Why does scanpst.exe not work? Well, that is a great question for MS, isn't it? Why are there dozens of repair applications that purport to fix things that scanpst.exe doesn't? What to they know that the MS coders don't?

Actually, what I said was that scanpst.exe didn't fix the file. It told me there were 50 items that weren't recoverable (whatever 'items' means .. db records, tables, folders, attachments? we don't know, and MS doesn't see fit to tell us more). Once the 'repaired' file is put in place of a clean install of outlook, we then try to launch Outlook in the vain hope that it will behave.

What is the message? Alas, Outlook coughs up the ever helpful:

Microsoft Office Outlook has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience. (If you were in the middle of something, the information you were working on might be lost.)

Then it goes on to helpfully offer to Restart Microsoft Office Outlook with the checkbox selected and I have an option to send the error report to MS.

So we try again. This time, we try to import into a clean install of Outlook from the 'repaired' data file. And the emails mostly come over. I don't recall how many I started with, but I know that the vast majority are there. The calendar isn't. The contacts aren't. Bummer -- they matter more than even those emails.

Running a demo copy of OutlookFix lets me see my contacts and calendar entries, 'though it's crippled enough in demo mode to just give me a peek.

Running scanpst on the file, then on the repaired file did nothing to improve the results. Running other disagnostics have resolved nothing. This file was recovered from a dying hard drive, and is on a sound installation.