MS Outlook is today the most sought-after email application used to for electronic communication. Why not, Microsoft provides all the possible features that any professional would ever look for at his workplace. Fast and seamless performance makes this application just perfect for enterprise environment. Gradually, it has become an integral part of many organizations where electronic communication is the part of their requirement. Even after being a complete solution for flawless communication, there are times when MS Outlook cannot perform according to the requirement. One such scenario is while working with Windows Vista and you try to start Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. You fail to start Outlook and additionally you receive the following error message:

"FileName.pst file could not be opened. The file may not be compatible with this version of Outlook or it may be corrupted."

Cause for the error

This behavior is observed when all following conditions are true:

You used the Backup Status and Configuration program to back up the mail file.

You recently used the Backup Status and Configuration program to restore the mail file from backup.

The mail file is in an encrypted folder.

Workaround for the problem

To work around this problem, use the Inbox Repair Tool (Scanpst.exe) to repair your personal mail file. This is a built-in tool, which comes with Ms Outlook email client. To do this, follow these steps:

Quite Outlook 2007.

Click Start and then click Control Panel.

Click User Accounts and Family Safety or User Accounts.

Note: If you do not see User Accounts and Family Safety or User Accounts, go to the next step.

Click Mail.

Click Data Files, click Personal Folders, and then click Settings.

Note the text in the Filename box.

Note If you cannot view all the text, click in the Filename box, and then press the RIGHT ARROW key repeatedly.

Click OK, and then click Close two times.

Click Start, type %ProgramFiles%Microsoft OfficeOffice12 in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.

Double-click Scanpst.

In the Enter the name of the file you want to scan box, type the path and file name of the Outlook .pst file that you noted in step 6.

Click Start.

When the Inbox Repair Tool finishes, click OK.

Mostly, this methodology works even if your MS Outlook PST file is corrupt, but only if the MS Outlook file has minor corruption. In major or complex corruption issue, this built-in tool may not work up to your expectations. If the intensity of the corruption is too high, use professionally created repair Outlook PST tool. These tools provide specialized methodology to repair Outlook PST file. Kernel for Outlook PST Repair is a perfect solution to resolve highly corrupted PST files. It repairs PST file and then provides accessibility to the PST file content, like emails, drafts, attachments, calendars, contacts, journal, tasks and notes. Kernel for Outlook PST Repair is capable of resolving all sorts of errors including 2GB Outlook PST Limitation errors, Broken PST Files, PST headers gets damaged etc.