Sorry to bother you all with Outlook issues again, but unfortunately it seems like Im having a relapse of problems with my folders. Im running Outlook 2002, SP3 on an IBM ThinkPad T30 with Windows XP.

On opening Outlook, I have a series of folders that are supposed to open, all password protected. The first and main folder opens fine, but Outlook hangs when its supposed to open the second folder, just after I type in the password.

Ive tried detect and repair... but nothing. Also, after the program hangs, when I attempt to re-start Outlook I get a message that invites me to use Outlook in Safe-mode. This seems to work, and I can succesfully open all folders in Safe-mode.

I have SpamBayes anti-spam software installed... thats the only other add-on I have.

Can someone help..? Thanks!!!

The box isn't over 2 gigs is it? I just had an issue with a mailbox that goes over 2 GB, microsoft just won't do anything with it, but does provide a utility to start chopping stuff out of it.

Too big a file sounds like the issue to me.

Cordelli... if you care to upgrade to Outlook 2003, it supports unicode PST files, which do not have that 2GB limit.

But, you will have to set up a new version and import the old one... an upgrade simply keeps the existing Personal Folders File (97-2002) in place.

If you're going to upgrade you should consider Mozilla's Thunderbird which can import all your email from Outlook Express as well as all your address books and account settings.

It stores emails in plain text format which means you can back it up and restore it easily and it doesn't have a maximum mailbox size.

Thanks for the information...

However, I dont think its a too big PST file issue. The reason Im saying this is that my problems started after I actually made the file much smaller, deleting some 200 contacts and over 5000 emails..... so somehow my PST file just got smaller, not larger.

Also, remember I have three folders that open.... and apparently the opening of the first folder goes well but Outlook proceeds to hang upon showing me the window to type in the password of the second folder... (the cursor stops blinking)... and Outlook seems to hybernate. The only way to restart is for me to use the tast manager to close all Outlook windows and then I must restart in Safe Mode.

Using Outlook in Safe Mode lets me access all folders with no issues....

Im still lost on this....

Thoughts...?

You may not have actually reduced the size of your pst file. If I recall correctly, you need to compact the file after you have deleted info. Try compacting it in safe mode and see if that helps. It's something you want to do in any case.

Just a shot in the dark but why not close the other two PSTs and try opening the one that hangs on it's own?

I seem to recall that Microsoft also offers a PST file repair tool. I'd search for that and see if you can't run it on the misbehaving PST.

I'd also follow the advice of the earlier poster and move up to 2003 and convert your PSTs.

This sounds like a great idea... where do I compact this... is it an option in the Outlook menu...? Thanks!!

Thanks for the PST file repair tool tip, I will search for it and see if this works.

As for the update to Outlook 2003, I assume I have to purchase this from Microsoft...? Can I get a web update?

You can upgrade Office to 2003 for $$$ or buy Outlook 2003 as a standalone product. I do not believe there is a free upgrade path. Note that you have to manually convert your psts to the new format. It is not something that happens automatically once you install. Outlook will still freeze once your pst hits 1.8Gb if you don't convert your pst.

Start/Settings>Control Panel>Mail; Data Files, Settings, Compact Now.

From the help file:
Use the Inbox Repair tool
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If you can't open your Personal Folders file (.pst) (Personal Folders file (.pst): Data file that stores your messages and other items on your computer. You can assign a .pst file to be the default delivery location for e-mail messages. You can use a .pst to organize and back up items for safekeeping.) or your Offline Folder file (.ost) (Offline Folder file: The file on your hard disk that contains offline folders. The offline folder file has an .ost extension. You can create it automatically when you set up Outlook or when you first make a folder available offline.), or you suspect that your .pst or .ost data file is corrupt, you can use the Inbox Repair tool (Scanpst.exe), to diagnose and repair errors in the file.

Quit Microsoft Outlook if it's running.
Double-click Scanpst.exe, located at drive:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\LocaleID folder - where LocaleID is the locale identifier (LCID) for the installation of Microsoft Office. The LCID for English - United States is 1033.
In the Enter the name of the file you want to scan box, enter the name of the .pst or .ost file that you want to check, or click Browse to look for the file.
To specify scan log options, click Options, and then click the option you want.
Click Start.
When the scanning is completed, and if errors were found, you will be prompted to start the repair process.

To change the name or location of the backup file created during the repair process, in the Enter name of backup file box, enter a new name, or click Browse to look for the file.
Click Repair.
Start Outlook using the profile that contains the .pst file that you tried to repair.
On the Go menu, click Folder List (Folder List: Displays the folders available in your mailbox. To view subfolders, click the plus sign (+) next to the folder. If the Folder List is not visible, on the Go menu, click Folder List.).
In the Folder List, you may see a Recovered Personal Folders folder containing default Outlook folders or a Lost and Found folder. The recovered folders are usually empty, because this is a rebuilt .pst file. The Lost and Found folder contains folders and items that the Inbox Repair tool recovered. Items that are missing from the Lost and Found folder cannot be repaired.

If you see a Recovered Personal Folders folder, you can create a new .pst file, and then drag the items in the Lost and Found folder into the new .pst file. When you have finished moving all items, you can remove the Recovered Personal Folders (.pst) file, including the Lost and Found folder, from your profile.
Notes

If you are able to open the original .pst file, you may be able to recover additional items from your damaged .pst file. By default, the Inbox Repair tool creates a file called file name .bak, which is a copy of the original .pst file with a different extension. The .bak file is located in the same folder as your original .pst file. You may be able to recover items from the .bak file that the Inbox Repair tool could not recover. Make a copy of the .bak file, giving the file a new name with a .pst extension. Import the "bak.pst" file, and then move any additional recovered items to the new .pst file that you created.
A copy of the log file is written to the same location as the .pst file.

Dingo, thanks a million for your help. The strange thing is that my problem seems to have solved itself, my only change to my system has been upgrading to SP2 and then updating my Office software. Perhaps this did the trick?