[rant] Rage against THE machine... [/rant] - AKA *.pst HELL

[Highlander]

Not the first time I've had this file go west but I let my back-up slip and the only file I have left to recover the (jackie's work) emails goes back to August last year...

Right...

Our OUTLOOK.PST file is corrupted and will not let me move/defrag/copy (cyclic redundancy problem, so stuffed). Anyway, I tried MS's SCANPST which fell over as-soon-as-tried - no fix from the makers - Mr Gates and his merry men - what a nice bunch... I then did some searching and found a fix-it tool on a recommended site...

Program downloaded (no names, no pack-drill) and set it to run (crikey, this is slow) and it continued to run (crikey, this is VERY slow), and run, and run, and run...

27 hours... 27 flipping hours...

Okay, so then I went to save the recovered file... and it asked for registration, so... then, and only then, did it ask for the fee... $129.00 and that is a discount price...

In my naivety, I thought freeware meant freeware, not con-ware - shut-down a system and let it run forever and give you no clue and then hit you with the bill... nice...

ps... not quite out of the woods... and no, I did not pay the ransom...

[the mojo hobo]

ps... not quite out of the woods... and no, I did not pay the ransom...

In  a case like that naming names is in order, IMO.

[Lightyear]

Man, that sucks Kenny!  I would say get an Apple but I just don't quite fancy you as the ponytail, Birkenstock* and tie-dye wearing type artsy dude

*DISCLAIMER:  Birkenstocks are great and if you have bad feet there's nothing more comfortable - they are just FUGLY

[Chaser001]

I think the ransom analogy is more accurate than some people might think.  I can identify with that. 

[bassvirtuoso]

I was expecting a TB-like rant about Tim Commerford's tone and how you can't recreate it no matter how many amps you rewire yourself and wind your own pickups....

[TBird1958]

Man, that sucks Kenny!  I would say get an Apple but I just don't quite fancy you as the ponytail, Birkenstock* and tie-dye wearing type artsy dude

*DISCLAIMER:  Birkenstocks are great and if you have bad feet there's nothing more comfortable - they are just FUGLY

Hey now, that's high fashion for most Lesbians here in the Pacific Northwest.

[Lightyear]

Hey now, that's high fashion for most Lesbians here in the Pacific Northwest.

But only when worn with white socks, right?

[Highlander]

Buzz... after scrapping the semi-pro route and going back to the day-job I had a boss that persisted in pointing out that my long hair was in need of a tidy up -"Hair's getting a bit long, Ken..." with him with RAF style handle-bar moustache, so I went to a GI-crop... (there is a picture of the transition somewhere in my files, but...)
During that era, after I'd become a self-employed specialist and was contracting back to that company on a 6 month contract, I spotted him coming into the building, resplendant with pony-tail, and couldn't resist... "Hair's getting a bit long, Tony..." to which he stopped, took a step back, looked into the warehouse where I was working and with a smile replied, "Time's change, Ken... time's change..."

oh yeah, and Buzz, I'd love to go Apple, just for the reliability... maybe post the first published works...

Mojo... let's just say that a nickname for an instrument I own may be applicable... after doing the rounds, several other companies have the same tactics - the nature of the beast that is business today... I found a variety of "shareware" links but everything is coming up suspect - chkdsk found and repaired "bad clusters" but the hard drive passed all the tests I could throw at it - we are going through the damaged file and recovering (to archive) what we can before deleting the beastie...

Dave... I could always go the other way and preach the joy of an iPod at 70mph in a noisey van... who needs tone quality... would that spark a range war...?

[Dave W]

All I can say is, files can get corrupted on Apple products too.

Sorry I have no idea about repairing the corrupted file, never used Outlook.

[Pilgrim]

I don't either, but I sure wouldn't delete anything until I had exhausted all options.

It may take a lot of online research, too...but I sure hope that you find a solution!

[Grog]

Hey now, that's high fashion for most Lesbians here in the Pacific Northwest.

Does that mean that my Doc Martens have lost favor?

[Highlander]

Happily going through "slash and burn" procedures...