Does creating many Inbox folders make a safer pst?

Hi everyone,
My Outlook pst file is currently 815,000KB (is that 815MB = 0.8GB? - I 
get confused!).
I had lots of messages (over 1,400 - yes, I'm a hoarder!!) and 
attachments in the Inbox folder.
For safety's sake, if I create lots of folders like "family" "friends" 
"work" etc and actually properly sort those emails, does it make for a 
safer pst file if it crashes?
I guess it will make no difference to the actual size of the file, but 
I'm guessing that if the file crashes, it might make for a better repair?
BTW, I DO do weekly full backups, but would like to know the answer to 
the above anyhow.
Thanks,

Stephen

Not sure if it will but I do know that you should probably archive things to 
reduce the number of items in the PST which will protect them in the event 
of a crash (as long as the Archive PST file is closed when the crash 
happens).





 

Vince,
Thanks for the quick reply!
I've never done archiving - does the archive stay inside the pst or does 
it create an additional pst?
Can you still browse an archive like you can a "normal" pst?

Archiving creates/uses another PST file which you can open and browse 
normally using the File menu > Open > Outlook Data File command. It'll open 
another set of folders in your folder tree.





 

Thanks for all your help - greatly appreciated!
One more question please - when archived, does the folder structure 
remain the same ie: if I set up a folder in my CURRENT Inbox called 
"friends", will I see the same tree folders structure in the archive pst?

Yes, the structure is recreated when the items are archived. Each folder can 
have its own auto-archive properties also. Right click on a folder, choose 
Properties and go the AutoArchive tab to check/set them





 

You don't seem confused to me.  This is correct.


In my opinion, no.  What makes for a "safer PST" is to make frequent backups 
so that in the event of a crash you have a recent copy of your Outlook data, 
as you indicate is your practice.  Your backup scheme means you'll lose at 
most a week's worth.
-- 
Brian Tillman [MVP-Outlook] 

No, it doesn't make it "safer" - it can make it harder to find things.  The 
best protection against crashes is good backups, but in all honestly, the 
number of people who lose data in a crash is fairly small and there are 
usually outside forces involved - syncing with a pda, using the pst over a 
network or on portable storage devices and removing them before closing 
outlook, addins that keep outlook open, or a defective hard drive.

1400 messages is nothing. I have more that are marked unread. :)  The file 
size is not all that large either.

-- 
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Outlook Tips:  http://www.**--****.com/ 
Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center:  http://www.**--****.com/ 

Outlook Tips by email:
 XXXX@XXXXX.COM 

EMO - a weekly newsletter about Outlook and Exchange:
 XXXX@XXXXX.COM 

You can access this newsgroup by visiting 
 http://www.**--****.com/ 
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.

Brilliant! Thanks for explaining  things so clearly. Thanks too to Brian 
& Diane who added a little bit extra as well to this thread.
I feel much safer.
Stephen