How To Fix “File xxxx.pst Cyclic Redundancy Check” Error

Error Message

“File xxxx.pst could not be accessed. Data error. Cyclic redundancy check”.

Reason

The main reason behind the error is corrupt PST file. The file can damage due to bad sectors in drive, damaged filesystem, virus, etc.

Solutions

There are four possible solutions. Please close all applications which are using PST file.

Method 1: Recreate PST file

Don’t use this method if you need data in corrupted PST file. If you don’t need the data in corrupt PST file then you can delete it and start Outlook. The Microsoft Outlook will create new PST file for you. You can easily get rid from error using this method only if your corrupted PST file do not contains data having important for you.

Method 2: Check drive for error

If error occurs due to errors in storage volume you can scan volume using “chkdsk” utility to find and fix errors. Following are steps to run “chkdsk” tool.
1. Go to Start > All Programs and search for ‘cmd’.
2. Type ‘chkdsk /r [drive name]’
Ex. For C drive command is
chkdsk /r C:
3. The disk will be scanned and errors will be fixed.
4. Once process completed restart the computer and start Outlook again.
If error not occur then it means your problem is solved. But still shows error then it means your PST file is corrupt. Follow below methods to repair PST file and recover its data.

Method 3: Repair PST file

You can repair PST file and fix the error easily. It can be done in two ways.

Repair by using scanpst.exe tool

1. Open file explorer. In the Search box, type SCANPST.EXE.

Following are some default locations of this file.

  • Outlook 2016:C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16
  • Outlook 2013:C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15
  • Outlook 2010:C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14
  • Outlook 2007:C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12

2. Open SCANPST.EXE.
3. Browse the location of the PST file file or type the name of PST file in textbox.
4. Click ‘Start’ to begin the scan.
5. Once scan will complete it will show results. If scan finds errors, choose Repair to start the process to fix them.
If all goes well and process completed successfully then restart Outlook.

Repair using PST recovery tool

If scanpst.exe is failed to repair the PST file then you need to use PST repair tool. These tools can fix the PST file error by scanning them and correcting them by observing various parameters