Compact your files

All of the information in Outlook is stored in a .pst file. I find that it's useful to compact this file to save space and speed up Outlook. Here's how:

1. Right-click the Outlook Today icon and choose Properties.
2. Click the Advanced button on the General tab.
3. Click Compact Now to reduce the size of the files in your Personal Folder.

Fix Outlook's information file
If you're having crashes or other weird behavior, Scanpst.exe can help you fix the bugs. This is an inbox repair tool utility that comes with Windows 95, Windows 98, and Office 2000.

1. Find Scanpst.exe.
   
   • Click Start, Find (or Search), and select Files and Folders.
   • Browse your C: drive for the file named Scanpst.exe.
   
   
2. Launch Scanpst.exe and browse your hard drive for the Outlook .pst file. Here's where it was located on our machine:
   C:\WINDOWS\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\outlook.pst
   
3. Make sure you're logged out of all your email programs and click Start to run the utility.

Here are some other command-line switches for saving Outlook.