[DaveD]

Maybe someone experienced or experiences the same problem I have with Outlook:

When I try to move messages between folders, I often receive an error message similar to the following:
"Can't move the items. The item could not be moved. It was either already moved, or deleted, or access was denied."
So once I move an email from the inbox into a folder, I can't move it anymore anywhere else, this error pops up.

I m not using the MS Exchange Server or anything else, so the following MS Support sites didn't help:

support.microsoft.com/kb/330752
support.microsoft.com/kb/891572

[jaykay]

Was this originally an upgrade from Outlook 2002? There are sometimes issues whereby the .pst files exceed 2Gb or become corrupted.

To fix corrupted PST files, you can use the Inbox Repair Tool. However, the tool isn't always able to repair every PST file. It works by repairing the PST file's header and then deleting anything in the file that it doesn't understand. So if a PST file's header is damaged, as may be the case for corruption that occurs during a version upgrade, the tool should have no trouble making the repair. But if the data within the file is corrupt, the Inbox Repair Tool will likely destroy what's left of the file. That's why it's always good to make a backup of the PST file before running the Inbox Repair Tool.

The Inbox Repair Tool is located in the C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Mapi\1033\NT directory of any system that's running Windows 2000 or Windows XP. The tool's filename is Scanpst.exe.

There is another tool from Microsoft that can be used if the pst file has exceeded the 2Gb limit is Oversized PST And OST Crop Utility which you can use first, and then follow up with the Inbox Repair Tool. The crop utility works by deleting about 25 MB of data from the file to bring the file back within specs. Use this tool as a last resort, because you can't control what data you lose when using it.

This is available for download here: http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;Q296088

Lastly, there are other utilities out there from other companies such as Filechopper (available on ZDNet), etc

[DaveD]

Originally Posted by jaykay

Was this originally an upgrade from Outlook 2002? There are sometimes issues whereby the .pst files exceed 2Gb or become corrupted.

Jay: The .pst file I m using originates from Outlook 2000. However, I do have thousands of emails in my sent items folder, but the total file size is about 1 GB...

[Monde]

If I remember correctly the magic number was 1.6gigs anything bigger and you can forget it.

[jaykay]

It can vary but the generally accepted limit is 2GB. Thats all Microsoft will admit to anyway!

DaveD, it looks like you may have a corruption in your pst file which is extremely common in all upgrades to more recent versions of Outlook. Although Outlook 2003 itself should solve the problem of the 2GB limit upgrades to 2003 do suffer. Try the Inbox Repair Tool first, I find it solves most of the problems I've encountered on upgrades to standalone machine.

[Monde]

Originally Posted by jaykay

It can vary but the generally accepted limit is 2GB. Thats all Microsoft will admit to anyway!

Yeah they say 2 gigs but we had these issues and got a guy from Microsoft to come out. He admitted that it is more around 1.6 than 2 gigs. They rounded it off.

Dave I had that problem awhile ago but not on 2003 and I cannot for the life of me remember the fix.

[DaveD]

Originally Posted by jaykay

Try the Inbox Repair Tool first, I find it solves most of the problems I've encountered on upgrades to standalone machine.

I ll try this, but should I run a backup of my pst-file before? Or is it safe?

[Monde]

Originally Posted by DaveD

I ll try this, but should I run a backup of my pst-file before? Or is it safe?

ALWAYS backup

[jaykay]

Agreed, I always back up pst files before running this tool.