Internal Error when Running Scanpst

An Outlook PST can get corrupted for several number of reasons. Not all, but most of these problems can be resolved by running Outlook's built-in utility called Scanpst.exe (also known as Inbox Repair Tool). This is actually a hidden program file that starts the PST file repair utility and removes most of the file corruption issues. But in worst cases, this utility may fail and you may encounter data loss. Following is one such problem that might occur due to the failure of this tool.

Suppose you have a corrupted PST file that you decide to repair using Inbox Repair Tool. But each time you try to run this utility, it gives the following error message:

“Internal errors were found in this file. They must be repaired for this file to work correctly.”

As a result, the PST file cannot be repaired and the corruption remains.

Explanation

At times, the same error can falsely occur if you run the Inbox Repair Tool on a Microsoft SharePoint Team Services folder that is being synchronized with the default PST file of MS Outlook. This occurs because the tool checks for a 'Deleted Items' folder, which is not present in Microsoft SharePoint Team Services folder. In such cases, the above error occurs even if the file is not corrupted.

However, when the PST file is corrupted and Scanpst is unable to repair the file, it could be because the extent of damage is too high or the file size is above 2 GB. To resolve this, you need to first check the file size and crop it using PST 2 GB crop utility if its size is more than 2 GB. But if this is not the case, you need a third-party PST file repair solution.

Note: Make sure that you backup your PST file before running the PST crop utility, as this tool can delete your important e-mails while cropping.

The third-party PST file repair applications can work better than conventional Scanpst.exe program. Moreover, they are easy to use and implement.

One of the best PST file repair utilities is Stellar PST Repair. It is a safe tool designed specifically for non-destructive scanning of corrupted PST. You can use this software in any case of corruption. It can be used when the Scanpst tool has failed. It supports MS Outlook 2007, 2003, 2002, and 2000.