruption and data loss. The following causes are extremely essential to remember:

Corruption Due to Hardware Failure

The hardware failure can be anything from power failure, storage device failure, and issues related to internal linking. There are also dangerous sectors in the places where the PST file will be damaged if they are stored there. Apart from that, the easy access to any PST file will also make it vulnerable to any damage, especially if the issues are attached to the network link that consists of a server, interface cards, routers, network hubs, or any other hardware component inside the link. Apart from that, when someone tries to access the PST file during a power failure, it will also corrupt outlook and the PST file. 

Corruption Due to Software Issues

This includes incorrect processes and data recovery tools, poor MS Outlook program, incorrect or abrupt shutdown of MS Outlook and other types of malware or virus attacks. If you use an irrelevant file system recovery tool, it will undoubtedly corrupt the PST file. This is because the irrelevant system recovery tools contain faulty recovery tools and methods, an incorrect mix of the data blocks, overwriting the garbage data, and the absence of the proper file recovery system. If you want to fix PST files that are corrupted due to software issues, make sure you use proper recovery tools and processes. 

Corruption Due to Virus Attacks

When your system or the MS Outlook data files are attacked by a virus or malware, it will also cause corruption in the PST file. Additionally, some common computer viruses that cause harm and corrupt the PST data files explore Stage and zip viruses. These viruses will prevent you from accessing and operating the PST data files. If you’re planning to solve this issue, make sure you purchase original and licensed anti-virus so that you can fix the PST files. Free anti-viruses are neither effective nor capable of protecting your system from future attacks. 

Corruption Due to Abrupt Shutdown

You should shut down the MS Outlook software after you’re done saving the changes you made in the PST file. However, when you’re about to exit the program, if you fail to follow this process, the PST data files will be corrupted. When the shutdown process is correct, this means that the task manager was forced to close the applications abruptly. And the type of abrupt shutdown will lead to this issue. Therefore, if you want to save the PST data files from corruption, you should consider purchasing a UPS that will aver this abrupt shutdown. As per Warren Cat, UPS can protect against power interruptions. After that, you can implement the normal shutdown method. 

Corruption Due to Design Issues

If the Outlook program suffers from any issue, it will corrupt the PST files. If you use an older version of the MS Outlook such as 97 to 2002 that is mostly dependent on the ANSI codes, the PST files will be damaged beyond repair when the limit of the file exceeds 2GB. However, the size of the PST file is greater on the latest version of MS Outlook. When you install the proper patches and fix the program, you will also be able to fix the issue. You can use the later version of the Outlook such as 2003 where the limit of the PST file is 20GB. 

Not only hard and software conflicts, but human error is also one of the most common causes of PST file corruption. To solve the first two issues, you need to purchase licensed anti-viruses and high-end software. 

What Happens When the PST Data Files Are Already Corrupted?

Most of the time, the PST data files face corruption when the users don’t know how to prevent them or don’t pay proper attention to them. Therefore, the situation alerts the users regarding the corruption of PST files so that the user can implement a proper repairing method to solve this problem. 

Conclusion

Despite being a highly effective email platform, MS Outlook suffers various problems due to the corruption of the PST data files. Keep in mind that the PST data files store all your emails. Therefore, make sure you protect the files.