Author Topic: Extract files from a .pst file (Read 26,093 times)

Edvard · « **on:** July 08, 2008, 04:56 PM »

I have a big problem.
A client sent me a CD with a .pst file on it, claiming that there are hundreds of documents tucked away inside that she needs printed. A quick search on the web says a .pst file is an outlook archive.
"No problem," I thought. "I'll just make a new user, import the file into that Outlook account, and be done.
No such luck. Apparently, Outlook express won't touch it and now I'm stuck for a solution.
Any takers?

EDOlsson · « **Reply #1 on:** July 08, 2008, 05:46 PM »

Perhaps this software may be of some use:

http://www.fookes.com/mailbag/

I haven't worked much with it--I just downloaded the demo to check it out, but it was able to nicely catalog my old e-mail archive from The Bat! Hopefully that will give you a start in the right direction.

- Eric

mwb1100 · « **Reply #2 on:** July 08, 2008, 06:11 PM »

Quote from: Edvard on July 08, 2008, 04:56 PM

Apparently, Outlook express won't touch it and now I'm stuck for a solution.

You need Outlook - which is completely different from Outlook Express. If you have Office, you might already have Outlook (it's in some of the Office Suites, but not all of them). If you don't have it, installing a 60 day trial should enable you to get the documents you want. Note that MS does not seem to have a trial for Outlook itself - they want you to trial Office 2007 Pro to trial Outlook, so I'm not sure what it'll do for any Office applications you might already have installed. I suppose you should be prepared to reinstall them after you uninstall the trial, if that's the route you take:

http://us1.trymicrosoftoffice.com/product.aspx?re_ms=oo&family=officepro&culture=en-US

Of course there are 3rd party tools to deal with PST files (as EDOlsson suggested), but I have no experience with them.

40hz · « **Reply #3 on:** July 08, 2008, 06:46 PM »

Quote

If you don't have it, installing a 60 day trial should enable you to get the documents you want. Note that MS does not seem to have a trial for Outlook itself - they want you to trial Office 2007 Pro to trial Outlook, so I'm not sure what it'll do for any Office applications you might already have installed.

I was going to to suggest the same but I was beaten to the punch

I'd suggest Office Standard instead of Pro however since it's a smaller download and it also contains Outlook.

Download at: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/FX101732751033.aspx

But before you install Office, grab a copy of Returnil and install and run that first. Returnil will allow you to do your thing without screwing up anything you already have on your drive. It creates a virtual mirrored PC on your machine. Once you're done, all you need to do is reboot your box and everything will be right back to where it was before you turned Returnil's system protection feature on.

Info and download at:

http://www.returnilvirtualsystem.com/index_files/rvspersonal.htm

BTW: Returnil is also great if you frequently need to evaluate new software. Think of it as a Start New Game button for your PC.

Shades · « **Reply #4 on:** July 08, 2008, 08:24 PM »

Mailstore is the name of the software you need. The Home version is free to use.

http://www.deepinvent.com With this piece of software you can move/copy whatever from any mailformat to whatever format is required (.pst to .mbx in your case).

It is also ideal for backing up email as well.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #5 on:** July 08, 2008, 08:36 PM »

I think MailStore actually use Outlook to extract the emails - which means you would need Outlook installed to use it.

Not sure but I think Thunderbird can import from PST files.

Check http://kb.mozillazine.org/Import_.pst_files seems to have a number of Windows and Linux converters for PST without needing Outlook installed.

Edvard · « **Reply #6 on:** July 08, 2008, 09:48 PM »

Eric: Thanks for the suggestion, it seems to be a powerful program, but didn't do anything to the .pst file.
MWB1100 and 40hz: Thanks for your suggestions, it probably would have worked but this computer was set up by the boss and it has a mixed bag of MS Office software on it. Returnil may have helped, but overall I had many misgivings about doing what you suggested. I bet it would've worked beautifully on a clean box.
Shades: As far as I can tell, Carol is right; Mailstore uses Outlook's MAPI to get the job done.

Carol: DING DING DING worked like a charm. Now I gotta print each of these 1770 emails and their attachments. I got connections to get that done...

As soon as I have a fistful of DonationCredits, they're headed your way...

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #7 on:** July 08, 2008, 10:04 PM »

Glad you got a solution. Out of curiosity which solution did you use?

Edvard · « **Reply #8 on:** July 08, 2008, 10:36 PM »

I used the Thunderbird PST Import plugin.

Quote

The Thunderbird PST Import plugin is a open source utility to import selected folders from a .pst file under both Windows and Linux. Its based on readpst. Some of the dialog boxes are in French. It's not clear how well it works since nobody has mentioned using it in the forums and most of the comments on the download site reports it doesn't work.

It did give me a warning I couldn't read, but after chewing for a bit, it dumped everything into a separate folder. So I guess it works despite comments to the contrary.

f0dder · « **Reply #9 on:** July 08, 2008, 10:45 PM »

Quote from: Edvard on July 08, 2008, 09:48 PM

Carol: DING DING DING worked like a charm. Now I gotta print each of these 1770 emails and their attachments. I got connections to get that done...

You have to get the stuff printed? Hit the client with a big cluehammer and tell her something about saving the rainforest.

Edvard · « **Reply #10 on:** July 08, 2008, 11:03 PM »

Dude, it's for a lawsuit. If you want to wield the cluehammer, get ye to the law offices. I used to work at a legal document copying house, and the sheer volumes of paper we generated in the name of upholding justice would easily qualify for Lovecraftian adjectives to describe it.

f0dder · « **Reply #11 on:** July 08, 2008, 11:29 PM »

But... but... but... why do they need it on paper?

That has always puzzled me, really. Especially considering how much material lawsuits can generate, and how important it is being able to cross-reference stuff, why the heck is paper still used? Why was paper used 10 years ago? The mind boggles...

PhilB66 · « **Reply #12 on:** July 09, 2008, 03:22 AM »

You can open pst files with Ontrack PowerControls (middle of the page)

Quote

Ontrack® PowerControls™ 5.0 allows you to open EDB and PST files, view and search mailboxes.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #13 on:** July 09, 2008, 07:32 AM »

Hmmm PowerControls must be expensive - not listed in the buy online page and if you go tot he product's own page it doesn't tell you how much anywhere - just asks you to contact further info!

Curt · « **Reply #14 on:** July 09, 2008, 10:08 AM »

- yes, it is expensive!
PowerControls standard edition license is $950 , and $1495 for a business edition.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #15 on:** July 09, 2008, 01:39 PM »

Eyes POP out on stalks, spring back and throttle my tonsils ... WTF ???

40hz · « **Reply #16 on:** July 09, 2008, 02:10 PM »

Quote from: Curt on July 09, 2008, 10:08 AM

- yes, it is expensive!
PowerControls standard edition license is $950 , and $1495 for a business edition.

I am soooooo in the wrong business!

Cuffy · « **Reply #17 on:** July 09, 2008, 02:38 PM »

Apparently you have the problem solved but I ran across DBXConv.exe recently and you might want to rathole the tool for possible use in the future.
http://tinyurl.com/2ztxh5
The app converts OE dbx files to eml or mbx (Outlook) files which can be opened in a text editor. It's a freebie, command line tool so the price is right and it works!

----------

Edvard · « **Reply #18 on:** July 09, 2008, 03:35 PM »

Thanks Cuffy, looks like it's only for Outlook Express, but may come in handy...

Quote from: 40hz on July 09, 2008, 02:10 PM

Quote from: Curt on July 09, 2008, 10:08 AM
- yes, it is expensive!
PowerControls standard edition license is $950 , and $1495 for a business edition.
I am soooooo in the wrong business!

Yes, most of us are, apparently... The legal copy shop I used to work for did this kind of stuff all the time, and the software was expensive. They used batch printing software that cost $1700 but it could handle printing the entire contents of a hard drive and slip sheet between documents. When I was working there 5 years ago, we were also getting heavily into high-volume document scanning and cataloging using IPro. (see f0dder, it's happening

slowly, but it's getting there...)

MerleOne · « **Reply #19 on:** July 10, 2008, 12:17 PM »

Quote from: Edvard on July 08, 2008, 04:56 PM

I have a big problem.
A client sent me a CD with a .pst file on it, claiming that there are hundreds of documents tucked away inside that she needs printed. A quick search on the web says a .pst file is an outlook archive.
"No problem," I thought. "I'll just make a new user, import the file into that Outlook account, and be done.
No such luck. Apparently, Outlook express won't touch it and now I'm stuck for a solution.
Any takers?

Hi,
I think there is a tool, reasonably cheap for a corporate product, that works quite well, even in the demo version you can do many things : R-Mail for Outlook at http://www.outlook-mail-recovery.com/. ; The Outlook Express version is excellent.

Olivar · « **Reply #20 on:** June 12, 2009, 07:13 PM »

Lucky you, she didn't want you to search one of the hundreds of documents in the PST-File and print it (this is what happened to me). It can get really annoying, okay with lookeen it isn't very complicated to search a PST-File but without the right tool I imagine it to be very frustrating... Oh and I agree don't waste too much paper.

jgpaiva · « **Reply #21 on:** July 21, 2009, 02:21 PM »

zlatan24: The program you're recommending is NOT free, and ALL the posts you've made on DonationCoder.com are about that exact same software.
Personally, I wouldn't invest any time in trying a software which is being pushed by SPAMMING forums rather than having genuine quality.