CRC error while recovering PST file

[Vasco]

Dear Recuva community,

I'm trying to recover a 4Gb PST archive from a hard disk drive that was recently installed with a newer OS version (Win10 clean install over a previous Win7 install).

The good news is that Recuva was able to locate the file on the 1st try, even without a deep scan. The file is in "Poor" condition, and it has been overwritten with some other application data (according to Recuva).

The bad news is that Recuva encounters a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) on this file and is unable to recover it.

From what I've gathered from the web, running a CHKDSK utility to attempt to fix the CRC error seems to be the next viable step, but I'm unsure as to whether or not this will be able to fix problems on files that have been overwritten. I'm also concerned about the fact that taking the wrong action could further damage the file.

Any pointers on how to proceed would be greatly and truly appreciated, as the contents of the file are quite dear to me.

Thank you for your time.

[mta]

you have many, many obstacles ahead.

first and foremost, Outlook PST files are databases, and as such, are easily corrupted.
add to that the 4GB size and that would suggest a high percentage of the file being fragmented.
Recuva may only find the first extent and the others are lost/overwritten.
then you add to the mix a CRC error on the file which could be caused by a failing drive with bad sectors.
and for further headache the drive was recently clean installed with Win10.

sorry, but you have so little chance of recovery anything from that PST that I'd be giving up right from the get go.

you have no backup of it do you???

[Vasco]

5 hours ago, mta said:

you have many, many obstacles ahead.

first and foremost, Outlook PST files are databases, and as such, are easily corrupted.
add to that the 4GB size and that would suggest a high percentage of the file being fragmented.
Recuva may only find the first extent and the others are lost/overwritten.
then you add to the mix a CRC error on the file which could be caused by a failing drive with bad sectors.
and for further headache the drive was recently clean installed with Win10.

sorry, but you have so little chance of recovery anything from that PST that I'd be giving up right from the get go.

you have no backup of it do you???

Fortunately, I did have a backup.

I thought I didn't, because I distinctly remember getting a CRC error while copying the file prior to the Win10 installation. But, after all, the file ended up being copied despite the CRC error, and showed up as corrupted. I was then able to fix it using the Outlook PST repair tool that comes with Outlook. Phew... I guess I was really lucky this time.

[mta]

consider that a bullet dodged.  well done on the backups.
like all insurance policies, you wonder why you always persevere with the buggers - then this sort of thing occurs and you go "Ah, this is why!"

and a belated Welcome to the Forums.