Periodically I am asked to archive my Outlook data but invariably get a message back that "archive.pst" is full and I should delete info from it. However, I can't open this file and suspect the problem is related to this since parts of the archive (like tasks and notes) which should be totally empty are also claimed to be full. How do I either get in to dump stuff or else allow Outlook to archive again?

Please try the steps below to resolve your error.

1. Locate your USB flash drive.

2. Open the archive.pst file from your USB flash drive using your Outlook program.

3. Force Outlook to Archive so you have an empty archive.pst container in the default location.

4. With the original archive.pst file open from the flash drive, manually copy each folder to the new archive.pst file.

Hope this helps.

A. Trivedi

To: A. Trivedi - thank you for the reply but I am still lost. I presume you mean a "memory stick that fits into my USB port" when you mention "USB flash drive"? My memory stick has no "archive.pst file" on it - at least Outlook can't find one. When I try to open the archive file on my hard drive (it is 1.99 GB in size) I get a message that it is full and Outlook won't open it. I have no idea what is in it. For some mysterious reason it won't take any new data and won't open so I can throw stuff out. Thus I am still blocked.

It sounds like the archive file has reached the Microsoft standard size limit of 2 gigs and may be corrupted and need repairing.

Below is a link with instructions on how to repair a .PST file:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ou...001056300.aspx

Hope this helps.