For an Outlook user, it is important to understand how to use various features of Outlook and also how to keep it running at its best. Since many users use the offline folders feature, users need to understand what might cause problems in these files, how they affect Outlook performance, and what they can do to avoid them.
Using Outlook OST files can be a great advantage for users who have a mailbox on the Exchange server, as it gives them the ability to work with Exchange data even when they are offline. Any changes that users make to the data are updated in the server mailbox through a convenient synchronization process. However, as one continues to use Outlook frequently, certain performance issues arise, particularly with offline folders (OST files) that are used to store Outlook data. Some of these performance problems arise due to simple mistakes that users make while working with or shutting down Outlook. By understanding the steps to take, you can resolve performance issues and avoid corruption issues that would otherwise require running an Exchange recovery process.
One of the most common problems that occur with Microsoft Outlook 2007, and that not many users are aware of, is that the application takes longer than other applications to close. This is the root of many other problems. Since Outlook takes so long to close, the user, especially a beginner, feels that the application or the system has frozen and may force it to close. However, Outlook may not have been completely closed until then and some of the OST files were still open when the computer was shut down. This type of unexpected termination can corrupt OST files and lead to loss of Exchange data and require you to perform an Exchange recovery process.
Fortunately, Outlook marks any file that was open during a sudden Outlook shutdown as suspicious and automatically performs a reconciliation and repair process. Users who are unaware that this reconciliation process is taking place may wonder about the slow response time of Outlook. In fact, many of them are found to worry after 10-15 minutes and restart their machines in the hope that this will solve the problem and allow Outlook to run faster. However, unless the reconciliation process is complete, Outlook may not allow the user to access the necessary OST files, which puts the user in a real quandary.
Therefore, it is very important for all Outlook 2007 users to be aware of the fact that, unknown to them, Outlook may want to check the integrity of OST files and if there is any problem with them, you can also perform a quick recovery from Exchange. In fact, Outlook displays a small gear icon to indicate to the user that a reconciliation and repair process is in progress. Since this is a small icon and shows only in the status bar, many users don’t even notice it in the first place. If Outlook starts to behave sluggishly, you should immediately see a gear icon showing that a repair process is in progress. Usually after this process is done, you should be able to access your OST files and Outlook should behave as usual.
Sometimes slow Outlook behavior is indicative of OST file corruption and you may need to use more sophisticated tools to perform Exchange recovery. Advanced Exchange Recovery is one such tool that can be used to quickly repair corrupted OST files to minimize the amount of lost data.
The product can be found at http://www.exchange-recovery.com/
