File size after archiving in Outlook 2007

[cadlewv]

Hello. I have Office 2007 Enterprise on my machine. My .pst was getting up towards 1GB. I decided to set up Auto Archiving. I also decided to do it manually the first time.

The problem is this:

-After archiving all folders and emails older than 6 months, the size of my .pst didn't shrink at all. It was 962MB before -and- after.

I did see the new archive.pst that was created. It was 626MB.

I also chose to list the archive folder in my folder list. Could this be the cause?

Any help is appreciated, as always.

[EzyStvy]

Did you use the Archive AND delete from current location option?


Look in the properties of the main folders for the Compress option.

[cadlewv]

This is what I see when I choose Auto Archive (attached pic). If I choose Delete expired items (email folders only), it will delete them instead of archiving them.

I don't really see an option to both archive -and- delete all mail items over X months old.

[cadlewv]

Ok. Another update.

1) After going through the folders in Outlook 2007, I noticed that indeed the items older than six months -have- been archived. But, the main .pst file is still over 900MB. Could this be because the archive folder is showing in the folder list?

2) I de-selected the checkbox to show the archive folder in the folder list, but it still shows there, even after restarting Outlook. Any ideas on that?

3) I don't use the default location to store my .pst file. I run it off of another hard drive, in case Windows crashes. This may have something to do with it, because it says in the Auto Archive settings that 'Items archived in a custom location will not be deleted unless you open the folders and delete them manually'. Maybe it works the same way with the default .pst file.

I know that I've gone through all of my folders and checked their size, and they are not 100MB combined (after archiving), yet my .pst file is over 900MB.

[EzyStvy]

1) After going through the folders in Outlook 2007, I noticed that indeed the items older than six months -have- been archived. But, the main .pst file is still over 900MB. Could this be because the archive folder is showing in the folder list?

BUT - are the older items ALSO in the original folders?

And in the for what its worth catagory-> a 900MD pst file is a SMALL pst file.

[cadlewv]

No, the older items have been removed from the original folders. I'm thinking it may have something to do with #3 above, but am not sure.

[glc]

The 2 GB .pst file limit no longer applies with newer versions of Outlook.

[cadlewv]

Hello again glc. Any ideas why the .pst file size remained the same size (generally) after archiving?

[glc]

If I did, I would have said so.

[cadlewv]

I see your demeanor hasn't changed. Thanks for your input.

[EzyStvy]

Did you run the Compact function?

[cadlewv]

Not on my regular .pst file.

[EzyStvy]

The compact fuction is there for a reason.

Post back the results when its finished

[cadlewv]

After compacting: 448MB. Seems that did the trick.

Still not sure why 'moving' files out of my .pst wouldn't reduce its file size without compacting, but I can deal with not knowing. Just another example of how mysterious Windows can be.

Thanks Ezy.

[EzyStvy]

Outlook Express does the same thing. Deleting/moving files does Not reclam the space they were taking.

[cadlewv]

I would mark this thread as resolved, but something doesn't seem to be working with the javascripting?... none of the drop-down menus are working.