I need to search through a massive 30GB .PST file that I exported from our old on-premise Exchange Server 2013 for specific email keywords requested by some of our users. Although I can mount the file in Classic Outlook, it keeps crashing or shows corruption errors, which doesn't make sense since it was freshly exported from a healthy mail database. I've confirmed that indexing was completed prior to my search efforts. What are some effective methods to reliably search through such a large PST file?
5 Answers
Why are you exporting to PST when the mailbox is still accessible online? Ideally, you shouldn't use Outlook for searching in PST files; it tends to have issues. Instead, import the PST into a dedicated mail archiving solution like Enterprise Vault or MailStore for better search functionality.
Have you tried using scanpst.exe? It might help repair any issues with the file. Once you get it to load properly, consider splitting the PST by year or other criteria to make searching easier.
You could try importing the PST file into MailStore and search it from there. It's a handy product for managing and searching through emails!
What specs does your system have? Sometimes, low RAM or CPU can cause issues when trying to load large PST files.
If this is for litigation or legal reasons, it might be worth contacting an e-Discovery vendor. They have the right tools and know-how to handle these types of requests properly.
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