Auto-Archive feature and PST (personal folder file) are great feature in Microsoft Outlook. However, they were giving me the trouble due to the following reasons.
- due to the capacity limitation of 2 Gigabyte, I can't use it for archiving the mailbox that is over this limitation. Well, I can use multiple PST file to archive the message but the only advantage I can see is leading to mess.
- the PST file only can be accessed by one user. It will be lucked if one user accessed it in one computer but doesn't exit properly.
- it seems that the Auto-Archive feature is not a server-based feature, which means if you have multiple outlook running on multiple computer and they are not setup the same way, you would be in trouble. For example, you open your outlook in your working computer during your working hour and also use another outlook through remote desktop. It would be mess if two outlooks have different Auto-Archive settings.
So, if you are not 100% sure how these 2 features work, don't use it. If you do need archive feature, I would suggest the 3rd party software, like GFIMailArchiver from GFI Software. How can we disable them if we really don't need them?
from Microsoft Knowledgebase, article ID 258277
- quite all programs.
- click Start, and then click Run.
- in the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
- locate one of the following keys in the registry, as applicable:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\xx.0\Outlook\
note that the **xx** in the line above will be 8 for Office 97, 9 for Office 2000, 10 for Office XP, and 11 for Office 2003
- on the Edit menu, click Add Value, and then add the following registry value:
Value Name: DisablePst
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1
- quit Registry Editor.