Why arent my Outlook.ost and .pst files getting smaller?

I am desperately trying to get the size of these files down b/c they are currently crushing the performance of my hosted exchange account.

I have been permenently deleting emails all day (i had thousands); why hasnt the size of the .ost file decreased in size???

 

Have you tried archiving your old items?

 

ost and pst files are essentially large databases and so some understanding of databases is in order.

Databases are made up of tables,which are made of records, which are made up of fields.

In many databases, as you add records the tables fill up with more and more records. When you delete records, however, the space for that record is blanked, but not removed. So, when you add the next record, it fills in that blank area (this is a gross simplification). Thus, the database "file" does not actually get smaller as records are removed.

Most databases, including outlook, have a way to "compact" the database, which essentially moves all the records at the end of the table into all the open spaces, and then truncates the end of the table, making the table smaller (until you start adding records again).

I am not sure if archiving records performs this truncating or not (never really thought about it before, will have to test), but to do so manually go to FILE > DATA FILE MANAGEMENT, choose your PST file, click SETTINGS, and choose COMPACT

 

Gerry-thanks very much for this info; this explains alot.
I have already compacted the file and it now stands at 2.5gbs, which appears to be slowing me down quite a bit. Also, I have archived everything over 3 months but I am still not seeing any improvement in perfromance.
Is there any way to start over, with a more compact .ost file?
if I delete as much as I can in my current profile and then, start a new profile-will that then bring the overall size down?

Finally, i seem to have two ost files in my folder. One is titled "outlook.ost" and the other, which is a bit smaller, is titled "outlook0.ost.". What is the diff. between these two files?

 

From here, no idea. You have to figure out which one outlook is using.

The method Gerry mentioned above only compacts the PST file. To compact the OST file you go to Tools/Account Settings/Exchange Server/Change/More Settings/Advanced/Offline File Settings. Then select Compact. Whew, that is a mouthful.

 

Deleting messages only moves them to a deleted folder. You then have to delete them from THAT folder and then you need to follow gerryf19's instructions to compact the files. Only when you do all of these steps will you see the size shrink.

Another trick is to sort the messages by attachment size and see if there are some BIG ones you can dispense with. This yields a much bigger quick hit than deleting hundreds of individual messages. But you still have to follow all of the above steps.

Gary

 

First, let me say, "2.5gb! Woo."

Now, let's talk a little bit more about OST files.

PST files are are personal storage file for outlook, but OST files are offline storage files used when connecting outlook to an exchange server. The file is slightly different, and requires a different compaction method. To the best of my knowledge you don't need to connect to the exchange server before or after to achieve good results, but there is a slightly different method of compacting this file

On the Tools menu, click to select E-mail Accounts.
Click View or change existing e-mail account, and then click Next.
Click Microsoft Exchange Server, and then click Change.
Click More Settings.
On the Advanced tab, click Offline Folder File Settings.
Click Compact Now.

Did you do this yet?

Also, I have found on rare occassions when a computer drive was very full, that the OST and PST files become very fragmented. This is different than compacting.

Use defraggler to defragment an indivual PST or OST file.

If that does not work, then maybe we can investigate deleting and recreating the file

 

Heh, My pst file is 6GB...... This guy's Compy386 is slow.

 

Oops, surf asb beat me to it....on OST

Another thought, consider deleting the contents of the SENT folder

 

Then again, Outlook does take a while to load up. I usually don't notice though since I can't remember the last time I closed it...

 

I have compacted both files and I am defragging them now.
Can you explan why I have two ost files? (is there any way to know which ost file relates to which profile?)

Finally, I think I may want to delete and recreate. I am also worried that I may just have somehting wrong with my computer and/or OS. I am getting noticable slowdown and hitches across the board including lots of "not respondings".

What is a compy386?

If ur referring to my computer, I am running dual cores with 4gbs of ram.

 

The outlook0.ost file is likely the one currently being used. Outlook will create such a file when it has a problem reading/finding outlook.ost

Before you even consider deleting and recreating, you need to resync with the exchanger server when everything is done compacting and defragging...otherwise, you will end up with all your old emails again.

 

Well, it appears the outlook0 is the newer profile I tried creating a couple of days ago. I will delete that as I am using the older profile.

I have finished compacting and defragging all the files and there is some improvemnt but not much.
What do you mean by "resyncing with the exchange server" and "end up with old emails" ? Apologies for all the questions but I am new to most of this...

 

Are you connecting to an exchange server or not?

 

synch means connect.

The OST offline file allows you to work when you are not connected to an exchange server. Then, when you connect to the exchange server later the changes are reflected.

Let me explain it a different way. If you have a laptop at work and you are connected to an exchange server, your appointments, email, tasks, etc are kept on the exchange server and copy on your laptop.

If you take your laptop home you might add an appointment to your calendar. When you connect to the exchange server the next day, the OST file and the exchange server data are synchronized.

That is all I mean.

If you delete your OST file, it will be recreated with the data on the exchange server.

 

Understood; thanks for the explanation.

So, I will take a few days to really clean out Outlook, then delete (or at least move the OST file) and then reconnect, allowing Outlook to create a new file.

Do i need to delete/move the pst file as well?

 

The PST file is not an offline cache. It basically holds all your configuration settings. So best not to mess with that unless you know what you are doing.

You guys need to google HomeStarRunner. But I said that in the previous post it only confused you guys.......

 

One last thing before I pull the trigger here:

Is there any difference between deleting/moving the ost file and then just reopening Outlook and have it create a new ost and, just creating a new profile and removing the older ost?

Surf-I checked out HomeStarRunner

 

I honestly don't know why you would create a new profile. I've never done this so I cannot say.

We seem to be getting more and more Exchange questions around here....I may need to install an exchange server and fart around with it...

 

Just creating a new profile will be the same thing as moving/deleting the OST file.

I don't see it significantly speeding up your machine though.

 

So then what else can I do?

I have checked everything else and cannot figure out why I am experiencing such a slowdown with outlook.

What id like to do is start with a fresh ost; if I eliminate all the excess that is in my current profile and then start anew, shouldnt that speed things up?

Ive noticed a speedup already with defragging and compacting the pst/ost files...

 

Just don't close Outlook

 

?
I never close Outlook.
My issue is not with opening Outlook, its with overall slowdowns with sending emails, moving around docs, etc.

 

It's difficult for us to say since we are not infront of your machine.

Whose machine is this (I know you use it, but you're using exchange for email, so is this a business machine?) What else is running on it? Download Process Explorer and try to get a feel for what is using all of your systems memory, cpu time. Run HDtune and see what the throughput is all about.

You're asking us to make suggestions in the blind

What antivirus suite are you using?

 

Its my laptop; I use it at home which is where my office is and where I run a small, 4 man company from. I use exchange as a cheap, temporary alternative to in-house servers.

As for other programs, I am using a proprietray CRM system that runs in the background and which uses very listtle ram. Other than that, some basic Word and EXCEL and internet use.
Also, I am using Symantec.

I do not know what ProcessExplorer and HDTune are, but I will look into them. I rarely go above using 25% of the cpu at any given time; when I have those 10-20 second freezes in outlook, I get a small hourgalss icon over the Outlook icon in my tray and it says that its trying to connect to the exchange server.
I have noticed a significant improvemnt after compacting, defragging and generally cleaning up Outlook over the past couple of hours, so hopefully I am on the right track.

 

what version of symantec?

AV or Internet Security? What year?

 

Gerry beat me to it. I've supported Exchange servers since the 5.5 sp2 days. It's a database, and you haven't compacted the database, just deleted the pointer to those records. Once you do that, it will be free of absent records, not just the pointers to the records.

.ost files are offline folder files, used to sync your exchange email with a local copy for later viewing. That is saved under your profile. You can blow that away and make a new one by making a new profile, then syncing with the Exchange server. It just cached mail. .OST is like the cache for a web browser. It's something to use offline in the event that the server is not available. Exchange server connections are dynamic and real-time if you will, only available when connected. PST's are local copies only, and are used when you move your stuff off the server.

 

The PST is LOCAL storage. It is the database for mail saved to your hard disk, and the structure of that database, but it contains no configurations - your PROFILE contains the configuration settings and your profile is configured with the path to the PST. The PST IS the actual email (database/records), the profile sets up where Outlook looks for all email (path to the pst file, what server it's on when connected, etc). The PST IS an offline folder, just not an offline cache - your OST is the offline cache. Your profile retains the pointers, much like the ODBC connections in a database if you are familiar with that concept.

The PST is a database, used by Outlook to save and keep track of the email you moved off the server so it is available locally (and when you do, it's not on the server anymore). Local mail folders (*.PST) are entirely different animals than when you connect to the Exchange server, and offline folders - cached copy of Exchange server mail database (*.OST). *.PSTs are saved on the hard drive, and that mail is no longer on the server (for lack of a better way of explaining it). Exchange folders are managed by the administrator, and appear only when you are connected to the server because that is a dynamic folder present only on the server. Personal folders (*.pst files) are managed by the user, locally.

I hope that makes sense, and that I didn't over explain. I got a bit redundant, but there are some nuances that don't make sense the first time you hear them (or explain them, either).