OL2000: (CW) Corrupt OST File Prevents Synchronization (249762)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Outlook 2000
This article was previously published under Q249762
NOTE: The procedures in this article only apply if you have installed Outlook with the Corporate or Workgroup option. With this option, you can use Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) services. To determine your installation type, click About Microsoft Outlook on the Help menu. If you have the Corporate or Workgroup installation, you see "Corporate or Workgroup".

SYMPTOMS

When your offline store (.ost file) contains corrupt information or is damaged, you are unable to synchronize your folders until you delete the .ost file. This means you lose any changes made while offline.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain Microsoft Office 2000 Service Release 1/1a (SR-1/SR-1a).

To obtain SR-1/SR-1a, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

245025 OFF2000: How to Obtain and Install Microsoft Office 2000 Service Release 1/1a (SR-1/SR-1a)

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was corrected in Microsoft Office 2000 SR-1/SR-1a.

MORE INFORMATION

The fix for this problem includes better .ost fidelity so that you are less likely to lose all offline changes. The following improvements have been made to offline store synchronization:
  • Improved synchronization so that Outlook does not stop synchronizing messages with the server when it encounters one bad message. This is fixed by moving the message to a Corrupted Items folder which does not synchronize with the server.
  • Prevent the synchronization of folders known to not exist on the server, namely, the IPM subtree, the ~MAPISP (Internal), and the Corrupted Items folders.
  • Abstract the logging code out of the replication context structure into a replication log structure, to allow the OST Integrity Check Tool for Outlook 2000 and the synchronization code to share the same log.
  • Improved code for the OST Integrity Check Tool for Outlook 2000, which runs when the tool is activated.
The OST Integrity Check Tool for Outlook 2000 scans the offline folder file on your local computer and the folder file on the Microsoft Exchange Server computer, and compares the items and folders in each file. If the tool finds any differences between the files, it will attempt to correct them. Use this tool if you are experiencing synchronization errors or offline folder file data integrity problems.

For more information about the OST Integrity Check Tool for Outlook 2000, click the link below to navigate to the Office Update Web site:

http://office.microsoft.com/downloads/2000/Scanost.aspx

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:8/9/2004
Keywords:kbdownload kbbug kbfix KB249762
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