I had a tough day this Thursday. I got the Kernel error on my Windows 8.1. After a few restarts my outlook failed to fire up saying a problem in the PST file.

What I tried and did not work:

1. Used the SCANPST.exe, you can find this in inside the outlook folder under programs folder. This is where it is on my laptop:

C:Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice14

2. Next I tried the chkdsk command with /x /v /r. It ran a complete night but failed to fix the pst file. I was still not able to open Outlook as the PST file is broken.

What worked for me and may be for you too:

3. Downloaded Stellar Phoenix Outlook pst repair tool. It was successful in recovering all the data in the pst file. The catch was to register the demo tool to be able to save the PST file with the fix in it.

Sorry Stellar, I have other plans.

Now I realized the file is readable with the fix by Stellar, but it is not saved on the pst file.

4. Now I ran the SCANPST.exe again. Voila, it fixed the PST file. Now I am able to open my outlook. It is not the same. It has thousands of mail marked as unread. Better then nothing.

I hope this fix will help you. Please leave a feedback if it works or you had any problem with this method.