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Forum Discussion
Best Practice for Syncing PST File
Ok, I've read a bunch of posts on this topic and I understand the issues about PST file size, upload speed, etc. I have a PST file about 500MB, which will stay about that size and I just want to bac...
I am one of those heavy-duty Outlook users with the PST file stored locally in a dropbox folder. I do this to be able to share this PST file between my desktop and laptop (obviously, not at the same time). Many times I notice in my local dropbox folder a conflicted PST file copy which I then need to open within Outlook and compare the inbox, sent items, and other folders to the principal copy of the PST file in use. This is not only frustrating but time-consuming.
While I am no expert, what I have come to learn is that the "lock" that Outlook places on the PST file is one of the issues affecting these conflicted files because of dropbox's inherent need to continuously attempt to synchronize the PST file when Outlook has made a change. What I have found to be very beneficial -- and to prevent these conflicted copies -- is that while I am in Outlook I pause dropbox synchronization. When I remember to do this I never receive a conflicted PST file copy and never any corruption.
I am in the process of experimenting with a simple macro that is configured to pause dropbox synchronization while Outlook is open. Once Outlook is closed, dropbox synchronization is allowed to continue. It would be interesting if dropbox itself could provide that functionality.
I realize that most pundits, including Microsoft, do not recommend storing a PST file on a network drive or in the cloud for various reasons. I can't survive without having dropbox provide a synchronized copy of the PST file for my use on the two computers. The only other answer would be for Microsoft to provide the independent Outlook user the ability to use exchange (and hence an OST file) without a huge cost or for dropbox development to jump on this bandwagon to offer a more functional approach to synchronizing PST files.
